Simple, but effective puzzle-platformer is a visual and playable delight
Price: $3.99 / £2.99
Version: 1.0.1
Size: 44.1 MB
Platform: iPhone & iPad
Developer: Sweaty Chair
Rainmaker is a wonderful little one-touch puzzle game about rain. It’s not a premise that will entice the masses, but for those that do give it a shot, they’ll likely find themselves richer through its rewards. The goal, is to guide a young girl, Tian, on a journey to find out what’s causing all the rain in her world. She takes shape initially as a bubble, and in each level you’ll be required to guide this bubble towards a door, onto the next. There are plenty of obstacles, from platforms and spikes, to simple wind, blowing you off course. To combat these, Tian uses a magical medallion that transforms her form further between other existences – from a cute block character that falls heavily to the ground, shielding your progress from the wind, to a spider that has the power to hold onto platforms that other instances of Tian would simply fall off from. There’s a handful of these that you’ll be introduced to and they can be switched via a simple screen touch.
The aim is to get to the door
The non-uniform, sometimes surreal nature of these transformations is charming – with seemingly no rhyme or reason to their presence other than providing a friendly face to the necessary game mechanics to allow you to complete a level – their presence offers a very fluid and simple approach to the game. There’s also a running narrative through the puzzles – set across five stages (though you’ll only be aware of this if you really look, such is the game’s fluid-forward motion), there’s a tale of floods, buildings, towers, and the will of young Tian to get to the bottom of the rain. It’s really quite sweet and delightful to see it unfold in between some devilish puzzles.
You’ll take various forms in order to get there
While many players have found the puzzles in the game challenging, we didn’t find them particularly infuriating. In fact, the game is strangely relaxing, considering its tendency to throw out some incredibly challenging levels. It’s perhaps because these sit amongst a variety of short, fast levels that gives the game its fluid nature. It also keeps you glued to the game as the challenge in the levels ebbs and flows.
Tian crops up often to progress the narrative
This does, sadly, mean the game can be fairly short-lived; completed easily within a couple of intense sessions. The developers, however, assure us on the App Store that many many more are to come. We certainly hope they make good on their promise, because despite the 60+ levels, it’s over far too quick – if we were allowed to spend a little bit longer with this game, no doubt it would have received a full five stars.