This week's Thursday find is all about hearts. Which is sort of fitting since it's Valentine's Day next week and that's all about hearts too (well, sort of, but this isn't really the place to discuss that. Have a Google).
It's a platforming puzzler with some nice touches and an impressive chunk of levels. And it's out right now. And you can grab it by clicking the emboldened name just below the next paragraph.
But what's it called? What's it all about? Why am I still splurging out so much preamble? Those are all good questions, so let's go and answer some of them.
Heart Star is a game about getting two characters to the same spot. The controls are simple – you've got buttons to move left and right, a jump button, and a final poker that switches between the two main leads.
From there the game grows into something intriguing and elegant, as you fathom out how you can get to the torch that marks the end of the level without plummeting to your death.
It's not just a case of moving both around either, you need to cooperate, using different characters as platforms and sometimes carrying each other.
That's because certain parts of the level disappear when you switch characters. So you might need to jump to a certain place with one of them, then switch characters and use their head as a platform for the other.
There are loads of other really good ideas here too, and a warmth that resonates through everything the game does. It's smart, it's challenging, and it's sort of like a lovely hug from a friend.
There might be plenty of other retro-looking platformers in the App Store, but Heart Star does things differently. And for that reason alone, it's well worth checking out.
