A Wonderland Story HD iPad Review

By , on October 18, 2012


A Wonderland Story HD
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Cute, but sinister visual theme; perfect for a game about Wonderland.
  • Dead simple gameplay; move tiles up or down to keep White Rabbit moving along.

CONS

  • Checkpoint based stages make replays a chore; it's the difference between dedicating a couple minutes to a whole half-hour just to collect one missing gem.
  • Similarly, the lack of variety quickly turns in to monotony despite any spikes in difficulty.

VERDICT

A Wonderland Story is a charming little brain-twister that starts off well, but quickly runs out of ideas despite the creative world it themes itself off.


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It's all well-and-good that Alice gets a story about her adventures in Wonderland, but what of the White Rabbit? It's bad enough that he's late for his meeting, but having a bunny obsessed girl chasing after him isn't helping things along either, especially considering the wonky terrain. A Wonderland Story by Forest Moon Games and Alchemy Games has you helping the rabbit along his way by moving the ground so he can keep walking forward, hopefully avoiding its many inhabitants in the process.

In a way the game bears a resemblance to an auto-runner, and yes, there's an endless mode you can unlock that plays up this angle (complete with power-ups to boost your progress). However the main story pits you against a fixed challenge of sliding tiles filled with traps, enemies and all manner of obstacles designed to slow down your rabbit. Thankfully these very same traps and enemies can be used against each other, turning them in to crystals in the process.

Collecting crystals acts as currency for unlocking power-ups and stages for the endless mode. Unfortunately the whole thing comes off as terribly repetitive, setting the pace of the stage you're on in the first few areas and only barely scaling up by the end.

Although there are only three stages, they're split in to ten sections (complete with their own checkpoints to continue from), so you won't see much variation in the visuals either. Which is a shame considering their take on Wonderland is delightfully twisted - friendly, colorful, and dripping with hostility when you look a little closer - it would have been great to see this angle explored further.

As such A Wonderland Story makes for a fun light puzzler, especially for younger audiences who don't mind the lack of variety and those who don't mind a bit of style over substance.

Screenshots

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