Penguins

Penguins – Pppick up a Penguin today... then chuck him in the water!

Penguins have always been quite a fascinating creature to observe. They live their lives in large colonies in some of the most inhospitable, remote and coldest places on earth living on a diet of fish – and all this without the ability to fly. So it has always intrigued me to know just what games do these black and white birds get up to when Sir Richard Attenborough isn’t watching. One possibility is this enjoyable game aptly called Penguins.

In this turn based game you must try and outmanoeuvre your opponents (both computer and/or human) in gobbling up as many fish as possible whilst not marooning yourself on a solitary iceberg in the process. This game tests your logic and tactical skills quite nicely and the opponents will certainly keep you on your toes.

In any one game you have up to four players competing for the trophy. When you play the computer, you have the option of playing against pretty easy competition through to the toughest AI opponent. Likewise, you can use the Bluetooth function to join in a friendly competition with a human. Similarly, you can end up playing with four human players or a combination of computer and human.

The controls are a very straightforward case of highlighting the tile on the grid for you to launch your penguin to start with. Once you and your opponents have placed their penguins, the battle begins to position your penguins around the board. To do this, it’s a case of highlighting the desired penguin and then moving the cursor around the tiles to the desired new square and pressing the OK button to hop to it. Providing you have a clear line of sight, you can move as far along in a row as you wish. As soon as there’s an obstruction i.e. missing tile or penguin (either your own or the opponents), then you can only move as far as the tile beside it. The true skill comes from seeing how to play your next move, as when you move your penguin from one tile to the other, the one you leave sinks – removing it from the game permanently. You will swiftly learn that by being a bit too quick to move can land you in some hot (or should that be freezing) water!

So by cleverly moving around the board you will be able to either secure a larger area of board (with more fish) or inadvertently put yourself on the back foot. However, depending on how tough your opponent is, you may be able to dig yourself back out of trouble.

Overall although the game doesn’t change much, the opponents and being able to compete against your friends makes this game totally unpredictable and highly enjoyable. I found myself totally glued to the screen when playing this and I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who’ll fall in love with this title.

Rating 82%

Positives

Really enjoyable

Fun and challenging

Different levels of skilled opponents

Negatives

The thinking time for tougher opponents does take a little while

No undo move makes it a little frustrating if you accidentally move