Ok not a spare thumb like an extra one, but if one of your thumbs is free then I’ve got a game for you to check out. Bouncy! Trampoline (Free) is one of those games that came out a few months ago, I played around with it real quick, and then it’s sort of just been hiding on my device ever since. Recently, when going through my many folders of games that time forgot, I came across Bouncy! once again and decided to give it another go. This time Bouncy! really stuck with me.
A deceptively simple game at its core, Bouncy! sees you playing as an adorable rabbit bouncing on a trampoline. Pressing the screen causes you to throw your weight downward into the trampoline, and once the elastic surface hits the lowest point it can from your weight, you let go for maximum propulsion into the sky. If you’ve played a Mario game or any of the many similar platformers over the years with a springboard in it, then you should be familiar with this mechanic.
As you string together a sucessful series of jumps you’ll launch higher and higher into the air, where you can perform flips. Flipping is the second main component of Bouncy!, and touching either side of the screen will spin your rabbit in that direction. Depending on your height, you can do single, double, triple flips and more. Wind is also a factor here, and depending what direction it’s blowing it can either make it easier or much more difficult to get your rotations in.
So Bouncy! is a simple, one-handed game about jumping and flipping, and it feels incredibly solid as a quick little arcade distraction, but it’s the ability to make combos and a meta-goal system that really ties the whole thing together. A sequence of different kinds of flips – say a single clockwise flip, then a triple clockwise flip, then a single counter-clockwise flip, for example – will result in a combo that increases your score. Repeat a trick in the sequence and you lose your combo, or if you don’t land one of the tricks it’s game over. You can also do “Perfect" landings which can boost your score further.
During each game, a goal is shown at the top of the screen. These goals can be things like “perform X many rotations" or “do 3 Perfect landings in a row" and as you complete them your trampoline levels up. Higher level trampolines offer increases in certain attributes, like elasticity levels and higher multipliers. You also earn stars through playing, which go towards buying new colors for your bunny which also each give you a boost to your stats.
On the surface Bouncy! is a fun arcade game that feels too simple to have lasting appeal, but dig a little deeper and there are definitely hooks to keep you coming back. It’s one of those perfect games to pull out whenever you have just a spare moment, but don’t be surprised if you sit down for an hour or more just going after new goals and unlocking new items. Also, the presentation is absolutely top-notch, and you can tell a lot of work went into polishing Bouncy!
If you missed it when it released at the beginning of the year, or you dismissed it as being too simplistic, give Bouncy! another chance and you might be pleasantly surprised just like me.
