868-HACK ($7.99) is: a risky pricing-experiment, a rogue-like, a tightly-designed machine, a Michael Brough game, and an onion…

I forgot smart, really fun, super challenging, and dangerously addictive – in the best way possible.

868-HACK is a rogue-like, where you – turn for turn, with your enemies – move about 8 cyber-sectors attempting to hack siphons. To be successful, you’ll need abilities. To gain abilities, you’ll need resources. Ultimately, strategic planning and decision making – move by move – will determine how long you’ll survive and where your name will rest on the leaderboards.

The layers that peel off the mechanics – once 868 has settle in – begin to reveal such a simple premise to be a complex onion. I began strategizing my steps instead of instinctively moving, because every step and choice matters. One misstep WILL mean “game over.”

This is one of the most challenging rogue-likes I’ve ever played, and requires your time, patience, and gradual understanding to fully grasp. Give 868-HACK that, though, and it becomes a glowing approach to a genre that often packs in more for gains, instead of simplifying without loss.

With little to no description about what his game *really* is, an art direction that – to some – may be a bit TOO retro, and a risky asking price: Brough makes an important statement about what we expect our iOS gaming experiences to be. Not all touch games are unworthy gaming experiences.

After playing 868-HACK, I was ecstatic with my purchase. The game is incredibly fun, unique, endlessly-playable, brilliantly designed, and worth way more than what it’s asking for. Michael obviously poured godly amounts of time into designing this game; time that, in the end, pays off on the player’s end.

Brilliant game mechanics are rare these days. Even more so, are those mechanics that reveal underlying mechanics as you progressively get better at playing the game. Getting better at 868-HACK is the carrot on the stick, and once you have had a small nibble you’ll find yourself running, to the edge of the earth, for one more bite.

868-HACK is for everyone who loves to tell themselves, “Just one more try”, and realize 2 more hours have passed. It’s that kind of gripping game experience that makes you forget all else exists at that moment. It’s nothing flashy, just great mechanics and an excellent approach to simplified design that harkens back to the best classic arcade games. Reminds me how much more important great game mechanics are, and how badly we need more of it on the platform.