The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Endless Sniper
Mobile is evolving at such a crazy rate that it’s easy to get wrapped up in complex, big production, “console-like" games as it never seems to get old playing something like that on a little pocket computer that fits in the palm of your hand. However, the biggest thing that drew me to mobile gaming in the first place was the breadth of simple and fun little experiences that just “felt" right on the platform. That’s what appealed to me so much about Endless Sniper (Free) from Baby Squid Studios.
Endless Sniper is pretty much what it says on the tin: A gallery shooter in a similar vein to Operation Wolf or other ’80s and ’90s era arcade light gun shooters. As the scenery scrolls by, you’ll drag anywhere on the screen to aim your scope and use either of the buttons in the lower corners to pop shots off at an assortment of adorable pixelated enemies. Most enemies will take notice of you attempting to assassinate them, so you’ll also need to keep an eye out before they have a chance to attack you back, which will end your game. Is it tough blasting cute little pixel art bad guys? Yeah, but that’s just part of the job of a sniper.
As the name implies, Endless Sniper is an endless high-scoring game, with randomly generated levels each time you play. The biggest thing that stands out to me about this game is its level of detail. Little interactive elements in the environment like exploding barrels that can be shot to take out any enemies unfortunate enough to be in its blast proximity, or a heavy block on the back of a tow truck that can be shot so it falls and smashes any enemies standing under it. There’s also several types of power-ups lying around that can be shot to help your cause. It’s also really neat how if you buzz an enemy with a shot but don’t quite hit them, the blast knocks them down, giving you an extra chance to re-aim and fire again. It feels like every time I play Endless Sniper I’m discovering some new, neat little detail, which is a ton of fun.
Something to note is that Endless Sniper is free and ad-supported. It uses the Crossy Road method of opt-in ads to allow you to earn coins, which can then be used to randomly unlock new scope and reticule styles. In addition to that there’s forced ads after each game, and while there isn’t currently an IAP to disable those ads that’s an option the developer will be adding in an update soon. In fact, the developer is very active in our forums and taking in all sorts of feedback from players on ways to improve the game, like alternate control options, a sensitivity option, and new scope styles.
While it might not be a game you’d use to impress your friends with how powerful your iOS hardware is, Endless Sniper is one of those games that just feels right on mobile and is a lot of fun. It does have a few rough edges but Baby Squid sounds keen on smoothing them all over. It’s the one game this week I find myself returning to over and over, so for free you should definitely give it a “shot".
