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…
Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork
It was kind of a strange release week this week, as there weren’t really a ton of new games that came out on Wednesday night. However, there were some pretty strong sleeper hits, plus the highly-anticipated iOS port of Surgeon Simulator. But, when it came time to choose a Game of the Week, one game clearly captured my heart more than any other, and that game is Pixeljam’s Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork (Free). We enjoyed the game a ton in our review just earlier today, and we discuss it at length during out podcast this week, but if I had to sum up Glorkian Warrior in just one word it’d be this: delightful.
The aim of Glorkian Warrior was to take the wave-based nature and pattern-following enemies of something like Galaga and infuse it with light platforming elements. Basically, the platforming boils down to the ability to jump and take out ground-based enemies by landing on their head. But, as small of a tweak as that might sound, it actually puts a significant spin on the Galaga-style vertical shooter, and it works surprisingly well. Things can get plenty hectic just dealing with the airborne enemies, and when you throw ground enemies into the mix it can feel like Galaga turned up to 11.
Besides the actual gameplay, Glorkain Warrior is a delight due to its massive level of personality and humor. The rapport between the Glorkian Warrior and his Super Backpack best friend bring a smile to my face every time with their back and forth dialogue, and there’s a certain whimsy to the whole game that makes me feel like a kid again. Like when you were five and you could just plop down on the living room carpet with a couple of action figures in hand and create an incredible adventure using the power of your imagination. You know, a time before the weight of adulthood crushed your childish wonder.
I love playing Glorkian Warrior because it’s challenging, and it’s a great spin on a classic gameplay formula. But more than that I play Glorkian Warrior because it makes me happy. If you need something to unlock your child-like glee during those brief moments of downtime in-between your adult responsibilities, Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork is a wonderful escape.
