A few weeks ago we showed a new trailer for an upcoming gravity-based puzzle platforming game called GravBot from Team Phobic. They have since sent us a near-final build of the game, and after completing nearly all of it, I’m thoroughly impressed with just about everything that GravBot has to offer. Team Phobic has already proven that they know how to bring cute, colorful graphics and excellent level designs with Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2 [$3.99/Lite], and those skills have translated well into the creation of GravBot. The levels start out simple enough and ease you into the different elements in the game, but as you progress GravBot will really test your puzzle solving skills and force you to look at each level from every angle.
In GravBot, you’ll play as a tiny robot who must collect all of the batteries on each perilous level. In order to accomplish this, you can spin the entire level either 90 degrees left or right or entirely upside down to change the direction of gravity. Your robot can travel left and right on its single tire, and will fall towards whichever way happens to be down at the time. Levels are filled with hazards like spikes, enemies, and lasers which will kill instantly if not avoided. The batteries can be tricky to get to, and a color-coded system of trapdoors, elevators, and various other obstacles will need to be triggered by switching a lever or pushing blocks onto buttons – all in the name of snagging every last battery on a given level.
While just completing each level is sufficiently challenging and fun, the real hook to GravBot is trying to obtain gold medals for each one. The game keeps track of how many times you switched gravity to complete a level, with bronze/silver/gold medals awarded for using it efficiently. What is really satisfying is when you figure out a way to win gold using fewer gravity switches than is required. Due to the physics engine in the game, you can sometimes make it to a hard to reach area without changing the gravity and instead gliding through the air or just barely catching the edge of a platform and hanging on. These types of moves can be risky however, and if you don’t pull one off just right you can easily fall to your death. If you do happen to beat a level using a ridiculously low number of gravity switches, you will be immortalized in leaderboard form thanks to the Plus+ network, and there are a number of achievements to obtain as well.
GravBot looks and sounds absolutely great, with Retina Display enhanced graphics and catchy music and sound effects. I especially love the little blips and bloops that your robot will spout out during the game, and he has a ton of personality for essentially being a TV set with a wheel. GravBot has already been submitted and Team Phobic is shooting for a September 30th release. The game will be free to download and comes with 12 levels, with two additional 20 level packs available as in-app purchase for 99¢ apiece. The 12 free levels aren’t terribly difficult and serve mostly to get you familiar with the game, but the additional level packs contain some seriously challenging stuff that should keep you busy for quite a while. Make sure to head over to the upcoming thread in our forums to check out more about GravBot, and we’ll take another look at the game when it hits the App Store later this month.
