LO1- Sneak review

Sneak 6/10

Sneak is a very useful and interactive game when it comes to the age range (target audience); however for me I found this game very simple, I personally enjoy a challenge. 

The style of Sneak is indie and in a way action. It is child and family friendly, this is reinforced by stylistic conventions shown through the game. The user's interface and game play is easy for a child to understand, which makes the game more fun creating adrenaline. There isn't any glory or gruesome characters in the game, which again helps to emphasise the friendly genre in the game. It also belongs to a puzzle genre. 

The narrative of Sneak is a game full of mythical creatures/beasties that live in your device. The beasties try and eat the bait you chose at the start of the game. As you run away from the bait, the beasties appear, but only if you're quiet. The aim of the game is to be as quite as possible so that you can tap the screen and take a photograph of it. The main aim of the game is to get 5 photographs of all five beasties that live in the app. However it isn't that easy, any sound made will get picked up and the beastie will run away before you can tap the screen. As you go up levels the sensitivity of your device increases, so that it is easier for a beastie to hear you, making the game harder. 

The developer of Sneak is Made in Me Ltd and is categories as entertainment. It was released on the Apple store on the 1st of December 2012 as the version 0.01. It then got updated to 0.02 on 2nd January 2013, sensitivity was increased. On the 19th January 2013 memory was made sustainable so that the app would stop crashing, which updated the version to 0.03. 0.04 was updated on the 18th April 2013, the updates included sharping the beasties hearing as well as enabling them to see you too. They also added in a feature of the beasties being able to see or hear you, or even both which is called "super sneaky" (requires a front facing camera). On the 1st October 2013 0.500 version was created with the updates washing and bathing the beasties for their IOS 7 debut. Currently the version of Sneak is on 0.600 which was updated on the 17th February 2014 with the update a lower sensitivity on the "easy" setting so that it is possible to win. The compatibility of Sneak requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. 

The characters are very colourful and bright, makes it attractive and striking for the audience.The animated characters are memorable and unusual, intriguing the player yo play more. The audio is very bubbly which allows the audience to connect with the characters. As well catching out the monsters and having them jump out at you gives the player Adrenalin. However doesn't give them nightmares, as in general the characters are funny looking and appealing making them not come across as frightening. As the main story line in the game is to scare and sneak up on the monsters, the characters work well with conventions of the genre as they are designed to look like the bad guys in the game; however are very suitable to the target audience age range.

The main challenge is to be very "sneaky", so that you can tap the screen and take a photograph of the beasties before they hear you. As the levels go up the sensitivity becomes greater, making it easier for the beasties to hear you letting them escape. This engages the player as it makes the game more active and additive.

Sneak is aimed to children 5 and under. The indication in the game that shows the game is for this age range, is the game play as it is very simple and understandable. As well the colours and characters involved in the game are very bright and visual creating a friendly element to the game which helps to make it more enjoyable to a younger audience.

The game Sneak is available  on iOS apple store, so this means it is available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod. The feature "super sneaky" is required for devices with front cameras.