Orbo Mini-Review
When it comes to playing games, one thing I'm always looking for are unique experiences. Most games now take on the challenge of uniqueness in their characters, story, visuals, presentation and more, but a lot of games don't have the opportunity to branch outside of the limitations of their toolset. In video game's case, its the console/computer and controller. As a developer, you don't have the chance to tweak things very often. With the Playdate, it gives developers a new and fun tool to mess around with in the crank on the side of the handheld. A lot of games use the crank well, and one game that I've been enjoying recently that utilizes the crank is a game called Orbo made by thermay.io.
Orbo is a simple, yet addictive shooter and the concept of the game is simple. You control one of the only analog space satellites and proceed to destroy space junk and other AI satellites that are causing issues within Earth's orbit. Your analog satellite is positioned in the center of the screen, and to rotate your satellite and shoot down the opposition you use the Playdate’s crank. Shooting happens automatically as you're turning, so there's no need to worry about pressing any additional buttons. As a game, with a concept and gameplay so easy to understand, you have to nail the basics which thankfully Orbo does. Shooting down the enemy satellites is satisfying, and because you’re in space enemies fly at you in unique ways based on your gravity. It's also easy in arcade style games to feel like death or mistakes are the game's fault, but with the control on offer with the Playdate's crank being so precise, every time I die I know it's my fault. The game offers the option to recalibrate your crank in order to line up with the satellite a little better, but I honestly have never needed to calibrate. The presentation again while simple, really shows well on the Playdate's LCD screen. Another thing you can run the risk of with a game so simple is repetitiveness and lack of replay value. Thankfully the gameplay switches up with pseudo power ups getting introduced as you score higher, and global ranking to see where you stack against other players.
In summary, Orbo is a easy to understand game that takes advantage of being on a unique platform and ends up creating an experience that's both fun, relaxing and satisfying to enjoy. Whether played in ten minute spurts, or longer play sessions to get a high score, Orbo is a great time, and if you have a Playdate its an easy recommendation from me. As I was writing this, I got the urge to play some Orbo and got a new high score which you'll see below. Hopefully I can get another hundred or so points to rank in the top ten globally! As always, the link to the game will be below, and thank you for taking the time to read!
All screenshots are taken from a Playdate handheld
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