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iPad, iPod touch, & iPhone app reviews from our editors—and you!
Filed Under:
Developer:
Little Eyes LLC
Age rating: 4+
Compatibility: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later.
ElissCurrent Version: 1.1.1
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"A multitouch masterpiece." Touch Arcade
"There's nothing else like Eliss." Gamasutra
"One of the most essential games for the platform." Boing Boing
“Eliss is every bit as bold and fresh as Pong, Pac-Man or Tetris were when they first came out.” Pocket Gamer
"A sublime techno-toy." AppleInsider
“Eliss is brilliant fun.” Indie Gamer
"There isn't another game like Eliss -- she's one in a million." Offworld
* Winner of the IndieCade "Auteur" Award *
* Winner of the BestAppEver "Most Innovative Game" Award *
* Finalist for the IGF "Innovation in Game Design" Award *
* Nominated for the AppAdvice "Most Creative Game" Award *
* Gamasutra's second best iPhone game of 2009 *
* One of Boing Boing's 20 indie games of 2009 *
*** VIDEO ***
See it in action at: toucheliss.com
*** DESCRIPTION ***
Eliss is a groundbreaking game that uses multi-touch in a way never before seen. Your job is to keep up harmony in an odd universe made of blendable planets. Touch-control multiple planets at once, join them together into giant orbs or split them up into countless dwarf planets, and match their size with the squeesars. Wipe off the stardust, resist to the attraction of the vortex and other space phenomena, and slow down the passage of time. Each of the 25 levels will require creative ways and strategies in using your fingers. Warm up your hands, you’re up for some serious finger gymnastics in the bizarro galaxy.
*** MORE PRAISE ***
Overview of the press reviews at: toucheliss.com
“A multitouch marvel and indie favourite. [...] This is puzzle gaming at its most intuitive.” EDGE
“The multi-touch controls are a revelation.” Cult Of Mac
“There's no game in the AppStore that uses multitouch so fully. [...] Eliss is not to be missed.” Touch Arcade
“Eliss is the kind of game that gets me excited about the iPhone as a game platform.” 1UP
“Eliss is every bit as bold and fresh as Pong, Pac-Man or Tetris were when they first came out.” Pocket Gamer
"A curious concoction of accessible play and alien origin, unlike any other game and baffling precisely because of its uniqueness, and destined to be the standard of tomorrow." Boing Boing
Eliss Review
Addictive game features intuitive controls, perfect music and sound effects
I’m embarrassed to admit that, at first, I hated Eliss. I had just paid $4 for Steph Thirion’s game, with its trippy description about maintaining “harmony in an odd universe made of bendable planets.” But when I launched the app, the art looked like it had been drawn in ClarisWorks, the instructions were nearly indecipherable, and I had no idea what the heck I was supposed to do.
Battle of the Planets: Yellow and pink planets await placement in the floating squeesars, all drawn in the unique vector style of Eliss.
Once you do understand the game, though, it’s awesome.
Planets of varying colors are placed on the universe of your iPhone’s screen. The most important rule is this: Don’t let planets of one color touch the planets of any other color. If you do, your health meter starts dropping faster than if you catch swine flu. You can combine like-colored planets to form bigger ones, and you can split planets, amoeba-reproduction style, to break them into two smaller ones.
You need to form planets that are the right size to fit inside “squeesars,” which explode the planet they contain with a supernova, sending stardust into the ether. Tap the floating stardust, and your health starts climbing again. Each of the 20 levels requires that you vanish an increasing number of planets to proceed.
What Eliss lacks in help text, it more than makes up in well-implemented multitouch game play. The music and sound are perfect, and the controls are intuitive. The pace gets manic quickly, and I’m more familiar with the Game Over screen than I care to admit. Eliss is addictive, though, and I just keep on playing.
Both your fingers and your brain will get stretched as you try to keep up with the ever-expanding universe.
Eliss is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.2.1 software update.
[Lex Friedman is on his own planet at his blog.]
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