Android Game Of The Week: Duet

Friday, August 8, 2014

Android Game Of The Week: Duet

Duet (2)

There was a time where I was quite addicted to a game called Super Hexagon. It filled my free time during work, it consumed my thoughts during my off days, this also might have been amplified by the 10 other people I was in constant competition with trying to best each other’s high scores. I haven’t played another game that I was THAT into, until now. Duet is actually a little similar, at least it feels that way. The gameplay is not really that similar, but all the same it is just as addictive. It has a great atmospheric soundtrack and a cool soothing narrative voice that speaks to you throughout the game. This is definitely a game best enjoyed with headphones, although not required in any way.

Duet debuted on Android through the Humble Mobile Bundle 6 just recently, and also launched on the Play Store later the same day. The basic goal is to guide these two little balls,(one red and one blue)which sit stationary on a circle and you must rotate it so that you can avoid the upcoming obstacles of blocks, rectangles and other things that appear to be in your way. Accidentally running into one of these obstacles with either of the balls will make it explode, and although this will reset you back a bit to an earlier point in the stage, when this happens it does have some pretty cool visuals as the balls appear to burst, splashing the color all over the area where you hit. It almost looks like splattered paint. The visual of watching this is what’s cool and graphics wise it was just very well done.

The nice thing is that once you smash into any obstacles that area is marked by the color splatter thus alerting you to the last known place where you couldn’t avoid your obstacles. It serves(for me at least)as a reminder of where I hit last time so that I might avoid it the next play through, almost triggering a remembrance of which direction to turn so that I can pass by. It also can serve as a motivator to do better, since you’re basically staring your failure to progress further right in the face. There are eight chapters to play through and 25 achievements to unlock. There are also four additional chapters of bonus challenges, and daily challenges to play as well. You’ll also be able to unlock survival mode if you pick up Duet “Premium” version through the one time IAP. The game is complete with Google Play Games services so you can also sync your progress across devices through the cloud save. You can grab the free version of the game here, but you can also still pick this up in the Humble Mobile Bundle 6 too, which comes with a handful of other awesome games.