What would it take to usurp Angry Birds from the top of the iOS Mount Olympus? Well short of a few billion dollars or a time machine, such a feat is going to be troublesome. In recent years we have seen more and more physics puzzlers that set out to ape the qualities that have 
made Angry Birds so popular: it’s accessibility, replayability, and addictiveness. Aiko Island, by British developers IceFlame, is about to give our avian friends a run for their money.
The basic premise of Aiko Island is as simple as things can be. Save the blue fur balls. Destroy the red fur balls. The reds have stolen the cookies that belong to the blues, so now it is up to you to help them, by popping, tapping, swiping, flinging, firing and downright destroying those pesky reds. And while the game starts off simple enough, with mostly time-based skills needed to pop the reds in the right order in the shortest possible time, with the fewest number of moves, things soon elevate quickly, as more and more physics mechanics and items and obstacles are brought into the game.
There are four worlds to play through, each with it’s own theme and feel to the puzzles as well as the overworld map. You travel across the map from puzzle to puzzle, taking forks in the road to unlock some extra puzzles, and eventually to unlock each new world. It gives a greater sense of non-linearity than most games, where you may only go onto Puzzle C by completing Puzzle B. At least here, if puzzle C is giving you jip, Puzzle D might be more to your tastes, for now. You’ll have to go back and complete all the missing puzzles though, as those all important cookies are your rewards for succeeding in bringing down the reds.
Each level awards you up to three cookies upon completion. And while most three-whatever rating systems are usually based on bogus score algorithms, Aiko Island gives you one cookie for completing the level, a second cookie for doing it within the required time limit, and a third cookie for completing it in the desired number of moves. Why has no one else ever done this? It seems simple now, but when we have had droves of 3-Star rating games that screw you over because of a point or two (Yes, I’m looking at you, Angry Birds, and you too Siege Hero), you can’t help but wonder if this will become the norm now? The other thing that is great about this system is that you earn the cookies independently of each other. So if you complete a lucky speed run, but did it in too many moves, on your next go you can take as long as you want to try and complete the level in the correct number of moves, or less. That isn’t to say things get easy, especially in some later levels, but it is far more rewarding as a gamer to play things this way.
Aiko Island Features
- 125 intuitive physics-based puzzles, each with a unique challenge!
- Easy to play, with simple one-touch controls.
- Hours of gameplay with hugely addictive replay value
- Amazing Retina Graphic
- Musical score written by the Award winning composer Sean Beeson
- Full Game Center/Openfeint integration
- Compete with friends on global speed run leader boards
- Color Blind/High Contrast Mode
- Many more levels to come!
