Towering Inferno: Highrise Heroes - Word Challenge
Boggles the mind
I first played Highrise Heroes [official site] on an Android device and now it has arrived on Steam (Windows only). It's a word game and the genre is one of the few I consistently enjoy on diddy touchscreens. Highrise Heroes differentiates itself from similar letter-shuffling word-building entities by imprinting a mystery/disaster story across all of its levels and systems. It's as if Raw Danger has been transformed into a big, daft puzzle game.
The story initially seems like it's going to be a Towering Inferno style tale of disaster but it swiftly morphs into a sci-fi conspiracy mystery, with 'humour'. You can see the humour right there in the video - there's a monkey!
All of the thematic flourishes are more than a sprinkling of flavour. Structurally, most levels require characters, represented as blocks, to physically move across the stage, searching for an exit. To do so, they have to avoid hazards and sometimes there are objects to collect along the way.
That takes the emphasis away from chasing high scores through the creation of enormous, complicated words. Instead, the first priority is to solve each level's specific shape.
There are no timers or other common mobile freemium hindrances - Highrise Heroes is a full and sizable game. The PC version is currently £2.39, thanks to a 40% launch discount.
For more on Raw Danger, which I'm convinced is an inspiration, you should check out Rab's Let's Play. Which isn't really a Let's Play.
