Flockers Review
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.988
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5
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The comparisons to Lemmings are clear within seconds of starting Flockers. However, instead of guiding lemmings you're guiding sheep to safety. It's a more finicky affair, but it's still obvious that this is what Flockers is aiming for.
A more bloodthirsty tale than you'd expect from something full of cute sheep, you'll be guiding your flock away from huge drops, crushing weights, and dangerous saw blades for the most part. This requires using various tools, such as forming barriers or staircases, as well as utilizing a jump skill and even zooming up walls – kind of like a superhero. There are other skills too, such as creating a walking bomb to clear paths, but the main abilities revolve around jumping and building.
Oftentimes you'll be controlling two flocks of sheep at once, which is where Flockers falters. Its controls are somewhat awkward, and the puzzles themselves can be quite picky and require a high degree of accuracy. Sometimes, the results aren't as enjoyable as they should be.
On the plus side, it's always possible to pause the action mid-level. You can also unlock hints as well as skip levels, for a price (either gleaned in-game or via an in-app purchase). Further fun can be gained through a plethora of hidden levels to mix things up, and I found that this was usually where the stronger puzzles resided. There's a slight over-reliance on timing over strategy though, but at least the pause button helps here.
Flockers isn't as tightly designed as Lemmings, but it's still a pleasant diversion. It scratches that 90s itch, even if it not in as quite a satisfying manner as one would like.