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Sneak Peek is dinosaur-themed retro-style arcade platformer that’s simple to play but hard to put down. In this game players will traverse levels, avoiding T-rexes afflicted with kleptomania.
If that sounds like an inventive theme, trust me, it is. The idea behind the game is that these rampaging T-rexes have stolen your belongings, so you must go through level after level collecting your items while avoiding giant dinosaur teeth.
Sneak Peek features unique controls for a platformer. You tilt your iPad left and right to move your pixellated character through each stage. Jumping is done with a tap on the screen.
Every level is populated with one or more T-rexes, which must be avoided. You can carefully sneak past them, through calculated pausing. The dinosaurs don’t detect you while you are standing still, so you can wait for them to turn around and sneak through the level.
If a dinosaur happens to see you and you move, you will be promptly eaten, so patience is the key to finishing stages. You can also touch on the screen while tilting to run forward, which can help you outrun the dinosaurs.
Levels in Sneak Peek are simple and well-designed, which makes for fun yet difficult gameplay. Sneaking past dinosaurs is easy for the first few stages, but it will become harder as you progress through the game. There are only 15 levels in Sneak Peek, but finishing them is quite a challenge!
Unfortunately, though Sneak Peek has innovative gameplay and a unique theme, the levels quickly become repetitive and slow. I enjoyed the game for the first couple of stages, but after that, the ultra slow sneak-oriented gameplay became tedious.
The game could stand to have power ups, additional types of stages, new items, or different dinosaurs to make the gameplay more interesting. It would also benefit from leaderboards and time-based challenges to complete. There are Game Center achievements to earn, but beyond that, there’s little incentive to keep playing.
Though I thought Sneak Peak tended to be repetitive, I still enjoyed the overall theme and the arcade style gameplay. It is just $0.99 to download, and supporting an indie developer is always worthwhile. I look forward to seeing the changes that may come to Sneak Peek in the future.
What I liked: Sneak Peek has a fun theme and great pixellated graphics.
What I didn’t like: At times, the tilt motion controls were hard to use. Jumping between platforms didn’t always work well, which was frustrating.
To buy or not to buy: If you love platformers and have an abundance of patience, you might enjoy Sneak Peek. It has a unique theme and it’s worth the price to support an indie developer.
App Name: Sneak Peek
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
Category: Games
Developer: Steven Foskett
Price: $0.99
Score: 
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