Smiling Rage: Expando Review

Some times a game comes along whose absolute simplicity allows for one of the most involving and rapid experiences you can have with a video game. This was the case with seminal puzzle games like Tetris and Minesweeper, whose interface created an intellectual fever that bled out through the hands of its players. Expando may be the next in cramp inducing furiousness.

The idea of the game is that you are given a blank area with a certain number of red balls bouncing around. In the empty space you can push down, which starts inflating a “smiley face” ball. If the red balls hit it the ball will pop, unless you have let go. The longer you hold down on the ball the larger it will inflate. The goal from here is to take up as much of the screen as possible, separating the red balls from each other into their own smiley prison. The balls rolls around freely, can change position, and even let more of the red balls go from their previous capture zone.

This sounds very basic, and it is. It is this that requires the player to enter each level with a set of tactics where they can respond to every situation. Should I try and nail down some of the red balls with as many large smileys as possible? Should I start creating medium sized balls in the upper left hand corner so they will roll to the right? How many tiny ones should I produce in the empty gap parts? No matter what debate you have with yourself it has to be a quick one because you often time only have a matter of seconds before you are finally ousted from the scene.

The application itself is only $1.99, and even has a free version for you to try it out. The full version provides so many modes, backgrounds, and music tracks that it ends up being worth it. This ends up being one of the best games on the iPhone because it exemplifies what a mobile game should be, especially for filling waiting times. Nine out of ten stars.