The Story

Android games by their very nature tend to be fairly linear, small-scale affairs, good for a quick play on the train or when you’ve got five minutes to spare but not the sort of involving experience a console or PC offers. But there are exceptions. Apparatus for example…

The Experience

Apparatus follows a fairly simple concept. You need to get your blue marble into the blue bucket using a variety of methods. ‘Variety’ is the key word here, though. You have access to a number of different cables, planks, cogs and generators and each level sets you a more complex task that requires more parts to complete.

In standard game mode, you’re presented with a number of pieces at the start of each level that you can rearrange as per your dastardly plan. There’s generally a number of ways to complete each level to keep you coming back and things get astoundingly tricky very quickly, making for much chin-stroking and head-scratching while trying to figure out a solution. The sheer volume of parts that you can nail and screw together to create complex contraptions make this kryptonite for commitment-phobes. You’ll need to invest some time in Apparatus to get your money’s worth out of it.

Once you’ve completed a level, you can play it again in free-build mode and modify it as you see fit. Once you’re done, you can upload your level to the community page to share with other players.

Then there’s the sandbox mode, where you’re given free reign to create, well, anything you want using buttons, ropes, cables and ball bearings. A quick look at the community page accessed via the app and there’s some evidence of serious hours spent (misspent) with Apparatus.

Apparatus is so deeply involving you may well lose hours of your life to it, but if you have the patience to figure out what everything does and how to connect things together you can put together amazing creations. Check out the ‘popular’ tab in the community area for some truly mesmerising builds.

The Bottom Line

A real life-sapper. Get into Apparatus at your peril – you will lose hours of your life!

Additional Info

Version reviewed 0.9853
Requires Android 1.6 or higher

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