Publisher: RAINYFROG
What I Paid: $1.50
Verdict: Not Shovelware. 100%ed it (I think).
What I Say:
The central mechanic of Factotum 90 is that you control two “walker’ robots (boxes with 4 legs – basically friendly spiders). You are on a ship in space which has been invaded by a foreign entity which is sucking the energy out of the ship. Before you die, you have to deal with the threat. In other words – a puzzle game with a story.
I’m old enough to remember when puzzle games were just puzzle games. That used to be enough. They all seem to need a story these days, however strained or credulous the story is. This particular story is fairly threadbare and pretty much superfluous to the puzzles.
Nonetheless, the puzzles and the mechanic of Factotum 90 had me sucked in sufficiently to complete it fully. There is a “bonus” item to collect on each level, however this is somewhat pointless as you cannot see what you have collected anywhere. That and the fairly abrupt “boss” ending felt a little disappointing, but for a budget title I certainly got value-for-money. Even at full price this would remain a good value title.
What They Say:
You’re in deep space and something’s collided with the ship. Main power is offline and you’re trapped. It’s lucky you have access to this terminal. It’s a little old but with these two deck robots and some clever thinking you might be able to get power back online and save the day.
Take control of two walker robots as you tackle 30 decks that include engineering, labortories and high security sectors. The robots cannot be operated at the same time so you have to alternate between them, figuring out how to use them as a team to make it through each deck. Switch between the walkers at any time and make use of switches, lifts, bombs, energy beams and teleports as you aim to restore power, reactivate the life support and solve the mystery of the collision. An unknown voice on the other end of the terminal is your only guide.
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