Xbox Indie Review: Gravi Dot

Do you like pretty, colored stars exploding from dozens of bouncing smiley faces? Do you like simple, yet challenging physics-based puzzles? Do you like to commit genocide of especially-cute things? If you like any of these things, then you will enjoy Gravi Dot. If you love all of these things, then you should just buy the game now because this is your gaming heaven.

The world of Gravi Dot is inhabited by the Super Happy Fun Time Friends. It is your mission to rid them of the nefarious invading smiley Dots. These bouncy balls of bliss are breeding out of bounds and bothering your buddies, and you must herd them with directional Gravi orbs to wipe out enough of them in a single chain reaction to move on to the next level.

The controls for Gravi Dot consist of three buttons. The D-pad sets the direction for your Gravi, as indicated by your cursor/arrow. The X button places each Gravi and the A button starts the hyper-joyful chain reaction. This works by planting a diseased Dot that inflates then pops. If any of the other floating Dots come into contact with it, they will become infected, inflate and pop, thus causing a chain reaction…of happiness.

The game starts you out with an unobstructed screen and no Gravis, but a low threshold to reach. As you might expect, Gravi Dot soon begins to make things interesting. The game begins to dole out a number of Gravis. You need these because your screen will have some obstruction that you need to guide the Dots around. Each new level increases the number of Dots needed to be blown to bits. At no time did I ever feel like I couldn’t figure out how best to group the Dots, but often it required a combination of trial-and-error and some patience. Sometimes the Super Happy Fun Time Friends would come around to help, and they, along with the scenery, would be the barrier around which you would try to coax those heinous Dots. I had the most success by creating a trap for the Dots with the Gravis. I found this bit of strategic play to be rewarding but not difficult.

The graphics are colorful and bright as you would expect for such an upbeat title. There are a number of scenes that you progress through, such as underwater, desert and sky locales. The devilish Dots are colored like a box of crayons, and you get a shower of them upon clearing each level. There are about 40 levels total, but I didn’t count and they aren’t numbered. You can quit at any time and you will be returned to your most recent level.

If there is something to gripe about in Gravi Dot, it’s definitely the music. There is only one track and it quickly gets old. Despite the tiresome tunes, I enjoyed this game and definitely recommend it. Go get your happy on.

Click here to visit the Xbox Indie Marketplace and add a free demo of Gravi Dot to your Xbox 360 download queue.

Gravi Dot was provided for review by  Cyber Edge Studios. It is available for 80 MSP ($1).

By Neil Soika at December 1, 2010.

About Neil Soika

Neil lives on the hard streets of West Chester, PA, where he works as an engineer. When he isn't playing on his Xbox 360, he enjoys playing soccer and poker and watching college basketball. Neil's favorite game is Final Fantasy VII.