Review: Gold Nuggets

Gold Nuggets is a claw game. If you love those arcade games where you try to pick up prizes with a slow, inaccurate claw, then you'll find a lot to like about it.

Graphics:
Very well done. The gold glistens, the coal is black, but not too black, and the miner is appropriately dwarf-like. Clearly, a good amount of talent went into creating the art for this game.

Sound:
None.

Nugget placement seems random, and can result in unbeatable levels.

Gameplay:
Below your mine cart, a claw swings in an arc. Tap the screen and it flies out to try to grab something. If you get some gold, you'll earn points and a few extra seconds on the clock. If you get coal, you lose time. Clear out all the gold and you'll move on. When the timer runs out, it's game over.

The claw's really slow, and the hit detection is kinda fuzzy, so you'll miss a few things you should get and get a few things you should've missed. And it will take forever. This game would reward a slow and methodical player if the timer weren't so short. As it is, there's entirely too much luck involved, to the point that some levels are literally impossible.

What I liked:
-The graphics are very nice.

What I hated:
-The gameplay is way too simplistic.
-No sound.
-In some levels, the coal and gold are stacked on top of each other, so it can be literally impossible to win.
-It has the same jarring cut to black when you finish a level that's in other games from DS Effects.
-The claw moves way too slowly.

Final Verdict:
It's all the excitement of waiting for a claw game to slowly deliver your prize, but with none of the payoff.

The artist is doing a great job on these, but they're barely games.

Gold Nuggets is available for free from DS Effects on BlackBerry App World
Reviewed version 3.0