Mudd Masher (iOS) Review

There are only two actions that make up the totality of Mudd Masher. The first action consists of navigating a sprite-based human from mud-tile to mud-tile with the flick of the finger in the direction of the proposed tile. Upon landing on these mud-tiles, the sprite flicks the mud away. The aim is to clear an entire stage of tiles of mud, while being careful not to fall off the edge entirely and die. Starting simple, the stages eventually grow in size, with more tiles added, fleshing out the stages to long-winded sessions that start to become aggravating.

This is due to the mud-monsters that gradually drop from the sky with their sole purpose being to pile the mud back onto each of the tiles. Mudd Masher then becomes a tug-of-war affair that soon devolves into a painful grind. While the monsters can easily be eliminated by tapping on their sprite, the speed at which they fall and the sheer volume of monsters bouncing around will quickly become overwhelmingly difficult. The main reason for this difficult and lack of fight-back is due to the slow and cumbersome method of movement, as flicking the finger results in a slow jump to the next tile.

The ever-growing map sizes further shine a light on the negative aspects, as the sprite never seems to jump fast enough to get from one side of the stage to the other. The falling monsters will drop anywhere, and trying to combat them across a vast stage becomes all too much. Maybe the inclusion of power-ups could have helped alleviate the excruciating difficulties, but instead it all comes down to how fast the finger can flick across the screen, while tapping on the enemies before they can cause too much damage.

Unfortunately, transitioning this from a mobile screen to an iPad does not make it easier to see the whole map. The sprites and tiles simply stretch out to fill the screen. The procedurally generated stages change their looks over time, as they each try to contain a theme, as new stage obstacles try to sour the taste of the game. While the concept of jumping on tiles starts off as being addictive, it soon becomes painfully obvious just how the rigid the navigation mechanic is, worsened by the constant deaths that can occur due to imprecise finger navigations. For 20 in-game coins, jump right back into the game. Otherwise, watch an ad to skip the payment method.