Goodday Everyone,
Today I would like to share with you my latest, most favourite, super-relaxing before-bed ritual – playing Alto’s Adventure.
This Apple app-store game, while simple, is beautifully done and very relaxing to play. It isn’t extremely challenging or complicated, but it is fun never-the-less. Alto’s almost minimalistic style, calm-cool watercolour backgrounds, and soothing music work wonders to get me ready for sleep.
Playing Alto’s Adventure is also a great way to recharge during breaks in your day. You know – when you realize you’ve been hunched over your keyboard for the past five hours writing and re-writing, editing the s**t out of a design (only on the 16th save file!), or trying to perfect that recipe, and have begun to go cross-eyed – I find that Alto is a great way to focus on one simple, perfect thing for 10 or 15 minutes to clear your head.
Let’s talk about the gameplay. This is pretty straight-forward, you start at the top of a massive ski-hill in a side-scroller-style view. Your controls are easy, you click or tap to jump, and hold in mid-air to do a back flip. You can chain together tricks by jumping on to grinds, back-flipping or jumping off of them, and so on. It’s really not complicated. This, I think, is one of the best parts of the game. It’s simple, and fun – and that’s really all it needs to be.
As you progress through the game, you are given three simple “quests” at a time to complete in order to level up. This might be as simple as collecting so many coins, jumping over a rock three times in one run, or landing a couple double-backflips. Levelling up allows you to unlock other characters, that seem to all have unique skills.
Check out Izel, that crazy adrenaline junkie gadget-maker!
The music in the game – of which I refer to as “soothing-yet-sparkly”, is one of my favourite parts of the game. It is the perfect backdrop to being on this smooth, simplistic ski-hill, and honestly never gets boring despite being on a loop.
Here’s a sample of both the music and game-play:
And just in case you needed any more incentive to go get this awesome game, it’s only $2.99 on the Apple App Store. As an added bonus, they are working right now to bring the game to Android devices as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you don’t have an Apple device to play it on.
I personally play it on the Apple TV, but I’m sure it is a great game to play on your iPhone or iPad/tablet. I imagine, though, that the experience is a little different depending on the device you use. Playing it in bed on the Apple TV really allows for an immersive, relaxing experience, so if you’re interested in the game for the purpose of relaxation/meditation – because believe it or not, playing Alto’s Adventure can be a good time to work in some simple breathing meditation – than I would definitely suggest getting it for the Apple TV.
That’s it for today. Take care, everyone!
Ballbag & Taint 