Hollow Grounds is a recently released iOS game currently on sale for 99 cents and I wholeheartedly recommend picking it up.  The game controls use the accelerometer entirely and only needs touch for menu navigation and starting a level.  It took me a while to get used to the controls, and when I first loaded the game up I had so much difficulty I had to close the game and do something else.  However, if you face the same challenge I had, do not give up because you will be missing out on a great game!

The game is composed of 25 “caves” of increasing difficulty.   The caves slowly start to unveil new mechanics that are added as the player progresses although they never mess with the control scheme.  The game is rather intuitive as well.  For instance, when a loop-de-loop or a sharp left/right turn is coming up, a little box will show up showing the layout of the obstacle but won’t obstruct the players view of the game.  There is no tutorial because everything is self-explanatory, but some things will take a few tries to get used to.

The game is one of the most beautiful games I have seen on iOS.  The game has a simple look to it but always looks fresh and new.  The colors can be vibrant and dark, with a majority of the hues used being various blues and blacks, except when crossing the finish line in which case you will be greeted by an array of warm colors.

There is a story for those who are interested, although that was not my motivation for beating the game.  Even without my interest in the story, the conclusion was still shocking, ended with a twist I had no idea was coming.

Even though for the majority of the game was smooth sailing, I still have a few gripes.  One of these would be that every so often I would have to restart my device due to the fact that the game kept crashing.  This was rather annoying because oftentimes it would crash near the end of a level.  I only had to do this twice, though.  Also, (I believe it was on cave 24) there was an instance where there was a loss of gravity, meaning that it sucked me towards the wall, which would usually be fault, and then take me through the wall and out the other side to a floating void.  This happened a few times on that level, but never occurred on any other level.  The only other complaint I have is that when you die it shows what direction to hold the screen, which is a fantastic idea except when it does not go away causing me to be unable to see any of the notifications warning  me of oncoming obstructions.  This problem also only occurred a few times.

Overall this game is fantastic.  If you are willing to play a game with an entirely method of controlling your character, then this it!  However, if you don’t like accelerometer controls, then this is not the game for you. However, the good strongly outweighs the bad. The cons of this game are just bugs that can be easily smoothed out through updates in the future, while the pros include great visuals and interesting controls that make for trilling gameplay (once mastered).