JumpyBug is a free Ovi Store game that has players jumping up in the clouds as a Ladybird. It's a game of reflexes and timing. It's a lot trickier than it sounds, and looks. Did it take us to cloud nine? Read our JumpyBug review to find out..
Hidden amongst the abundance of free Ovi Store games is the deceptively challenging, but cute JumpyBug. Jumpybug has players cast as a Ladybird that has to make its way up a series of clouds by jumping to and safely landing on them to progress.
The more clouds you successfully hop onto, the higher your points total. The better you do, the harder it gets. The fluffy clouds start floating all over the place with faster frequency. Timing your jumps is key to racking up the points. Hitting clouds in sequence combos your points for an even higher score.
Booting JumpyBug up on our Nokia N97 it's very well presented, if not a little basic. The graphics are cute, colourful and pleasing enough on the eye. In-game the visuals appear deliberately minimal to aid concentration. For the most part you'll only have a few white clouds, blue sky and a green beanstalk on screen at once. Not that it'll matter, you'll find yourself concentrating on getting your timing right.
Likewise, the music is very pleasant, if not a little childish. Think xylophone-like tapping and you'll get the idea. But that's what we'd expect from a game entitled JumpyBug (thankfully it can be muted when out and about). It's a shame there's no sound effects though.
Controlling JumpyBig is easy on a touchscreen device. To jump simply tap the space above your ladybug character. Doing so make it somersault into the clouds. Should you mistime it, tap again and it'll do a little flutter-like glide to buy you half a second. You'll be doing this a lot as you progress. As we've already mentioned, it's more of a challenge than it sounds and looks. If you've got the patience you'll find plenty to enjoy here, though it soon started to feel a little tiresome.
Another minor annoyance is the need to continually be engaged in a data connection. JumpyBug is free thanks to adverts that regularly pop up when you start a new game, exit an existing one or die. Thankfully these can be easily skipped by touching skip. But we were a little annoyed when we had to enter our age when asked if we were a boy or girl.
Overall, JumpyBug is a competent free Ovi Store game that does what it says on the tin. While it's challenging enough to take seriously it does wear thin after a while. It's worth a try, but we doubt you'll be playing it for long after beating your highest score for the tenth time. As a mild distraction, it does its job, but not much more.
Check out our JumpyBug Photo Gallery below:
