Green Jelly stretches onto Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8

Hey guys, did you miss me? I’ve been busy playing Green Jelly, which you mustn’t confuse with the band who performed ‘Three Little Pigs’ in the nineties.

This Green Jelly is actually the latest Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 game from Russian developer MaxNick. Xbox gamers should remember MaxNick’s highly enjoyable Spider Jack and the boring-but-easy Turn N Run. Their latest game unfortunately doesn’t have Xbox features (more on that after the break), but it is still a cute and approachable physics puzzler in the vein of Spider Jack.

The need to feed

Like Spider Jack before it, Green Jelly starts out with a very brief but humorous cinematic that lays out the game’s premise. The creature (whose name is the same as the title) is sort of a living chunk of gelatin. One day he heads to the refrigerator only to discover that it’s woefully empty. This of course inspires him to seek food elsewhere…

Instead of flies, Green Jelly eats sweets. The goal of each level is to reach the gingerbread house exit while eating as many candies as possible. These candies are optional pick-ups, but you do need them to unlock new level sets so you can’ skip too many. Green Jelly has three sets of 20 levels at launch, for a total of 60 levels. MaxNick promises more in a future update.

Stretch and shoot

The actual gameplay works a bit like Cut the Rope and similar games, with a few twists to keep it from being too similar. Our hero needs to latch on to objects in order to get around. Touch and drag him and he’ll extend a limb over to nearby objects. Make a swiping motion over his limbs to cut them, causing him to drop down or slingshot around.

The unique mechanic here is that Green Jelly can slingshot with a great degree of precision. Whenever he is latched on to at least one object, pull at him and you’ll see a line appear to show which way he’ll fly. Then release and Jelly shoots off in whatever arc you selected, hopefully grabbing candy along the way. As long as he passes by another fixed object, he’ll safely latch on to it.

Miss or otherwise allow poor little Green Jelly to fall off the screen and he dies.  Various obstacles can kill him too, such as purple buzzsaws and electrical currents. Luckily there is no penalty for dying. The level restarts instantly, allowing the player to try a new (and hopefully less dangerous) strategy.

Xbox denied

As we mentioned earlier, two of MaxNick’s previous games have been Xbox-enabled. Both of those titles came from Chillingo, Electronic Arts’ indie publishing arm. Green Jelly is not published by Chillingo though. On iOS and Android, G5 Entertainment is the publisher, whereas MaxNick chose to self-publish on Windows platforms.

Sadly, Microsoft still does not allow indie developers to self-publish Xbox games on Windows Phone. Because MaxNick didn’t sign up with a big publisher (thus giving them a cut of the profits), Green Jelly has to go without Xbox features. Mobile Xbox gamers should be used to situations like this by now, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

Hungry for more

Green Jelly can’t compete with Cut the Rope as far as looks, but the protagonist does look cute and animate pretty well. The backgrounds are themed after various foods like waffles and chocolate bars. They tend to be on the brown side; hopefully future levels add a bit more color.

If you enjoy games of this type, you’ll probably dig what Green Jelly has to offer. The puzzles start out good and easy, gradually ramping up in difficulty over time. The mechanics of latching onto objects and slingshotting off of them give players a lot of approaches towards solving the various puzzles too. Hopefully MaxNick pumps out new levels and gives this game some staying power.

The phone version is priced just right for what you get, but the Windows 8 version seems a bit pricey. At least they both offer a trial, so players can get a taste of the jelly before buying it.

  • Green Jelly – Windows Phone 8 – 28 MB – $.99 – Store Link
  • Green Jelly – Windows 8 and RT – 51 MB – $4.99 – Store Link (opens in new tab)

Paul Acevedo

Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!

28 Comments
  • Where's TR2?
  • On Android ..!!
  • Coming in a couple of weeks, it was announced at Nokia World :)
  • Pass! TR just bored me to tears.
  • At least TR2 has support for Xbox Live! Free achievements, yes please! Can't wait!
  • Lol I didn't even know I got first with this comment.. Yes I know it's coming, I just wish they have a date or timeline for all those "coming soon" items
  • How about the day after tomorrow? After all, it's a Xbox Live game so it has to come on a wednesday :P
  • It's not only TR2 there are so many xbox game titles that are waiting to be released but Microsoft as always knows well how to disappoint us customers!
  • Where's PVZ2, Seamless, HBOGO, Citibank, WWE, and not to mention a real YouTube app and I know about MetroTube and the rest of them but still we need an official one. I know there's much more apps that need to be added this is just my personal list.
  • Sooooooo gladly that Paul came back!! :)
  • Thanks dude! :D
  • Even i have been waiting since nokia world for temple run2. No news about tp2, wpc guys any updates on temple run2 eagerly waiting for it
  • We asked the developer but he has not responded.
  • Isn't it depressing that Green Jelly's "Three Little Pigs" was over twenty years ago?
  • Ha ha, time gets the best of us all.
  • Very depressing indeed lol
  • Think I've got the single somewhere on a green printed LP!
  • Microsoft seems to have a pricing problem with Windows 8/RT apps.  
  • Pricing really comes down to the publisher. If Microsoft didn't publish the game, they're not responsible for its price.
     
  • Haha @ Paul Acevedo, I played with Green Jelly on Friday night in Fargo, ND. 
  • Looks neat. I love these type of games. But unfortunately just don't have the time for non Xbox games...
  • I'm getting tired of Microsoft not allowing indie publishers to publish their games with Xbox features. That's the only reason I even have a windows phone.
  • Likewise. I love the OS for the most part but am baffled why WP users are constantly shafted when it comes to games, and games with Xbox functionality. I don't think I'll ever switch however I'll always have to keep an android or iPad with me in order to try out most of these games we're missing out on.
  • Of cause we missed you Paul! I was hoping you were stuck in Order & Chaos. Speaking of such, can you try to reach out to Gameloft about eventual updates? On the EU server the store only gives "Server error, connect later". Its been like this for at least a week now and I do hope I could get some runes someday and move to US servers since EU server is dead ... almost, very frustrating. I hope Gameloft have more plans in the future for O&C. Plz investigate!! (I wonder if frame rate can go up with the new WP8 phones)
    Sincerely from a Paul and O&C fan.
  • Aww, thanks man. I'll hit Gameloft up again about an update - I actually need them to refund my Runestone purchase since the mount I wanted to buy is bugged out. Let's hope they keep supporting and improving the game.
  • They must have finally read my complaints and reset the servers because me an people in my guild can just now buy runes again. Phew. But keep bugging them. If you keep asking them for expansions and bugg fixes maybe, just maybe you get through. Love the game but there support seems off. If you try to submit a ticket there fields for WP is somewhat dated. One can still select Windows Mobile store :)
  • Awesome
  • Just another game I would buy if it only had achievements.  MS has to have a numbers sheet somewhere that shows people are far more likely to pay for games if it has achievements and many of us will never pay for a game without achievements.  Just lift your dumb restrictions already.  Achievements were the one deciding factor in why I got a Windows phone over an Android and I'm beginning to regret that decision with the slim pickings of games with achievements.