Windows Phone Game Review: Incredible Circus

Incredible Circus is a Windows Phone game that recently hit the Marketplace. It's a free game and the latest release from iNdT - Nokia Institute of Technology.

iNdT isn't a Nokia company but rather a non-profit research and development institute founded by Nokia. It is independent from Nokia and focuses on the generation of new concepts, products and solutions for areas related to mobile technologies and the internet.  iNdT has four current releases on the Marketplace including another game (Frog) and two apps in Portuguese dealing with fuel consumption and lottery numbers (Fuel+ and Loterias). The nice thing about this is that while iNdT is loosely associated with Nokia, the apps aren't exclusive and can be enjoyed on all Windows Phones.

To find out more on iNdT's latest game, Incredible Circus, hit the break.

Incredible Circus is the latest of the four iNdT apps and is a multi-level game where you bounce a circus daredevil around a series of trampolines to reach a platform. Along the way you have an assortment of obstacles and dangers to avoid. There's a pesky knife thrower and a fire breather that can really dampen the mood.

The main menu for Incredible Circus is brief with options to quit, mute the sound and play the game. In the upper left corner of the main menu is a "i" that will take you to the about screen and a odd symbol in the right where you can share the game via social networking.

When you tap play your next step is to choose your circus tent. Game play is progressive in that you need to complete the levels in the first tent to move on to the next and so on. Currently there are two tents with a combined total of ninety six levels and a third tent marked "Coming Soon". All you need to do is choose your tent, then your level and game on.

You move your daredevil by tapping/holding the trampoline he is on, set his direction of flight by sliding your finger around, and releasing your hold when your aim is just right. As you progress through the levels the journey to the landing platform gets more challenging with angled trampolines, rubber bumpers and those pesky knife throwers.  As you move up the levels, you'll also have the opportunity to shoot your daredevil from a barrel.

Your score is based on how quickly you can reach the platform and style points for landing in the center of the landing. Once you reach the platform, the next level is unlocked. Once unlocked each level can be re-played to see if you can better your score.

All in all, I found Incredible Circus to be a fun game. The game is nicely animated, challenging enough to keep you interested but not too hard to get you frustrated and overall an entertaining game to pass the time with. I wouldn't mind seeing online leaderboards come into play to give players bragging rights but the game has staying power without.

Incredible Circus is a free game for your Windows Phone and you can grab it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.