Spider Jack

It is safe to assume that the majority of people do not like spiders. Whether this is down to them having 8 legs or scuttling across rooms and up walls. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears in people.

Spiders aren’t really the bad guys. Yes they are a little creepy and too fast to be natural; however, they do save us from countless flies and other bugs over the years. This helpful streak can also be seen in our hero – this cute little arachnid has two goals: collect stars and eat dinner. Jack has to use his natural gift of his web, plus a few man-made items such as hooks, bubbles and hairdryers to achieve this.

When Jack is swinging or hanging on his web, a quick swipe on the touch screen will cause the string to break. Timing is key to the game as a mistimed cut will cause the spider to fall and the level to be repeated. There are no “lives” or continues in Spider Jack so a level can be repeated as many times as it takes to feed Jack.

There are currently three main areas of Spider Jack each containing 20 standard levels and 5 additional levels that have to be earned from gifting to others or being gifted by someone who has the game. To give or receive a gift this has to be done from the game’s “Crystal” gaming service. The service gives the option to share with any friends who use the Crystal service, Facebook, Twitter or even from mobile phone contacts directly.

The levels themselves start off simple enough. The Barn level eases Jack into the ins and outs of successful fly catching and star collecting. Then as the levels are swung through, the difficulty increases and more obstacles appear. These can take the form of electricity and stars that only appear for a limited time. Even with the hurdles, most can easily be beaten in three or four attempts as there is a pattern to each challenge.

The cartoon style graphics are clean and well polished and do not require a lot of processing power, so this means the game does not slow down when played. As the games is designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the music sinks into the background and would not intrude on any music being played at the time.

This is a nice little game to play with no real frustrations to contend with. The only downfall with Spider Jack is that the game levels are easily beaten, there is currently no re-playability. That is until the new levels are released. The game does have Game Centre features to give a little extra playability, however the majority of trophies are picked up easily throughout the game. While Spider Jack lasts, it is a joy to play, and when the new levels are added it will give an extra life to the happy little spider.