Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Last generation was absolutely stuffed with sequels and me-too game clones. This generation has tried to take the stink off of sequels with subtitles instead of numbers and, in some cases, bona-fide new directions for a franchise. That said, there’s nothing quite like a new franchise that starts off on the right foot. Over the past year we’ve seen some new original stuff on the PS3 and PSP.

I enjoyed Resistance: Fall of Man, Folklore (until the end), was impressed by what I’ve played of Heavenly Sword, and found LocoRoco cute but not fun enough for me to buy the full version. Most recently I was really charmed by the demo for Patapon, a game I figured I wouldn’t like after Wombat said it felt very repetitious on CAGCast 108.

I did go ahead and play the demo and have to agree with the critics that are giving it high marks. The art style is really neat, giving the Patapons and their world a unique and fun personality, and the music is very catchy. The RPG-lite like rewards for good play have what I like to call the loot factor, giving you currency and resources to improve your tribe, and you can replay some previous levels repeatedly to grind more items, try out new tactics, and practice your timing. To be fair all of my impressions come from the lengthy official demo you can download from the PlayStation Store on your PC or PS3, and I did have a taste of how complex things might get at the end of the demo with a fun little boss fight, but the demo hooked me.

I’ll be picking up Patapon next chance I get so I can make my tribe jam to the beat and rip through the bad guys in Fever mode. The demo let me save my progress at the very end so I can pick it up in the final, retail game which is something I greatly appreciate. Add in the $19.99 price point and you have a marketing plan to be proud of from a company that, let’s face it, doesn’t often have one.