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2583 Horror Vacui [iPhone]

Although Aristotle’s belief that nature abhors a vacuum has long since been abolished, it appears modern science forgot to consider the effects of such a vacuum on the App Store. I’m talking, of course, about the curious absence of truly innovative and exploratory gaming titles for the iPhone platform, and Shaun Inman’s attempt to fill such space with his aptly named Horror Vacui.

Billed as a self-proclaimed ‘abstract puzzler’, a typical game of Horror Vacui takes place on a 5 by 5 board called the vacuum. Each player is assigned an element (of either Water or Earth) and must then place representative cards onto the vacuum at a rate of one per turn. Each card is randomly chosen to represent one of three temperatures: normal, hot or cold. Hot and cold cards are considered ‘extremes’ and have a direct influence upon adjacent cards. A game is over when the vacuum has reached capacity, with the winner determined by the number of normalized cards in their possession.

In visual art, horror vacui is regularly used to represent a fear of empty spaces, a prospect Horror Vacui’s beautiful, pixel-centric appearance makes all too real. Indeed, you would certainly not be blamed for feeling an almost cenophobic urge to fill every inch of the vacuum with Inman’s ode to a by-gone era. Of particular note is the inclusion of a Pacman-esque ‘kill screen’ as the games loading dialog: something bound to cause confusion for the average user but guaranteed to evoke a strange sense of satisfaction for those ‘in the know’.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment surrounding Horror Vacui is that appreciation for the title has been slightly more vacuous than the developer would have hoped (something which comes as a relative surprise given Mr. Inman’s near household name amongst designers and digital connoisseurs alike). Nevertheless, Horror Vacui should be commended for it’s bold approach and unique concept. At once against the grain but also entirely instep with existing iPhone puzzle classics, Horror Vacui is a must buy for anyone who appreciates the ability to find complexity in even the most simple of subjects.

Platform: iPhone
Version: 1.1
Cost: $1.99
Developer: Shaun Inman

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• Author: Nial

  Nial Giacomelli is a twenty-one year old web developer living in the United Kingdom

  
  URL: http://nial.me
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