Fox vs. Duck review

MrFungFung implores you to “play, for duck’s sake,” the iPhone app Fox vs. Duck. And it really is for the all the ducks’ sakes that you do. You must rescue them from both the fox that circles the pond hungrily and the bloodthirsty fish (!!) that circles the pond itself. In your way and slowing the ducks down are the various bits of pond life, such as lily pads and rocks.

The ducks are dropped one by one onto the middle of the pond–your objective is to move them out of it and to safety while avoiding the fox and the fish. To do this, simply tilt the iPhone in the direction you want the duck to swim towards, and hope that it moves faster than the two predators. To make things more difficult, the lily pads and rocks move around and even multiply. There are two modes you can play in: Challenge Mode and Survival Mode. Challenge Mode is timed. Each duck that is saved earns you a bit more time. Survival Mode offers an endless supply of ducks and five lives.

Fox vs. Duck breathes the term simplistic. The pond is the basic center of the game. The graphics are spare, yet elegant. You have only one way to control movements. The color scheme is a study in monochrome. The music and sound effects are indeed, for lack of a better word, zen, for they consist of water droplets and dulcet bell tones. However, Fox vs. Duck is also full of contradictions, as it would be an extremely relaxing game if not for the sudden adrenaline rush of avoiding a bloody death…and they are bloody (that the bloodred is the only splash of color to be seen is genius). The graphics are both beautiful and adorable, but the quizzical face of the fox and the generally peaceful koi fish are the ones enthusiastically chomping down on a fluffy fowl. It is a marvelous concept fantastically carried out, and you can own it for only $0.99. Don’t be surprised if you end up doing strange bodily contortions to save the ducks.

Here is a video demo of the Fox vs. Duck app on the iPhone

AppSafari Rating: 4.5/5

AppSafari review of Fox vs. Duck was written by Julie Guan on March 24th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Fun, Games, Physics Based, Racing. Page viewed 6200 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.