Flipping Dice: Don't flip out
Flipping Dice(free) is a Match 3 type of game where players flip 24 dice, trying to get up to six of the same numbers in a row. Players can tap on individual dice or tap in the middle of two dice to flip the die and reveal a different number. Flipping Dice is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 5.1.1 or later.
With 24 dice, it feels like there are too many dice to keep track of, which leads to a less than stellar gameplay experience. It is easy for players to feel overwhelmed by the number of dice they have to manage to score higher points. For this reason, Flipping Dice feels kinda slow even with the strict time limit of 77 seconds. Players don't feel as much pressure to get higher scores within the time limit, as they are more concerned with the amount of information they have to sort through.
In addition to this, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of rewarding players visually for their successes. This is seen especially when the timer hits zero and the tiles become grayed out as the only real indicator of success is in the form of a small score counter in the top left corner. Players are left wondering what it means to finish the match, whether they are doing well or not is a bit obscure. Another oddity about the end of matches is that there isn't a replay button displayed on the screen as typically seen in other games. This further confuses players and makes them unsure of what to do next.
A
A small reward for players is the inclusion of achievements and leaderboards which encourages them to keep playing in order to climb the ranks and show off their achievements. However, this does not feel substantial enough to warrant continual playing of Flipping Dice.
There are a few UI elements that need some fixing as the sizing of the buttons on the screen are rather small which makes it hard to accurately tap these buttons. From the home menu, the achievements button has a spelling error and the text in general could use a quick look to make sure it matches the style of the other buttons. Another UI related problem in Flipping Dice is that the help button is grayed out during each match. This is confusing as players don't want to wait for the match to end before getting help.
Flipping Dice is free on the App Store and is not recommended as the overall gameplay experience is a bit lacking which takes away from its Match 3 foundation.
