Dextris is a fresh release by a Canadian developer, Chaotic Box, and it challenges your reflexes. Beautiful, yet simplistic graphics and fast pace can make this game either your new addiction, or a temporary draw – you choose.
You have to use simplistic touch controls to direct two luminescent squares that travel along a dangerous pathway. Set in a minimalistic sci-fi environment, Dextris has those two boxes traveling along the passageways packed with obstacles and traps at the breakneck speed.
The left square is controlled with the left side button, and the right square by the right button, so once you tap on either of the buttons the corresponding square directs towards the walls. Once you let go, the boxes go towards the center of the screen.
Every obstacle you avoid successfully grants you 10 reward points, but if you should let one of the squares hit the obstacle – game over. With each 10 points you win, the game awards you with a faster pace, so your nerves will be challenged roughly if you want to go beyond one hundred.
Visuals
Visuals deserve a say here, for the neon cubes as well as the environment are rendered in a perfectly gorgeous sci-fi manner you can find in the likes of Smash Hit and Unpossible, even though more simplistic. Occasionally, you will see the beautiful shower of neon sparks as your cubes hit the walls or smash against the obstacles. Set in a dark blue color, the game plays well on the contrast of different shades of grey obstacles, which makes them easily distinguishable.
The obstacles are of 4 types – the ones that make your cubes stick together in the middle, separate, or move left or right.
Challenge
The main challenge here is to survive and stay alive as much as you can, but it gets more and more difficult with every 10 points you earn. After you succeed past a dozen obstacles, the game turns into a neck breaking blur of obstacles, so you will have to trust your instincts to make it through.
Controls
The controls are smooth and intuitive, perfectly responsive to provide a natural feel to the gameplay that tests your reflexes.
Pros
- Frantic and fun
- Addictive and entertaining
- Responsive and neat controls
- Classy touch to the simplistic twitch gaming
- Easy to learn
- Impressive visuals matched with sound score
Cons
- Gets tiring when the novelty wears off
Conclusion
Dextris is not an overly complicated, but it’s hard to master and it’s a definite must-have finger-numbing game for the fans of twitch-based games. You get to control two neon blocks using your both hands – a task seemingly simple, but provided the game throws at them different obstacles, you need to dodge to the left and right to survive. The game is perfect for short sessions, but it probably won’t hold your attention for long hours. It is highly immersive at the beginning, while it can get a bit tiring when you have played it long enough.
Other games of the type we recommend: Hopeless, Smash Hit, Unpossible.
