More On: Kersploosh!

At some point in our lives, we’ve probably dropped something into a well of sorts, be it a small rock, a penny, or other small object.  What happens though after you’ve let go and the object starts to fall into the well?  Naturally we assume it just falls, hits the bottom, and goes plunk or splash, depending on if there’s any water in the well.  However, Poisoft as a different take on this scenario.  Let’s take a look at Kersploosh and see what really happens when you drop something into a well.
 
The goal of the game is simple: guide your chosen object as it falls down the well and prevent it from being destroyed.  You start off with just a simple stone that has average speed and one hundred hit points (HP).  Every time you collide into a wall or other object you lose some HP.  The amount lost depends on what you hit and how fast you were going when you hit is.  As you progress, you’ll come across doughnuts that will give you a temporary speed boost as well as balloons that will recover some of your HP.  Once you clear a well, another will become available with ten wells all together.  You can also unlock other objects to throw down the well, but I’m not sure how exactly to unlock them as they just seemed to randomly become available as you progress.  However, as of the time of this writing there are still two I don’t have unlocked yet, though I do have the object in the tenth spot available.  .
 

 

So what other objects can you throw down the well and why would you throw them in?  The two you can unlock that I really liked were the rubber ball and the steel ball.  The rubber ball is thrown in by someone who thinks the advertisement for it lied, saying it’d bring him joy.  However, after his family fell ill and his pet fish was eaten by a stray cat, he’s had enough and throws the rubber bouncy ball into the well.  It doesn’t fall very quickly and bounces up a bit when it hits an object, but it’s indestructible, meaning once you unlock it (which for me was pretty early on), you can just use it if your only goal is to clear all ten wells.  As for the steel ball, someone has decided to give up on the Shot Put and tosses it into the well.  While it is heavy, it isn’t indestructible.  However, it does boast an impressive 999 hit points, so it pretty much is and, like the bouncy ball, it makes clearing all ten wells ridiculously easy.  Some of the other objects you can obtain include nesting dolls (which have only five HP, but only loses one at a time when it collides with an object, losing the outer doll on each hit, thus getting smaller), a gem stone (fairly small, fairly fast, fairly fragile at only 80 HP), mutugen (one hit point, but incredibly small and fast), and a watermelon.  Yes, you can throw a watermelon down a well.
 
In terms of gameplay…that’s really it.  If your only goal is to just clear all ten wells and be done with it, you’ll be done with this game in half an hour or so.  For replayability, it’s basically replaying the same ten wells over and over again while trying to improve your times, perhaps with different objects.  While at first I had a hard time liking Kersploosh, I have improved my stance on it after sitting back and really thinking about it.  However, that doesn’t mean it’s completely flawless.  In fact, there are two factors that get on my nerves, and I think it was these two factors that made me initially dislike this game.  First off are the doughnuts.  The doughnuts themselves aren’t really the issue, but as you keep passing through multiple doughnuts in a row you’ll keep picking up speed.  Unfortunately, that means you have very little time to react to what’s coming up from below.  There were a few instances where I hit one doughnut, a second doughnut, a third doughnut, and half a second later I smack into some wooden planks because I can’t react fast enough, and remember that the faster you’re going when you hit something, the more HP you’ll lose.  On top of that, you’ll occasionally see an obstacle that looks like a doughnut until you’re almost upon it, then realize it’s just a brick platform that looks like a doughnut just as you smack into it.
 

 

The other issue is with controlling the objects themselves.  This isn’t that big of an issue, but when you move the object with the circle pad and then let go, it doesn’t stop on a dime.  It will carry over some momentum after you stop moving it, giving you a bit of a chance to accidentally drift into an oncoming object or over-correct yourself as you try to dodge said oncoming object.  It also doesn’t help that a couple of the objects (the stars and gears I believe) seem to actually home in on your object, making them quite difficult to avoid, even in the earlier wells.  Steering the object becomes better over time, but it’s still pretty easy to accidentally overshoot while avoiding an obstacle.  Also keep in mind that the faster you fall, the less time you'll have to react to whatever is approaching from below.  Unless you have the wells memorized, it might be best to avoid the doughnuts altogether, giving you more time to avoid what's coming up.
 
Overall, for three dollars Kersploosh isn’t too bad of a game.  It just seems really short and repetitive.  However, that does make it nice to play in short bursts while waiting for the bus or if you have nothing else to do and just want to pass some time.  Just keep in mind that if you’re looking for a long game or something that’ll take a while to complete, this might not be the game for you.  However, if you are looking for a game that you can play when you don’t have a lot of time or can still provide a bit of a challenge after everything’s unlocked, give it a shot.

Kersploosh really isn’t that bad of a game, it’s just short and repetitive. The main replayability in this game is just completing the same ten wells over and over using different objects to improve your times. However, for $3 it is a nice game to play in short bursts.

Rating: 7.4 Above Average