30-in-1 Game Collection

Genre: Compilation / Various

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

30-in-1 Game Collection is a compilation game that includes 30 “games”, although that’s saying a bit much, since pretty much all of them are simple and underdeveloped enough that it’d be more fitting to call them minigames. Rather than all of them being unlocked at the start, players must play through each one to unlock each additional themed “island” of five games, meaning that if you want to play all of the games here, you’ll have to play the worst of the bunch at least a little for the unlock. This is technically Volume 2 of a series, with the first Volume apparently not seeing release in the US.

Oh, and I apologize, but I didn’t test all of these games in multiplayer – I wasn’t going to subject another person to that. Hopefully this information is accurate.

Here’s how the games stack up (presented in the order they are unlocked):

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Anger of the Ancients	Platformer / Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C-
tl;dr In this Arcade-style platformer, players try to survive as long as they can, dodging falling platforms and collecting gems. This one works well enough, but becomes repetitive fairly quickly and doesn’t do anything particularly extraordinary. Also, there’s a lack of character sounds here that makes the game feel oddly quiet and incomplete.
Desert Treasure	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This is a top-down Arcade-style game where players move along platforms to collect pickups and void getting stuck on those platforms when they disappear. Unfortunately, this game is not only boring, but the random way the platforms disappear make this game depend far too much on chance. Also, again, this game has an odd lack of sounds – in this case, for the disappearing platforms.
Orb of Osiris	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D+
tl;dr This is a match-3 Puzzle game like the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move series, but it has an interesting twist in that players are aiming at a central, spinning target that the balls are surrounding, anticipating the physics as their ball causes the thing to spin. It’s a fantastic concept, but unfortunately the controls here are terrible, and far too oversensitive for the precision aim required.
A Beautiful Mind	Board Game / Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This game, which has nothing to do with Russel Crowe, is basically the board game Mastermind, the one where you’re guessing the colors of hidden orbs. It’s fine, but does nothing exceptional or interesting.
The Fickle Temple	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This game is a Flappy Bird-esque obstacle course, but your character is too slow and unresponsive.
Darkness is Coming	Arcade / Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This game has you memorizing a path through an obstacle course and then traveling that path with an inexplicably green cow after the hazards have been rendered invisible. It’s odd, and it is at least somewhat unique, but it’s not particularly compelling.
Dwarven Gold	Arcade / Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This game has you moving around a character to redirect tracks while mine carts travel on them to get to a destination. It’s kinda’ like Pipe Dream, except you don’t have direct control over the placement of tracks. That lack of direct control just makes for a frustrating experience.
Odin’s Ring	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr This is a top-down Arcade-style game where you’re moving a character around dodging an increasing number of dragons flying across the screen while collecting pickups. It’s simple, but not bad, although your character does move a bit slow.
Dragon’s Den	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This game has you piloting a dragon to collect treasure and avoid knights. Unfortunately, the game is overly simple and places too much of what needs to be done around the center of the screen.
Mineshaft Defense	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This game is kinda like a reverse-Shmup, where you play a dwarf being flung perpetually upwards, and can slam down on enemies beneath you. Very strange, but repetitive and not especially fun.
Witch’s Brew	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr This game has you using a bat and a moving cauldron to catch falling items. It’s repetitive, but a surprisingly fun test of dexterity before it starts to get old.
Bumper Racers	Racing / Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	F
tl;dr This is a top-down Racing game, but the controls are terrible sluggish, and during my time playing it I found myself getting stuck on the scenery. Don’t bother.
Alien Attack	Shmup	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This is a pretty generic Shmup, but it’s extremely repetitive and the slow firing speed makes it feel really tedious.
The Walking Robots	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D+
tl;dr This game has players piloting a pair of robots trying to avoid being dropped off of a grid, or conversely as another pair that uses their combined coordinates to target grid squares for removal. It’s a decent concept, but in execution the actions you take feel like they take too long to carry out, just making it frustrating.
Canyon Road	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C-
tl;dr This is a match-3 Puzzle game like Zuma. Unfortunately, the presentation makes it hard to see the color of the ball you’re meant to be shooting, and the physics simply aren’t as good as Zuma.
Piperman	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D-
tl;dr This is a Puzzle game that’s basically Pipe Dream, where you’re creating a pathway of pipes for a fluid to follow. This could have been a lot of fun, but it’s broken – at one point, the game refused to recognize a connected pipe for no apparent reason. Really frustrating, because this one actually had some promise.
Split ‘Em Up	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This game is an Arcade-style auto-scrolling obstacle course where, in addition to avoiding obstacles by moving, you must also split up your disc to fit through narrow gaps. It’s an interesting concept, but it’s difficult to wrap your head around in the midst of the fast-paced gameplay.
Robot Wars	Arcade / Action-Platformer	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D-
tl;dr This game has you defending generators strewn across the screen from attacking robots. Unfortunately, the slow movement of your character makes this game far too tedious and frustrating.
Bots & Bombs	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	B-
tl;dr This is a Top-Down Whack-A-Mole style game where players are moving a character to take out bombs before they explode, which in turn makes traversal harder. This one was surprisingly good, with a unique take on the genre and some good multiplayer potential, though it’s limited by how repetitive it is.
Pongonoid	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	B-
tl;dr This game is like a cross between Arkanoid and Pong, with players breaking blocks to try to send the ball past their opponent on the other side. It’s an inventive spin on two classic games, but it is sorely lacking extended options that could have made this have more lasting power.
Bug Hunter	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C-
tl;dr This is a match-3 Puzzle game like Tumblestone. However, it’s more frustrating because whenever you make a mistake, those mistakes compound in a way that’s difficult to recover from, making the game quickly cease to be fun.
Drop the Kiwi	Puzzle / Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D-
tl;dr This physics-based Puzzle game has you removing blocks under a hexagonal kiwi to try to get it to its next below. Unfortunately, once it starts rolling in a direction, it doesn’t want to stop, just making this an exercise in frustration.
Catch Them If You Can	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	D
tl;dr This is an obstacle course-style Arcade game where one character is chasing another while trying to avoid obstacles. Unfortunately, the controls aren’t very good, and the hit detection feels off.
Trials of the Tribe	Platformer	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This is a challenging Platformer where you’re trying to jump your way through an obstacle course before the exit closes. This game is really frustrating and unforgiving, in part because each mistake forces you to start over again.
Gemswap	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr This is a pretty unique match-3 puzzle game where you’re moving a bug through colored gemstones. Unfortunately, the lack of options and variety here really limits how much you can enjoy it.
Shaolin Volleyball	Arcade / Sports (Volleyball) / Platformer	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr This is an Arcade-y old-school Volleyball game. It’s nothing truly exceptional, but it’s a fun little distraction, especially for multiple players.
Pandancer	Music-Rhythm	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr This is a simple “timed button press”-style Music-Rhythm game with some surprisingly decent music (albeit with a miniscule track selection), but the “Chinese panda” theme seems random, just to shoehorn it into the game’s Chinese-themed “island”. Also, the visuals are terrible. On the whole, it’s okay, but there’s not enough here to keep you playing.
Origami Puzzle	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This is a Puzzle game where you’re fitting geometric shapes into a larger geometric shape. It’s fine, but does nothing new for the genre.
Pagoda Builder	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	B-
tl;dr This is an Arcade-style “dropping”-style game where you’re trying to target floors of a pagoda to fit onto the floors below, with the floors gradually reducing in size the more you miss. Simple and a tad repetitive, but it’s fun nonetheless.
Hinamatsuri	Puzzle	1-4 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr This is a “Find the Hidden Objects”-style game. It’s fine, but doesn’t really do anything new or extraordinary.

So overall, looking that over, out of 30 games, 8 are decent – nothing truly spectacular, but these are good and worth playing. 6 are about average, doing nothing exceptional or noteworthy. And a whopping 16 are below average or just plain bad.

However, in both the good and the bad here, the one unifying thing tying everything together is that so very many of these games are too simple, lacking in options, or lacking decent playtesting to iron out problems. Many of the games here could have been fantastic if given proper attention – Piperman would have made the basis for a solid Pipe Dream clone, if it worked. Pongonoid could have been a delightful multiplayer take on Pong and Arkanoid, if it were developed into a full game. Orb of Osiris could have made for an amazing twist on Bust-A-Move, if the controls worked. Bots & Bombs could have been a really cool take on Whack-A-Mole, if it were developed into a full game. Witch’s Brew, Odin’s Ring, Gemswap, Canyon Road, The Walking Robots – all of these minigames had a lot of promise, if they were just given more time to develop into something that delivered on that promise.

Instead, we’re left with a lot of good ideas delivered only partly-formed… well, and that’s amidst all of the low-effort crap.

And of course this is ignoring that, despite that I just pointed out to you the good and bad of this collection, if you want to try out one of the better games, like Pagoda Builder (probably the most “complete” game here, and that’s just because the concept is so ridiculously simple), then you have to play through all of the crap leading up to it first.

In the end, 30-in-1 Game Collection isn’t horrible, but it is a terrible waste of potential. While many of the games here are awful, a handful of them are actually pretty darn good, and with some care and attention they could have even been great. Unfortunately, virtually nothing in this collection of 30 “games” has been developed into an actual, fully-fledged game, and even the best games of the lot will only end up being brief distractions.

tl;dr – 30-in-1 Game Collection has a handful of decent games in among the stinkers, but even the best games here are lacking the options and could have used time to develop into a complete experience. Also, the collection unfortunately forces you to play through the stinkers to unlock all of the games. There is fun to be had here, but you have to sift through a lot of crap to find it, and the fun won’t last long when you do.

Grade: C-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2019 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Most Disappointing

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