Hopeless: The Dark Cave review – keep calm and save the blobs

“A horror-inspired endless survivor game with an overdose of cuteness”

A group of scared yellow blobs tremble in a tiny circle of light, surrounded by hairy monsters who drag them into the shadows. It all seems so hopeless. Unless you can save them, and you’ll want to. The blobs are unbearably adorable, and the fuzzy feelings aren’t helped by their resemblance to Despicable Me minions. Hopeless_2 Hopeless_3 Hopeless: The Dark Cave will put your reflexes to the test while entertaining you all the way. The gameplay itself is quite simple. When a monster comes into the tiny circle of light, tap it and one of the blobs will fire a gun. Blobs never miss, so as long as you tap in the right direction the monster will go away. It doesn’t require a tutorial, so you can dive right into the game. Other blobs will join you, expanding your circle of light. You have to be careful not to kill them by mistake. Especially since blobs are emotional creatures and likely to commit suicide if they kill their friends. Hopeless_8 Hopeless_6 You earn 300 points for every blob in your circle. The maximum number of blob friends you can have is indicated on the bottom right corner of the screen, and if you reach this limit they’ll disappear from the screen, leaving you with a fat purse of bonus points. As you progress, you’ll be able to add more blobs to your circle, which will help you stave off stronger monster attacks. Although killing monsters is fairly easy, it gets challenging when they come at you in waves. It can get especially tricky to aim when they’re pouring out from all corners of the screen. Hopeless_9 Hopeless_7 Depending on how many points you amass, you’ll get power-ups, like blobs which expand your circle of light or a new gun. You’ll have to significantly advance in the game to get these, so if you’re impatient you can buy them as an in-app purchase. You can also buy a stash of emergency blobs, if you find yourself outnumbered by furry fiends. Hopeless_5 Hopeless_4 Since Hopeless is an endless survivor game, you’ll have to be careful not to get killed. Once you’re dead, you’ll have to start from scratch, although any power-ups you’ve unlocked will remain. Despite the smooth visuals and creepy soundtrack, the game can get repetitive after a point. The game’s developer, Upopa, has promised new features and game modes soon, and frankly, we’re quite hopeful. Hopeless won’t have you glued to the screen for hours on end, but it has good replay value. Plus it’s free, universal and cute. Get it for iOS or Android. Editor’s Rating: 8/10 Pros
  • Polished graphics
  • Not dependant on in-app purchases
Cons
  • Gets repetitive after a while
  • Not enough power-ups
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