REVIEW: Auro – A Monster Bumping Adventure


Title	Auro: A Monster-Bumping Adventure
Developer	Dinofarm Games
Publisher	Dinofarm Games
Release Date	Apr 13, 2016
Genre	Strategy
Platform	PC
Age Rating	N/A
Official Website

Why do I put myself in these situations where I am playing games that get on my nerves? It isn’t the game. It’s me! I am no good at puzzle type games. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I kick ass at some. Others though… it’s just bad. Anyhow, I thought I’d give this a try because it snuck up on me that it would be a puzzle game! The Steam page talks about bumping your opponents off the edge of the screen. Death and massacre. I love it. That isn’t so easily done since you have to actually plot this stuff out. Seems like it being a strategy game and all I would have put more thought into that. Of course not!

In this title, you are guiding Prince Auro through each level as you move up the ranks. There are not a ton of options in the game and frankly, it doesn’t need them. This is a solid strategy title that requires you to think before you act, as any strategy game should! Each level is procedurally generated and has some really cute enemies that each move in a different way. Some can move one spot at a time while others will move in a pattern rather than one spot at a time. A few enemies will come at you while others will leave you alone until you mess with them. As you unlock new ones the game will offer you a “tip” and tell you what they can do. Pay close attention to these screens as the abilities and move patterns of each are what you base your strategy of attack on each with.

Basically, you are looking at a section of tiles that you need to move around on until you reach the enemies and then bump them off the screen. Moving is done with the mouse. You just click on the tile you want to move to and voila! You move there. Pick the direction you want to go in to bump an enemy and get it done. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! Some things need to be hit several times, some slide YOU out of the way when you hit them. Honestly, without the enemies getting to mess with you a little this game would likely be boring as hell, so I’m glad they added that in.

The game features an original thematic soundtrack that is oddly soothing. I don’t know if the creators knew that we would need our nerves soothed or what but well done. There is also a very satisfying thunk as you hit each enemy, and the splash as you knock them off the board and into the water. Graphically I enjoyed the overall look of the game. It sort of reminds me of a board game come to life. Nothing is overly done and each enemy has a great unique style.

You need a certain score to move on to the next level so the replay value is pretty high. You are going to need to stick with it to unlock the next level and see what horrors await you. There are spells to help you out. Dash lets you move two tiles and leaves a vortex behind which sucks enemies in. Snowball will toss a snowball at your enemies which freezes them for a bit. You can see a few that are unlocked early in the game in the screen below. Each does something different and has a cool-down period once you use them. These will most definitely come in handy and help get you through to the next level.

I spent about 15 hours with the game and could probably put another 40 in just for fun. For $1.99 it is well worth the price and will offer you at least a few moments of puzzle playing fun here and there. This is another one of those titles that might not be for everyone, and that is OK! The mechanics are solid, the levels are fun to look at, and who doesn’t like pushing enemies off the board?