Save Yammi – Review – iOS

Look out! A new monster is in town and eating all your cookies; but unlike another familiar monster that resides in garbage cans eating cookies, this monster, named Yammi, floats through the water pipes across the US in search of cookies to eat. However, he can’t do it alone. The cookies are too high for him to reach and he needs your help!

Gameplay: At first glance, there is no doubt that similarities between this game, Save Yammi, and another iOS game called Cut the Rope will be drawn. However, unlike Cut the Rope where you are required to cut ropes in order to feed a creature, Save Yammi requires you to create paths with rope to guide a cookie to a creature named Yammi. At first the levels are very basic and only require you to create paths for the cookie to reach Yammi, however, as you progress, new obstacles are added such as walls, stormy clouds, electricity, and other objects that would block or break a cookie before it reaches Yammi. Some items are available to help navigate the cookie safely to Yammi such as floating bubbles, invincibility shields, teleporters and even items that will shrink or re-enlarge a cookie so it can fit in tight spaces. Some other objects, like the spinner or even the floating bubble can not only help, but also put the cookie in harms way so plan ahead and maybe route around the danger ahead. And finally, with the use of the gyroscopic controls available to the iOS devices, you can help steer the cookie through the levels. Drawing ropes and watching the cookie follow a path collecting stars, avoiding obstacles and reaching the mouth of Yammi with Rube Goldberg-like challenges was interesting. I kept wondering what new challenge I would be playing through next.

In total, there are 10 US states with 10 levels in each for a total of 100 levels. Each state features a different theme and challenge for getting the cookie to Yammi. The amount of levels is great and provides a good amount of varied gameplay, however there was one thing that I felt needed improvement. The gyroscopic controls for instance are great because they allow you to “steer” the cookie instead of relying on physics but I felt that the controls were too tight or slow – I felt that there should have been more fluidity.

Graphics: Save Yammi features colourful cartoon art with varied backgrounds to provide an overall theme between levels in each state.

Overall: In the end, if you like Cut the Rope, chances are you will also like Save Yammi, which essentially is the reverse of Cut the Rope with the ability to add rope. The Rube Goldberg-like challenges are interesting and will keep you wondering if the next level will be just as interesting as the last. However, the tight and slow gyroscopic controls may frustrate you quite a bit but with 100 levels and only some absolutely requiring you to use the gyroscopic controls, you should have plenty of fun otherwise.

Overall score: 6.5/10

An iOS code for this game was provided from the publisher for review purposes.

Popularity: 60% [?]