~flOw~ is serenity,
like wandering the city aquarium
in the morning
before all the guests have arrived.

It’s

Great Presentation:
-The pause screen is basically a higher depth, where there are no predators or prey. You can still swim around too. To go back to where you were, just hit “start” or eat the red circle. To go back to the main menu, just eat the blue circle and you’ll swim back up.
-When another player joins, you’ll swim up to the pause screen to join him/her. Hit “start” again to go back to where you were, with your new friend in tow. To leave the game, all the other player has to do is put down the controller. Your organism will then simply leave its friend behind when you change depths. There’s nothing to take you out of the experience.

But

It’s Not Really a “Game”

flOw is simple. You play as a bioluminescent organism, and you eat other bioluminescent organisms as you travel deeper and deeper into the “ocean,” getting bigger and bigger until you finally get to play as another type of bioluminescent organism. Control is entirely tilt based, and it works really well. While some games have it so that when you tilt left, you turn left, flOw’s creature moves in what ever direction you tilt relative to the screen. So when you tilt left, you go left regardless of the direction you were moving in before. Pushing any button will give you a boost. In some case, that just means you swim faster, but some of the other organisms you get to play have other abilities which adding a little variety. I’m not going to mention those here since some of the fun comes from figuring out what your new abilities are for.

flOw’s music, especially, evokes that feeling of wonder you get going to Epcot Center’s World Showcase, watching the sun set behind the ocean, or watching Sunrise Earth on DiscoveryHD. Even if you’ve never done any of those things, I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at. The sound effects are harmonic and make the soundtrack dynamic and responsive to your actions. It’s like Electroplankton, and it’s really cool.

flOw isn’t really a game as we usually think of the word, mostly because you can’t lose in flOw. Some of the other organisms you bite into will bite back, but the most that can happen to you is getting sent back up a depth, so it’s not much of a penalty. flOw is more of an interactive experience and definitely not for everyone. “Pointless” is the critism that comes to mind. Still, the experience and visuals are worth it.

I’d pay: $8 for flOw.