I am going to keep reminding you what I’m doing. I scrolled to the bottom of the Apple Arcade list and I’m working my way back up. Giving impressions and making a giant list in order from favorite to least favorite. Next up on the list is Way of the Turtle.

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According to the date on my first screenshot of this game, I first started it at the beginning of 2020. I didn’t play for long and quickly bounced off. I picked the game back up at the beginning of 2021 a full year later and again quickly bounced off again. Now, yet another full year later in 2022 I went back to the game and beat it.

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I don’t remember why I bounced off the game the first time but I do remember why the second time and honestly the same reason almost made me quit the game again but I’m glad I didn’t. The style of game is just not my usually preferred game. It’s basically a Metroidvania so you will be backtracking a lot. I often got lost and found the map system virtually useless. I play games for fun, to take a break from my day, and just to escape to a new world. I don’t play games for a challenge or to constantly get stuck.

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Once I got the hang of the game I stopped getting lost as much and really started to enjoy the game. The controls of the game are simple and easy to understand. Your turtle will automatically run and you have only two button presses for actions. Touch the right side of the screen to jump and touch the left side to use one of three of your skills. You unlock skills while you play, that’s where the Metroidvania aspect comes in. Before you unlock everything you will see certain areas you do not have the ability to access yet due to not having the correct skill.

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The story of the game has you exploring an island trying to figure out what happened that corrupted the island with evil magic. Along your journey, you will be trying to find gophers in need of rescue.

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After you unlock and level up all your skills you will face off with the reason the evil magic is present. This was the first time I thought I beat the game. After this duel, there is still a good chunk of the game left to go.

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The island is beautiful and the art style looks cute making the game appear like it would be kid friendly and easy. Surprisingly a lot of the platforming and encounters were very difficult leading to a lot of deaths. When I died I never felt it was the game’s fault. It made me want to practice and get my timing down for certain jumps. Getting passed an area I was stuck on was often rewarding.

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After I cured the island and beat the game I still had a little less than half of the gophers to be found and rescued and I eagerly went back exploring trying to find them. Sadly beyond that, there is not much replay value. n

I enjoyed my time with the game and it took me a lot longer than I initially expected. It took me a little over 10 hours to get to the end and roll credits.

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Verdict

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Way of the Turtle is deceivingly hard but was always fun. Exploring the island at times was tedious and often got me lost but I always had a good time. While there is no reason to go back and play I really enjoyed my playthrough and recommend this game to any Apple Arcade subscriber.

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Final score 7.5/10

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The List

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1. What the Golf?

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2. Way of the Turtle

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3. Where Cards Fall

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4. Word Laces

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