Clumsy Ninja is an adventure game developed by the well-known British software company Natural Motion. It is the first mobile game to use Euphoria game engine which has earlier been used in some popular games such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption. It’s similar to virtual pet games but with a cute ninja to take care of instead.
Downloading the game
It’s available for free on the App store and has in-app purchases. It can be played on ipad, iphone or ipod touch with iOS 5.0 or later and has a download size of 87.1 MB. To download it just use the search option in the App store.
Gameplay Experience
You start the game with this cartoonish looking ninja who is clumsy. Your mission is to train this ninja using certain training items and help him find the girl ninja he loves. An old man sensei guides you along the way as you train.
There are two main currencies in the game: coins and gems. Coins are used to pay for animals, training items, special event things and other featured items in the game. You can earn coins by completing tasks and leveling up. Gems on the other hand are hard to obtain and can be used to customize your ninja’s looks, repairing training items etc. Although the game is fully playable without spending real money, still if you want to speed up the game you can buy both coins and gems for real money. Also you get periodical discounts and packages which are cheaper and attractive if you do intend to spend money.
The training is the major part of the game and is quite humorous and fun. The training environment is very interactive and a pleasing to the eyes with impressive 3D graphics. You train the ninja using various training materials such as trampolines, punching bags, battle dummies and objects that you can throw at him etc. These training devices need to be repaired after use and have a cool down period. So here you can play strategically and take a break from the game for a while and come back to it after the cool down time. Another way would be to speed this up using gems but it is advised that you be stingy when spending gems as they are hard to earn.
As you train you gain XP and level up. A blue bar on top left of the screen shows the XP required to next level and your current level. As you level up new items, locations etc. are unlocked and you get closer to completing your mission. Also you earn new belts as you level up. There are some 99 levels or so in the game.
Leveling up seems to be the only payoff in the game apart from the currency you gain. The fastest way to level up in the game is to complete challenges. Challenges are nothing but simple mini games. Completing challenges will also reward you with coins and sometimes gems. More challenges you complete the stronger your ninja becomes. Here again you can skip challenges by spending some gems.
If you get bored with doing the same repetitive training tasks then you can relax sometime and do funny things with the ninja. You can tickle him till he runs away or tie helium balloons to his hands and legs and lift him up in the air or even throw and drag him around. You can also try applying potions on the ninja and have a laugh at the way he reacts.
You can also buy some animals from the animal rack to make things interesting. Animals produce coins and sometimes even XP though have a very high buying cost. Adding animals make the surroundings livelier. The game is frequently updated with new content and features added from time to time. Also there are special festive themed items added during various festivals like Halloween, Christmas etc.
Social Component
The game gives you an option to connect with Facebook and Twitter. You can find this option under the settings tab and invite friends to play or share your progress. You can take a picture of your ninja and share it online. A tip here is that even if you don’t plan to connect to any of the two social media sites, just log in once as you get free gems the first time you log in. You can also watch certain advertisement videos from time to time to obtain gems or speedup repairs.
Conclusion
The game has some impressive physics with gorgeous rendering of surroundings with highly interactive environment. The movements the ninja look very natural and realistic. The ninja itself is designed to look super cute with his big round eyes. The gameplay needs improvement as it is enjoyable at first but due to its repetitive nature it gets boring soon and starts to feel like a chore. Everything considered it is a fun to play game and will be enjoyed by all ages especially kids.
This article is written by Yuvraj Sharma
