Tapping a cardboard box? Whatever next?
When Let’s Tap turned up at the office a while back, I was confused. It come in a big box with several small boxes included, I couldn’t help but think “WTF?” and then when I finally got the concept, I was stunned. It becomes addictive quickly and is definitely a must-have party game for a group of gamers, not so much if you are playing solo.
I say that because having tried it alone, it doesn’t quite feel the same as competing with friends and family. You can get AI opponents for one of the modes, but it isn’t as much fun as trying to beat people you know. The idea of Let’s Tap is to place the Wii Remote down on a flat box and to tap the box itself softly or hard to play the few game modes that the game offers.
The first is a running mode in which you tap the box softly to run and hard to jump over a few hurdles and platforms along the path. It’s tough but really fun to play and there are plenty of levels for you and others to get into. The second mode is like a version of the block building game Jenga, but the object is to remove blocks to make combos based on the colours of the other blocks. It’s pretty hard too as you are required to tap your block out of the others so you don’t bring down the tower. It can be great fun, I found it quite addictive.
Another mode seems like a cross-over between Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero. Essentially you just tap at certain points like you would in the games mentioned, it’s simple and there are no licensed songs included…unfortunate but the mode itself is quite fun. Next is a game that is a side-scroller where you tap to fly high to avoid obstacles, leave for a bit to come down and tap hard to fire missiles. It can be annoying, but in a good way.
Finally there is a mode where you simply tap to create effects on the screen like fireworks and a few others. I wouldn’t really call it a mode, it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose other than creating special types of fireworks.etc on screen. There is an on-screen prompt that tells you what type of taps you need to do to pull off a specific effect, which is about as deep as the mode gets.
Let’s Tap may only appear to have a few modes, but there are addictive to play as long as you have people to play with. Even still, the idea does become a bit old after a while…don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the game immensely and I will probably be playing it for a long time to come, I just can’t imagine myself playing it unless everyone else was in the mood for it. It’s not one of those games that you can play on your own, which is perhaps its main problem. Sure I guess you can technically play it solo, but without any audience you won’t care. I guess the only modes worth playing alone is the block and flying ones, but even still they do lose their appeal quickly.
I do wish that there were more modes to dig your teeth into for Let’s Tap. Perhaps ones that are more fun to play solo than with others, just to make it worth playing alone as well as with friends and family. Well, we can always pray for a sequel that attempts to address these small issues. Visually, Let’s Tap is very simplistic but is smooth to look at. It has an arcade-style feel to it that fits quite well. Sound effects are basic but do the job.
The Verdict
Let’s Tap is a must-have game for you 3 others when you have a few drinks. The concept is gripping at first, but it does become old after a while and with only 5 modes to play…it’s not going to hold your attention for that long. But it will last much longer providing you have others to play with, if not then you’ll become bored of it much faster.
