Thumper: Pocket Edition

Thumper is a striking mix of metal, neon, swirling tendrils, shattered rock, and fluorescent fog—but don’t get distracted by the scenery or you won’t last very long.

This absorbing rhythm game starts out simple. Just tap the screen to the music as lights that appear on a track hurtle toward your vehicle. Soon there’ll be barriers to duck, lethal spikes to leap over, and corners to contend with.

Fail to negotiate them and you might scrape through; that is, if your craft—a shiny metallic robot beetle—doesn’t explode first.

The better you play, the more complex and complete the sparse, muscular electronica soundtrack becomes (listen to it on Apple Music, if you’re so inclined).

Keep up with the relentless pace, dodge the hazards hurtling at you, and you’ll even reach boss battles, where negotiating a tricky sequence gives you the chance to fire back at your foe with a decisive, impeccably timed tap.

Thumper gets tough, no question, but chaining together a perfect run of taps and swipes makes you feel at once like a godlike videogame ninja and an avant-garde dubstep producer from the future.

Thumper: Pocket Edition

Rhythm Violence

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