Gamer’s Journey: Jetpack Joyride and My Love for Carrots

by Justin Lacey on January 10, 2012 at 3:14pm

I’m not really sure where I stand on mobile gaming these days. I’m incredibly cautious when it comes to the new handhelds, and in the last year I’ve switched from iOS to Android back to iOS for my phone (my day job aided the switch). Since spending a bit more time with tablets along the way, I started to draw the line that I really had no reason to play games on my phone as I was purchasing and playing less and less of them. All it takes is for one game designed correctly for the platform to remind you of why some of these games are best on the small screen. Jetpack Joyride has me back to gaming on my phone every single day, thanks in no small part to the addictive design of all of its incentives to play just one more round.

Jetpack Joyride

Mobile games need to be able to played in short bursts and save your progress. Halfbrick has mastered this design not only in its incredibly popular, Fruit Ninja, but also in Monster Dash which is the game that personally made me pay attention to them as a developer. The hero from Monster Dash, Barry Steakfries, returns and as in Monster Dash, the basic gameplay and Barry’s goal is to continuously run as far to the right as possible without dying. Barry has broken into a jetpack research facility and all kinds of security measures from zappers to lasers to missiles are trying to prevent his escape. Naturally, he has stolen a jetpack and flying up and down to get around obstacles proves to be pretty damn exciting. The lab is also filled with other experimental vehicles from flying robot dragons to teleporters that really mix up how Barry navigates the treacherous laboratory. One round can take anywhere from 2 seconds to a few minutes, but starting another round is quick and easy. I’ve personally had play sessions last one round and had other sessions last for 20+ rounds.

I’m a little competitive

I'm winning.

After adjusting to the gameplay I started paying attention to my high score. The high score in Jetpack Joyride is how far Barry travels to the right before dying. If you’re logged into Game Center (JJ is only on iOS for now) your high score is posted to the leaderboard. Being a little late to this game, my friends leaderboard was already filled with scores to beat. Leaderboards are not a unique feature to JJ, but it is an essential one has kept me playing games well after I’ve bested my own score.

Making it rain

Because I’m OCD about leaderboards, it didn’t take long for me to top my friends. This is where my interest in a game normally begins to wane, no matter how addictive or charming it is. Halfbrick has learned this fact, too, because there’s another scoring system at work within the game. While flying through the lab at incredible speeds, Barry can also pick up coins which took me a while to realize weren’t used on the leaderboards. The coins are used in the in-game store (The Stash) where you can buy everything from new outfits for Barry, new and crazier jetpacks, and of course power-ups for aiding in boosting your final distance or for collecting more coins.

After realizing what the coins were used for, I set my sights on a few jetpacks but realized it was going to take me a while to obtain the required number of coins for purchase. I settled in for a few long play sessions and took notice of the slot machine game that plays at the end of every round. Barry can pick up spin tokens during a round, and at the conclusion of the round you get a spin on the slot machine where you can win power-ups for future rounds, boosts to add to your total distance, and/or coin bonuses. Of course, Halfbrick was also smart to include the option where you can spend real world money to buy coins in the game, but you don’t want to be a cheater do you? While I was racking up a decent stash of honest coins, I was also getting much better at the game and enjoying the bonuses of getting lucky enough to win boosts in the slot machine to help my high score. Adding luck into the skill equation balances Jetpack Joyride in a really fun way, and again reignited my interest in the leaderboards.

Daddy needs a new jetpack.

I can do that

The cosmetics can only carry me so far, after a couple of outfit changes and a few new jetpacks, I lost my interest in the character customization options. That’s when I noticed the final carrot that rounds out the Jetpack Joyride experience: missions. When I first started accomplishing missions, I thought I was earning achievements (those are there, too) and I didn’t notice the difference between the two until I leveled up. At any time, you will have 3 active missions. Accomplishing any mission will give you a set amount of stars. Collect enough stars and Barry levels up. When Barry levels up, Barry receives coins for each star, and each level requires more stars to advance. Suddenly, those really high priced items became much more tangible and interesting to me. Plus, the mission variety was altering my playstyle and keeping me interested in playing another round to complete a mission which inevitable pushed me to try again to raise my high score after a good run. Missions include traveling a set distance in a certain vehicle, high fiving a set number of scientists, collecting a certain amount of coins in one run, or failing a run at a specific distance and quite a few more. Complete one mission, and a new one takes it place so the player always has three missions active at once.

Mohawk optional.

All of these incentives to keep playing Jetpack Joyride encourage me to play the game differently each round. I’m incredibly impressed that Halfbrick was able to squeeze so much variety into the gameplay while keeping the game simple, fun, and addictive. Going too far with any of these elements could have broken the game, but obviously the risk was worth the reward. Whenever I start to tire of going after a high score I focus on collecting coins and when that gets tiring I turn my attention to completing missions until I come back around to focusing on the high score. Throw in the bonus of changing up your gear every now and then and the brilliance to the game’s design and why it’s worth having it in your pocket for just one more round.