Save The Planet

Save The Planet is way more colorful and somewhat more entertaining than its App Store icon suggests… no, this isn’t a list of things you can do to be “green”, it’s a game where trash is falling from the sky and you’re sorting it into three different recycling bins. According to iPhoneSmartApps.org, “your mission is to save the planet from trash!” but personally I prefer to think of this as a role-playing game where I’m putting in community service hours at a recycling center because I’m 16 years old and I was a bad boy who got busted by the cops in the middle of the school day for terrorizing a certain someone who came to a party at my house and stole my walkman out of my bedroom! Not that that actually happened, of course…

But I digress! First time in my life using that phrase, btw, hope I did it justice. So uh, where was I… oh yeah… this game is all about sorting trash. Milk cartons and books go in the paper bin, wine glasses and bottles go in the glass bin, and things like boots and road cones go in the plastics bin. That’s just for example, of course, as there are all kinds of trashy recyclables raining down from above. Each time you screw up, misplaced items pile up in the background and when that pile gets too high the planet dies! Just kidding, the planet doesn’t die, but it is Game Over.

The order of the recycling bins remains the same for the first few levels, and subsequent levels mix ‘em up to make you think just a tiny bit. The gameplay is super-simple and there are occasional powerups that you can pop while they’re falling, and the whole thing is just kind of “eh” for me.

It’s not a bad game… the production values are generally pretty good and overall the game has a nice polish to it… but after about 8 levels I was ready to give up recycling in real life! It just got to be pretty monotonous despite the nice graphics and snappy music because there’s not much else happening in the game.

I could see Save The Planet being more fun for younger kids and, if you’re a real tree hugger, you can use it to teach that kid a lesson about not being a jerk to Earth. If you’re old and jaded like me, though, don’t expect to get tons of playing time out of this game.

iTunes Link – Save The Planet
Version 1.0.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2