RoboSockets Review

If our planet were hit by a devastating meteor, we might enlist robots to help us rebuild. The inhabitants of RoboPlanet, however, want us to help rebuild their robots. After our time with RoboSockets, we decided this noble cause is one worth taking up.

At first glance, RoboSockets looks a lot like a robot version of Tetris, but your goal is quite different. You must chain together five or more robots by connecting them by their hands. Special robots and items offer a good amount of variety, including space-wasting "junk block" robots with no arms, a drill that clears a single column, and a mystery box that is replaced by a random robot.

You can also unlock power-ups that give you the ability to clear the screen of armless robots or rearrange the screen. There's a good amount of depth to the game, despite not being able to see the next robot to fall down or put aside a robot for later.

Multiple game modes are included, ranging from a 16-mission story mode to endless and time attack modes with three difficulties each. To complete a story level, you have to make enough matches without dying to fill up a pipe along the left side of the screen. This mode also gradually introduces you to new types of special robots. Completing these levels unlocks facts about the RoboCivilization, which are actually fairly interesting.

The biggest issue with RoboSockets' is its floaty controls. It’s very easy to quick-drop a robot into a space by accident, because it only requires a very slight downward swipe. Since the gameplay space is so small, this can be quite frustrating.

RoboSockets also includes Game Center integration with achievements and leaderboards. It’s pretty standard fare for iOS games, but it’s worth noting that every difficulty and story level has a separate leaderboard.

RoboSockets is quite a good bit of fun, and worth checking out if this twist on Tetris-style gameplay sounds appealing to you. Lend those robots a helping hand.