Apple Arcade review #90: Secret Oops!

This game is pitched as a multiplayer AR party game, so naturally I played it in non-AR single-player mode. Look, it’s hard enough doing a review a day without having to put together a party of iPhone owners with supported devices in the days of social distancing.

Played this way, Secret Oops! is less a party game and more of a tactical bumbler where you have to stay one step ahead of a terrible and incredibly self-confident agent oblivious to cameras and security devices, ensuring that he makes his way to the briefcase at the end of every level. It’s incredibly polished, with lovely art and animations, and great sound.

I don’t know what AR plays like, but the non-AR controls can be a bit unwieldy. You swipe the screen to rotate the isometric level, but I found that using the free camera (and the terrible virtual joysticks) to get a bird’s eye view of the level worked best. It doesn’t look as good, but it’s a lot easier to deal with the various traps and buttons.

(Pre-publishing update: I tried the AR mode, and it’s technically very impressive. The levels look great, like little cartoony dioramas. Unfortunately, playing on your own requires dexterity and speed in order to physically move around the game “board”, and it ends up being a bit much for one person. I can see how this game might be perfect for parties, however: with four phone (or iPad) players in AR, things probably play a lot better.)

I know this review doesn’t treat the game fairly, but look at it this way: there are plenty of people looking for games to play on their own. Secret Oops! may not be particularly well suited to that.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/no/app/secret-oops/id1469240309