Astraware Hammerheads – Palm OS Game

Your PDA has been infested… infested by a world of pesky gnomes that pop up from holes a la ‘Whack-A-Mole’. Ye gods- this demands our immediate action! Taking our trusty stylus, we can bop, pop, bash, or hammer the invaders to submission!

Hammerhead Opening Screen

Early Phase, showing an evaporating gnome

Welcome to Astraware’s Hammerheads! At first, this is an easy task, then they get sneakier! Penalties for misses, debris scattered across the screen that gains points, and characters that take more and more hits to squash. This is what separates the men form the boys… er, I mean, this game from things like Bubble Pop. As the game progresses, you have to hit this guy twice, but this character three times- and if you mix it up, it counts as a miss and takes away life points! Another nice addition to the game is that you earn money you can use in a store within the game a la
Astraware’s Insaniquarium.

Scoring Screen

If this seems a little… childish, it is. Don’t get me wrong- I think this is a fun program. It is well done, beautifully illustrated, and shows Astraware’s typical attention to detail. It is a nice diversion for an adult and certainly allows a certain amount of good old-fashioned venting (it really feels good to whack some of those gnomes!) but I think it shines best as one of the few games you can let a younger person (who is still old enough to trust your Palm to) play independently.

A Complication

Rewards and Earnings

This is sort of the next level for those who have mastered or outgrown Astraware’s StarPop. Similar gameplay, but more bells and whistles, more challenges, and a somewhat more ‘grown-up’ look. The children I tested it on seemed to enjoy it also. One minor caveat- you are whacking adorable little people on the head with hammers and listening to them moan, beg for mercy, or visibly ‘pop’ on screen. No blood or gore of course, and it is played off as being ‘cute’, but I occasionally found myself wondering if I was enjoying whacking these guys a little -too- much.

I like Hammerheads. It does not glitch up my Palm, it plays smoothly, it is certainly fun, and it nicely fulfills my preferences for games that are intuitive and brief. About the only things I don’t like at that it costs $19.95 and it really does not motivate me to return to game or play as
compulsively as their game Bejeweled does.