Rodeo Stampede is a lot of fun. I can accurately gauge this by the fact that on a daily basis, I’d return to it at least three or four times, just for a quick play. Except, of course, those quick sessions …
Rodeo Stampede is a lot of fun. I can accurately gauge this by the fact that on a daily basis, I’d return to it at least three or four times, just for a quick play. Except, of course, those quick sessions turned into much longer sessions as I aimed to complete another mission. Yeah, it kind of wrecked my productivity levels. Just now, I had a quick play before writing this review and that was 30 minutes ago.
I really like Rodeo Stampede.
You play an enthusiastic cowboy, keen to snag as many animals as possible. A stampede has caused all the creatures to run at speed down a narrow ravine, leaving you to leap from animal to animal in a mission to not only survive as long as possible, but to tame some new critters along the way. The cowboy automatically moves forward, but it’s down to your holding skills to keep him safe.
Holding a finger to the screen causes the guy to hold onto whatever animal he’s currently on, with subtle manipulations helping him turn from side to side. Release your finger, and the cowboy flies across the screen, desperately looking for another animal to snag on to. Holding down again causes him to reach out, assuming there’s something to grab. It’s easy to learn, with things steadily getting faster the longer you survive.
There’s also the matter of the animals not being too happy with you leaping on them. You can only hold on for so long before they turn unpredictable. Each animal becomes angry in a different way. Buffalos, for instance, will try to throw you off, making movement erratic and dangerous. Elephants will simply fling you off, leaving you needing to find the safety of another animal and fast. Erratic movement is risky because the ravine is full of obstacles, such as trees or huge boulders. Depending on the animal you’re on, you can sometimes smash through these, but it’s risky.
Such variety would be briefly fun if forgettable, if it wasn’t that Rodeo Stampede backs up such fun rudimentary gameplay with so much more. Taming a new creature has you snapping a photo of your spoils, before being given the chance to take it to a zoo. Outside of each session, you can spend in-game coins on upgrading your enclosures, boosting individual animals in terms of their abilities. Rodeo Stampede also offers a steady stream of missions, such as surviving for a certain length of time, or smashing weaker animals easily.
The slight downside here is that you often have to watch adverts to do so. Unlocking new missions is done automatically after 6 hours, but you can also gain more by watching an ad. It’s a necessary evil. There are more too, if you choose to double up your coins by watching one there as well. Fortunately, in terms of true monetization, Rodeo Stampede is pretty tame, and you can enjoy what’s going on here without paying up too readily.
You know what, though? You should pick up an in-app purchase or two. Rodeo Stampede is worth it. There are plenty of animals to collect, as well as upgrades to work towards, ensuring that this is sure to ruin your productivity levels for a while to come.
In a very good way, of course. 😉
