While most mobile games today are taking advantage of the false advertising to attract new gamers, Upland’s Hero Rescue managed to remain faithful to what exactly they promoted. The game welcomes you to the same pin pulling puzzle that is packed with multiple game modes and reward system to explore. Hero Rescue takes you to a Medieval-inspired adventure. It is a physics-based puzzle game follows an exciting journey of the brave knight whose mission is to rescue the poor princess from the tower, collect the golds, and defeat the goblins. The game will take you to a series of challenging levels with a varying range of difficulty that will put your skills and knowledge on a great test. Hero Rescue comes with very straightforward gameplay that mainly involves pulling pins from the tower in proper order and by helping your hero to reach his target without getting killed. If you think you can master this epic puzzle, feel free to explore Hero Rescue, and see how far your puzzle-solving skills can take you.

The Gameplay

Interestingly, the game comes with a very simple and easily manageable mechanics. Your main objective is to clear the level by guiding the hero all the way to its target (it could be a chest filled with gold or saving the damsel in distress). Despite the apparent simplicity, Hero Rescue is surprisingly tricky especially when you have reached higher levels. As soon as the game starts, it prompts you immediately to the first level. It features a dynamically-changing platform(tower) that is mostly filled with removable pins and other various mechanisms. Objects like molten lava, water, poison gas, boulders will be pulled down by gravity as long as you create a passage (by removing or pulling the pins out from the tower).

Take note that you cannot manually control your hero. The character will automatically move downward only if a passage or a path is created. Simply remove the pins by tapping and swiping them out of the tower. Be mindful that the pins can only be pulled in a specific direction. Since the game is not being timed, it is always ideal to visualize the puzzle first before taking any action. Your moves can not be undone unless you hit the reset button and play the same level back from the start. This action, however, will cost you a life point. Generally, a level is cleared when the hero reaches the target.

Tricky Puzzles

The rate of difficulty in Hero Rescue will drastically increase as you progress. The levels will become more and more challenging and surprisingly thrilling at the same time. There are three types of objectives in this game. The most common goal is to collect gold. You will be asked to drag the gold coins down the tower and create a safe path for your hero to collect it. Another notable objective is to kill the goblins (or other living creatures such as the spiders) using various mechanisms. Sometimes, you need to collect a sword to slay the goblins while other levels will ask you to take advantage of some mechanisms like boulders, spikes, and even the falling molten lava. Archer Goblins, on the other hand, can kill themselves unintentionally if they are placed opposite to each other.

Some levels will ask you to save the princess. The damsel in distress will be placed in a random location and you must protect her at all cost, otherwise, the game will come to a quick end. It is also important to note that the game follows a limited life system. You only have three lives to consume and you will lose one for every failed attempt or for every reset you make. These lives will refill over time but the game offers unlimited lives as part of their in-game microtransaction. You can also earn an extra life by watching rewarded videos. Currently, the main campaign offers over 300 levels to explore and the numbers are constantly increasing for every update.

Challenges and Skins

Another great thing about Hero Rescue is the fact that there are many areas to explore within the game. Aside from the main campaign, there are four other modes to unlock. You can unlock the Treasure Mode upon reaching Level 16. In Treasure Mode, you have to help the Hero pass through the spiky barricade by filling the treasure chest with gold. You can only clear the level if the chest is 100% filled. The Tower Mode, on the other hand, is unlocked when you have reached Level 28. Here, the goal is to bring the Treasure Chest down by removing the blocks below. Just make sure to prevent the chest from falling sideways, otherwise, the game is over.

Another challenging mode is the Block Mode (unlocked at Level 40). It works the same way with the Tower Mode but comes with a different objective. Instead of collecting the chest, your goal is to kill the goblins by dragging them down the deadly spikes. The Sword Mode, on the other hand, will be unlocked at Level 124. As what the title suggests, you will be asked to collect the sword and kill all the goblins. The player can also unlock various Brain Quest Challenges upon reaching  IQ Level 120, 140, and 160 respectively. The gold coins you collected for each level can later be used to purchase new lives or buy new skins. Currently, there are three available skins in the game. Gabriel is your default hero while skins like Trevor and Reuben can be bought for 5000 gold coins (each).

The Verdict

Simple, fun, and surprisingly challenging. I guess that is how you can perfectly describe Hero Rescue. The gameplay can be repetitive but the level of difficulty is drastically increasing which makes the game absolutely worth exploring. It is a perfect time killer and it works well even without an Internet connection, allowing you to play the game anytime and anywhere you want. Appearance-wise, Hero Rescue managed to provide the Medieval-inspired vibe on the game by complementing it with smooth and colorful visuals along with well-fitting music.

The additional campaigns prevent the game from being too repetitive and formulaic, an interesting addition indeed. If you want to multiply your rewards, you can always take advantage of the reward videos to double or triple the number of gold coins you receive. Currently, the game is available for both Android and iOS devices and you can download this epic puzzle absolutely for free. Good luck and have fun!

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