I woke up this morning alone in an empty bed. My girlfriend, who is a huge fan of the Hunger Games books and has been anticipating the movie for months, went to a midnight screening of the movie and crashed at her parents’ place. While she was off enjoying the Hunger Games premiere, I was home alone to my own devices. Besides leveraging the limited cooking skills I have to make a dish beyond my skill level (more on this another time in an off-topic post), I picked up Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, which is currently free on iTunes. If you have even a bit of interest in the Hunger Games or the game itself, grab it now and read the review later in case you have to pay for the app in the future.
Is the game as good as the critically acclaimed books or on the same level as the movie? I can’t speak to either of those, but I can definitely tell you whether this game is worth your time.
Hunger Games: Girl on Fire is a “running” game a la Jetpack Joyride, Robot Unicorn Attack and Canabalt. You, as Katniss, are running through the forest, shooting down Tracker Jackers, who are hornet-like creatures that shoot projectiles at you. Unlike the previously mentioned games, the running itself is not the focus. You do not get points for distance. Instead, you gain points by shooting the Tracker Jackers with your bow and arrow, which can be done by tapping on the enemy. However, you do need to evade the enemies and their attacks by jumping between two different planes.
The combination of having to juggle your movement and your shooting makes for an enjoyable, albeit basic gaming experience. I had fun with it in short bursts, which is just fine for this style of game. Though I don’t see this game setting the world on fire like the books or the movie, it’s a fun diversion that’s worth the current cost of “free”. I’m not sure what the future plans are for pricing, but I think that a $0.99 price tag for this would be fair should they ever attach a price to it.
As for Steff, she’ll be back home this evening. I’m sure our ensuing conversation will be all about the movie, but I’d definitely let her know to pick this up, too.
In Third Person 
If I actually paid anything for that game, I would have felt ripped off, but I didn’t.
Thanks for the comment.
I can understand your sentiment. Personally, I probably wouldn’t pay for it either. However, I think for someone that was really into it and really into the Hunger Games, I think a price of $0.99 would be fine and put it at the same price of the likes of Canabalt, Jetpack Joyride and other similar types of games.
No prob. That was actually my first time playing a game like that. Maybe I should check out Canabalt and Jetpack Joyride.