OLO Loco

I wish I could give this 3.5 stars. I love OLO. I was a big fan of it, playing it with my friends, and was overjoyed to see a sequel after to many years. Strangely, this sequel seems a little lacking, and all it could take is an update or two. To start, the new gamemodes. The classic OLO game is here, just as good as before. However, I feel like these two new gamemodes aren’t that interesting. I understand trying to stick to the OLO formula, but just adding point zones just doesn’t do much for me. A really strange design choice is that in the online multiplayer, you can only play the classic OLO game. You cannot choose what gamemode to queue for. The only way to play these modes are locally. I essentially only play the classic OLO game rules. The online works, however I feel like it may die out quickly, sadly. It was a genius idea to have this turn based way of playing, basically you perform a turn, send it, then your opponent has 24 hours to respond. This mode can also be used as a makeshift live mode, as you see your opponents moves if you just stay in the match. I like this system a lot, however maybe there should be a way to queue for other modes if people want those, or at least when doing a private match with friends online. The OLOmojis are exactly what they seem like: a gimmick. They are essentially those little clash royale things that you can use to show your feelings during the match. A real missed opportunity here is that on the OLO pucks, there are no faces. I feel like it could add a lot of charm if you could choose a face to send out on your OLO puck, and it stays there. It would give each piece its own little personality, and might make this more than a little gimmick. I love OLO, and I love that it is getting new life into it. I will be playing this instead of the original OLO now, as I like the style, haptics, and I feel like there is a lot of potential here. One final thing to note is that there are no themes! The original OLO has so many themes, and they were fun to shake it up a bit. I don’t know why there are no themes in this, I really wish there were. Overall, a better OLO, but not by much. There is so much potential here, and I hope it is capitalized on. If you haven’t played OLO, get this, OLO is a seriously fun game, that even if this had less content, it is worth the price. Over ever, if you have played OLO, you’ll be disappointed by some strange choices, and not much of an addition to the original classic.

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Online still doesn’t work. Really fun game otherwise. Not sure how it worked for the other person that reviewed the game, but when I go to play online absolutely nothing happens.

OLO Loco is a major re-imagining of OLO. The familiar 2 Player, 4 Player and Online options are offered. All three share new graphics, audio and an updated physics engine. Fans of OLO’s relaxed, minimalist style are in for a few surprises. Both the 2 Player and 4 Player options contain three game modes: Classic, REVERSO and BOOLO. I’m enjoying the additional strategic depth offered in both of the new game modes. If one or both were available for competitive Online play, I would have a very difficult time choosing a favorite. Perhaps there’s an OLO Loco Triathlon in our future. The Online option is based on the Classic game mode with three notable changes from the original: smaller OLOs, a narrower playing field and asynchronous, turn-based play. The reduced size of the OLOs places a higher premium on a player’s aiming skills. The significantly narrower playing field has a pronounced impact on the geometry of the game. With the higher velocities attainable in the new physics engine, OLO Loco provides a very lively experience for new players and veteran OLO players. The transition to turn-based play in the Online game mode is a game changer in the very best way. On your first visit to the Online menu, you’ll be presented with an empty slate with options to return to the main menu, view the weekly leaderboard or start a new game by inviting a friend to play or choosing to be matched with a random player. After starting a new game and playing your OLO, your opponent will have 24 hours to take their turn. You can wait in-game for your opponent’s response or, tap on the playing field to return to the Online menu. From here, you can start another new game, monitor your existing games or revisit the last turn of a game. You can also invite an opponent to a replay and accept or decline invitations you’ve received. If a player fails to complete their turn within the 24 hour period, they’ll forfeit the game and lose 10 points on the leaderboard. Their opponent will then have 24 hours to finish the match using the OLOs in their possession as well as any remaining OLOs on the board. Over time, your Online menu will fill with games arranged in color coded groups based on their status. The current score and amount of time remaining are also displayed for each game. You are limited to 30 active games. Thanks to the integration with the Notification Center, you’re a swipe away from updates on your online games while outside of the app. There have been relatively few glitches: In-game notifications occasionally fail to completely clear, obscuring your opponent’s remaining OLOs. Moving from the Online menu to the Main menu and back removes active timed out games. And, on very rare occasions, the physics engine appears to lose track of an OLO. To their credit, the development team has been very active with four updates since the initial release a month ago. I enjoyed the themes and the 20 second shot clock in the original but, their absence is a minor concession in light of the many positive changes. In particular, improvements to the random matching process and the implementation of turn-based play are well worth the price.