Off the Leash is a brand new game from developer Big Pixel Studios. They are not new to iOS as their past hits include Land-a Panda and Piyo Blocks 1 & 2. If you’ve played those games before, you’re also familiar with the art style that Big Pixel Studios has and Off the Leash continues their tradition of using cell shaded, pixel-like graphics. Like their previous game, Land-a Panda, this game too has a very interesting story line. There’s a new Chief of Police in town, and he’s put a ban on dogs, ordering them all to be captured! It’s your task to outrun those pesky cops and evade capture, whilst trying to rescue as many of your doggy pals as you can. The game is basically an endless running style game that is broken up in to different levels, each with a time limit. Make it to the end before time runs out and you’ll advance to the next level. Avoid capture and see how far you can run.

Off the Leash is a top to bottom scrolling game. You play as a dog and must run from the cops by tilting your way past obstacles while also saving other dogs and collecting power ups and coins. Tilt left to move left and tilt right to move right. Simple. As you save other dogs, they will follow you in a pack. If those dogs hit any of the obstacles, you will lose them from your group. You can avoid this by tapping and holding your finger down to line all the dogs up, but you will lose speed in the process. Like I said above, there is a time limit for each level. You must get your dog past each checkpoint before the time limit, otherwise the cops will set up a road block and capture you and your pals. However, there is a way to get past the blockade by blowing a whistle and calling upon the help of a giant dog paw to smash the road block. You can only seem to do this once per game though and only if you have whistles in your inventory.

You can gain whistles by completing certain tasks asked by you in the game. You can also buy whistles as well as accessories for your dogs and power ups with the coins you collect. If you don’t want to grind away at the game, you can buy coins via in-app purchasing.

Off the Leash is a fun casual game that can be easily picked up and played. The inclusion of the in-game store is a nice bonus though that you can use your collected coins to purchase extras, but most people may not even notice it’s there. The art style is typical Big Pixel Studios style which is great as I’ve always been a fan of their style. It’s also worth noting that even though this game is free, it is devoid of any annoying ads and banners which is almost unheard of these days with free games. The game is very family friendly as well and you little ones too should have no problem jumping right in playing it.

Off the Leash is available now in the App Store for free. It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

Description

From the creators of the smash hit Land-a Panda!

There’s a new Chief of Police in town, and he’s put a ban on dogs, ordering them all to be captured! It’s your task to outrun those pesky cops and evade capture, whilst trying to rescue as many of your doggy pals as you can. Along the way you’ll need to eat food, collect coins, complete missions, and do all you can to avoid capture!

You’ll begin playing as Steve the Golden Retriever, collecting coins as you go which can later be spent on various items in the store. Unlock new dogs, collect custom clothing, unleash super power-ups, and call on the mysterious Big Dog for help!

KEY FEATURES
• Simple one-handed tilt-based controls
• 7 different dogs to unlock and customise
• Unlock additional bonus levels, power-ups, and Big Dog attacks by completing missions
• 90 unique missions
• Stunning HD graphics
• Game Center + OpenFeint leaderboards and achievements to compete with your friends
• Easy to learn but difficult to master, you’ll be coming back again and again!

UPDATE SUBMITTED
We have submitted an update which fixes the auto-dimming screen issue. While we wait for the update to be approved, you can stop the screen from auto-dimming by editing your device settings by going to:
• SETTINGS -> GENERAL -> AUTO-LOCK and increasing the time, or setting it to “never”

[via App Store]