App Review: Iron Snout+

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(Last Updated On: March 2, 2017)

What’s shakin’, bacon? Fight to stay off the dinner menu in Iron Snout+ for iOS and Android phones and tablets. Your porcine hero is surrounded by hungry wolves, and you must use your thumbs and kung-fu to go down swinging. Controls are very simple: the pig stays rooted in the center of the screen, and tapping or swiping on one half of the screen makes him attack in that direction. You can jump and duck to avoid attacks and set up lethal combinations, and also grab the weapons the wolves drop and swing or throw them right back! You just keep punching and kicking until you run out of life (represented by bacon strips) and your tally on how many wolves defeated is up in the corner. The new “+” version adds variety to the wolf enemies. From axe-wielding lumberjacks and billy-club-equipped SWAT officers to Pokemon trainers and Miley Cyrus-impersonating wolves (swinging in on a wrecking ball with a sledgehammer, of course), you’ll have your piggy hands full beating back the endless hordes. Iron Snout+’s gameplay is a blast, but it can easily get repetitive if you play it too much; there are only two modes (regular and sudden-death) and two levels, each with a different cast of wolf baddies. I keep it on my phone as an “I need to kill 5 minutes” option, usually while waiting for an Uber or to get through a boring conference call, and with its fast boot-up time (about two seconds on a Galaxy S6) it works wonders in that regard. As a beat-em-up game, it’s going to be a little violent. Cartoony blood spatters appear for a second or two after hitting a wolf, and it’s possible to punch their heads off (which you can grab and fling at foes), so it might not be great for the little ones. Hopefully future updates allows for turning off the “gore,” as otherwise, the game is perfect for kids, with its bright, cutesy characters and easy controls. It’s a free download with no in-app purchases, just some occasional ads. You can even give it a try in-browser here.