One Single Life 2 review – Die once, and it’s game over forever

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By: FreshTone Games Pty Ltd

Version #: 1.1

Date Released: 2011-09-15

Developer: FreshTone Games Pty Ltd

Price: Free

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 After reviewing The Great Contest recently, which lets you win prizes for doing well in simple iPhone games, the idea of high stakes in games has grown on me. While One Single Life 2 doesn’t offer any reward other than satisfaction, being allowed only one life in a game instantly makes it a more interesting experience.

One Single Life 2 is a beautifully presented game in which you have to jump across gaps of increasing sizes between two buildings. Tap the screen to get your man running, then tap again at the right time for him to successfully make the jump. Simple.

You can practice jumps as often as you like before taking your silhouette man through the game’s 10-level gauntlet, though no amount of practice can fully prepare you for the real thing, when you playing the game is at stake.

For a game with only ‘one single life,’ the art style is surprisingly refined. The levels are each set against a sunset city backdrop, complete with urban sounds and a stylishly silhouetted foreground. Demoralising banners such as ‘Give up Now’ introduce each level, making it really feel like the game’s against you. Then, when you finally do fall to your death, you feel genuine sympathy for your character as he reaches his hand into the air before slumping to his death; a gravestone standing beside him commemorating your efforts.

Despite being called One Single Life, it’d perhaps be more accurate to call it One Single Free Life. seeing as you can pay for the game and have infinite lives. While this seems to kind of defeat the point, it gives you the chance to practice before the inevitable next instalment of the game. With tournaments offering prizes to the best jumpers, it might just be worth investing in.