Chicken Escape Review

Poultry in Motion?

Question: Why did the chicken lay her egg on a axe? Answer: She wanted to hachet.

Now, if that little joke didn’t have you doubled over with mirth, jog on, Chicken Escape (out now, $0.99) isn’t the game for you. But, if you did crack a smile, chances are you’re going to absolutely adore what End Boss Games (great name) have cooked up for their App Store debut.

Aimed squarely at the little ‘uns, Chicken Escape delights with a puzzle mechanic that can be grasped in seconds, an equally intuitive touch-and-drag control scheme, cutesy visuals courtesy of cartoonist Stephan Royer and, of course, any amount of so-bad-they’re-good egg jokes.

Each of the game’s 80 stages sees you sliding and rotating tiles so that as a chicken hurries home to her baby chicks, she’ll walk across as many same colored pieces of road as possible. The longer Mrs. Chicken stays on one color, the bigger your combo and the quicker you’ll complete a level – so some fast finger-work is necessary!

As you work your way through the game, End Boss unleash a number of enemies, so as well as focusing on racking up a high-score, you have to make sure your feathered friend doesn’t meet a sticky end as she crosses the road. And, trust me, looking on as chicken, er, plays ‘chicken’ with a tractor and narrowly avoids the snapping jaws of a hungry fox is a lot of fun! Also of note are Chicken Escape’s toe-tapping country tunes, which I found myself happily humming along to as I breezed through this enjoyable little game.


iFanzine Verdict: Stephan Royer’s sublime artwork and the catchy country tunes help elevate this fun puzzler well above your run-of-the-mill kiddie-friendly iOS game. Go on, give it a crack.

[xrr rating=3.5/5]