Clumsy Ninja: A virtual friend with so much charm that resistance is futile

ByMike Moffit

I don’t think I really expected to enjoy Clumsy Ninja as much as I have. I’m not really into virtual being simulators, I’ve tried games like Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS, and I didn’t really understand the appeal. Clumsy Ninja really changed the way I thought about these types of games, and most importantly, I’m having a really fun experience with it. There can be moments where the game can be a little slow and repetitive, nevertheless, if you take your time with the game and play it in short bursts, the experience stays fresh and fun. The game also does a very nice job pulling you back in, even if you don’t play it every day. You can allow notifications to remind you to check up on your ninja if you haven’t checked in for awhile. In my experience, the ninja has the tendency to start flying away when I’m not looking.

In Clumsy Ninja, you’re creating a ninja from scratch. He doesn’t really have any talent or coordination when you’re first introduced, it’s up to you to help train him so that he can rescue his friend that had been kidnapped. You teach the ninja to fight, jump from rooftop to rooftop, and use ninja weapons amongst other excersises. When you teach the ninja new skills or complete a training excercise, you’ll gain experience and currency, which can be used to purchase training items or to repair them after you’ve used them for awhile. While the core gameplay mechanic of creating a character and training them from scratch has been used a lot over the years, one of the things that really amazes me about this game, is the responsiveness and the fluidity of movement of your character. This adds a certain charm to the game, that I don’t think would be as impressive if the character had stiff, unresponsive movements. When you finish a training excercise and the Ninja wants you to give him a high-five, you’ll see what I mean.

While the game is very simple, there was some difficulty trying to see what could possibly hold the game back. Sure, this is a freemium game, so of course there are plenty of in-app purchases that can be made, but gaining currency and gems happens regularly just by playing the game, so that doesn’t affect the experience as a whole. Integration with Facebook and Twitter, has been built in, so that you can share your experiences with friends and invite them to play too. It’s difficult to describe this type of gameplay experience, I feel it’s meant to be a little more social. An experience you would talk to people about, and have interesting stories to share. This is a game, that hopefully people will be talking about for a very long time.

Similar Posts

  • Textile Template Article

    What image do you have behind the login menu when you start up? Classically, depending on the exact version of Mac OS X you are using, you have one of the “universe” images. This image can be replaced on your system with a picture of your choice. To replace the image you see as the default desktop behind the login window, find a .jpg file that you want for your new back round.

    Duplicate the image, preferably an image the same resolution as your machine default display resolution, and name the new file “DefaultDesktop.” Open a new finder window and navigate to *(NameofyourHD) > System > Library > CoreServices.* Drag and drop your new DefaultDesktop image into the Core Services folder.

    When you release, you will be asked if you want to replace the existing file first and then to authenticate as an Admin User secondarily. The next time you restart and before you log in, you will see that image behind the login window.

    Apple says:
    end what’s on your Mac screen to an HDTV wirelessly with Apple TV. Mirroring is great for classrooms, conference rooms, and your living room.

  • Create an AirPlay Speaker

    Apple’s AirPlay is one of the best technologies out there for media lovers. AirPlay allows you to control/play your favorite media to devices…

  • iPhone is #1!

    International Data Corporation (IDC), a technology market research firm with over 1,000 analysts in 50 countries, has released its quarterly report on global…

  • Keychain Access, an Essential Tool

    I have been doing more onsite installations and lessons down here in Key West. So many times as I start to help a…

  • Keep Your Passwords!

    You have a password for the online banking, one for your Apple ID, one to log into your retirement amount. Your password for your bank has to have have at least one numeric number, but can’t start with a number and it can’t have any more than two of the same characters found in your username. Your retirement account must include at least 3 numbers and one special character but they can’t be consecutive.

    Does this sound familiar? In the perfect world we would only need one password, but unfortunately for security purposes and as hackers get better at what they do password strength has become critical and part of our everyday lives. The hassle with this is that most sites have their own sets of rules for password strength leaving many of us to peck away at our keyboards or devices in a sometimes endless game of “remember how you manipulated your favorite password 16 different ways and can’t remember if your banking site used the password with the capitalization or the one with the ampersand”.

    For a very long time I will admit my method of keeping track of my usernames and passwords was the stickies program on my Mac, much to the dismay of our IT manager! While stickies are easily accessed they are not secure and I do not recommend this method. Where you should keep them is in your keychain. You can access your keychain through applications and then utilities. Once you are in your keychain you can manually add preferred sites, accounts and passwords you wish to store. Another huge benefit is secure notes. Secure notes allow you store additional confidential information. Keychain is safe and secure because in order to view any of the passwords stored there you need to enter your administrator password. Within keychain you can make sure to safely and securely keep your passwords, and when you forget if you needed that capitalization or ampersand in your password you can simply open keychain and enter into the search field the website for which you need to confirm the password.

    Now what if you don’t have a mac? The loss of passwords, and most often your Apple ID password is a huge concern with users of iOS devices only. Luckily there is an easy solution for that, iCloud and iCloud keychain. Simply go to settings, iCloud and then select keychain. Your iOS device will begin to store your logins and websites. Additionally you can add specific websites and passwords manually to your phone or iPad under safari and then selecting passwords. This is also where you would look if you can’t remember login information.

    Recording safely your logins and passwords is an often overlooked step, especially when users of iOS devices accidentally have the device damaged or lost. Saving your passwords safely and using iCloud keychain can avert your being logged out of accounts.