Control/Gameplay [5/5]
Bed Bugs is a multi-touch target masher, with the player having to exterminate 28 different varieties of Bed Bugs in order help keep his (or her) sleepwalker safe and asleep. Each of the various baddies has its own unique method of disposal. Some enemies you want to squash, some you don’t, some you flick, etc. The game doesn’t tell you how you need to dispose of each, its up to you to experiment and figure out how each needs to be killed.
The game is very easy to pick-up and play, it just requires two fingers (or one REALLY fast one) to squash the bed bugs.
Graphics [5/5]
The game is very visually appealing, and it often feels like you are playing an interactive cartoon. The cell-shaded forest and tree-scape backgrounds are really well drawn and look crisp and clean on the iPod.
“Bed Bugs” might conjure up the wrong image in your mind, the enemies look more like aliens than bugs. With 28 unique looking enemies, the game offers a great deal of variety. Kids (young boys especially) will love the satisfying SPLAT animations when you take down a baddie.
Sound [5/5]
The 5 music tracks are pretty catchy tunes and do a good job of further drawing you into the action of the game. Although, if you’d rather listen to your own music, you have the option of doing that as well. The “SPLAT” sound-effects are perfectly suited and gratifying.
There is also a nice splattering of ambient sounds like crickets and snoring.
Replayability [4/5]
There are 28-levels, each of which introduces a new unique enemy. You can replay any of the previous levels at any time to try and get a perfect score (for you completionists). This offers a fair amount of replayability.
Unfortunately, the game doesn’t appear to have any online global leader-board system, allowing you to show off your perfect scores. If you are one of those people who don’t replay levels to try and improve your score, then the game will obviously be a bit shorter.
Final Verdict [4.75/5]
I have found Bed Bugs to be a really fun game. Sure, the actual gameplay is fairly simple, but the wide variety of enemies and the manner in which you have to dispose of them, offers quite a bit of variety. If you have younger kids, this could be a fun game for them to play too. I can see younger boys (in particular) really getting into this. Bottom line, I think you’ll have plenty of fun for your $1.99.
