IGF best iphone winner Spider is a solid game that plays on multiple levels. While it can get tedious, it's still great.
Excellent Idea: Playing a Spider whose webbing bugs, but simultaneously engaging the Meta-"God's Eye View" of Player
Interesting Secrets: Putting the Pieces of what happened in the Manor together is compelling, likely requires at least 2 playthroughs
Webbing Works Well: The core gameplay mechanic of eating bugs, creating webs, etc. is spot on
Solid Value: Varied gameplay modes: Adventure, Feeding Frenzy, Hunger, & Precision
Solid Aesthetics: The manor has a great "old and worn" feel to it, very inviting, bugs are easy to recognize, good background music
Gameplay is Slightly Shallow: grabbing bugs can get old after a while
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Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor scooped up IGF's 2010 "Best iphone game" and has gone onto do pretty well for itself as a critic's choice which is often recommended for play. After playing through, it's easy to see why: the gameplay mechanic is simple and invites players of all kinds, the mystery behind the happenings at Bryce Manor is engaging, and the aesthetics are quite solid. Best of all, Spider splits the view of the player, at times you seem to play as the Spider who's only mission is eating copious numbers of bugs, but since the secret of Bryce Manor is clearly aimed at the human player, you switch back and forth between feeling like you're inhabiting the spider and like you're watching it all form a God's Eye View. Interesting Stuff.
The core gameplay feature of Spider consists in eating as many bugs as you can in any given room, eating the majority of which will unlock the portal which takes you to the next room. While some bugs require that you launch yourself at them and slam them against an object, most require that you place a web strategically to allow bugs to ensnare themselves for easy pickings. It's fairly simple and yet very satisfying, especially when you chain your snacks for bonus points. Eating bugs also replentishes your silk, so it's important not to just spin webs for web's sake, but to be pragmatic about it. Fortunately, the danger of running out of silk is pretty minimal, as the overall game is on the easy side. After exiting any room, you'll be able to see your results, including the time that room took to complete, the number of bugs you ate vs. the number available, etc.
Many rooms also contain secret areas, sometimes in the walls, sometimes in household objects like cabinets, etc. Discovering these areas means a few more tasty bugs to eat (if you're a completionist) but also a little snippet of backstory, like a postmarked letter, which helps to fill in the happenings of Bryce Manor. Not all the secrets are hidden, however. Some are in plain sight, objects which seem significant but random without context. While you may put some of the story together the first time through, however, it will likely take a second, more plodding, playthrough to figure out how to unlock the final secret room. As there's no narrative here, though, the pieces only fit together as parts of a puzzle, and it's entirely possible that after playing through everything, it's not entirely clear just what went down.
As intriguing as the backstory is, it's certainly possible that one playthrough will be enough. While clearing room after room early on is satisfying, especially finding the secrets as you go, eating bugs probably won't be fulfilling enough for multiple playthroughs. Certainly you can play on harder modes (like Hunger, where you must eat something every so often on a timer before you die) and you can also just go for a freeding frenzy, and those modes are worthy additions to the main Adventure mode, but Spider can only hold your attention for so long.
Still, the core Adventure gameplay is quite solid, and on its own makes Spider a very worthy purchase for $2.99. It's a quality title and does enough that's interesting to warrant a good chunk of your time.
8.7/10