Stop That Man! | Get Fiquette Review

Fiquette is as elusive as the pronunciation of his name.  In the aptly titled Get Fiquette, the mastermind jewel thief hidden under a top hat, moustache and massive nose runs through dusty 1920’s streets, halting only when hit by a falling object or when passing a particularly eye-popping pin up poster. Make no mistake, even when slowed enough to be apprehended by the boys in blue, Fiquette wastes no time in busting out for yet another heist.

Get Fiquette is a lovingly crafted indie titled on iOS, every inch of it oozes personality, from the tongue-in-cheek blurbs between the loading screens, or the over-the-top character designs, one can just feel the big inside joke this game was between its creators. The graphics are smooth and polished, the music sinister and old fashioned, both reminding this reviewer of the good ol’ days playing Learning Company games on Windows 95 – however this time in glorious HD. While the presentation shines, the gameplay is what takes a game from a disposable to classic, and what Get Fiquette offers is something in-between.

The outline of the game takes the player across 20 big city locations in the USA, and in each the goal is to stop Fiquette by taking down his life bar so the coppers can come and pick him up. If unsuccessful, Fiquette will make it to his hot air balloon and proceed to laugh in your face while he pops champagne and floats off to what one imagines is his evil hideout mansion filled with beautiful stolen works of art and his beautiful thief wife Carmen San Diego.

There’s only one way to slow him down, and that is to tap objects and have them fall right on to his head. The pace of his running hastens and slows throughout the level, which has you adjusting the timing of your frantic tapping. While attempting to stop Fiquette, your other goal is to collect as many coins as possible, which fly out of the anti-hero each time an object hits. These coins can unlock new items in the shop that cause greater damage, which is helpful as Fiquette’s life bar grows in successive levels. Things get pretty hectic, especially after all the levels are cleared and the endless “Insane Mode” is introduced.

It’s a fun and addicting game, but there are still issues that must be discussed. The unlockable items lack variation in their purpose, the cosmetic and density properties change, but essentially it’s all the same: tap object to make it fall. For all the game’s graphical polish, it felt like there should be more surprises in the late game. My ability to influence the outcome depends almost entirely on fast tapping, leaving no room for strategic depth.

Another complaint is all too present in the modern gaming landscape: glitches. Weird stuff like Fiquette running in place or doubling like Mysterio, which at first seemed to me like a new gameplay mechanic, turned out to be nothing more than one of a few glitches. These can be fixed with the ubiquitous “Bug fixes” update, but for now they’re simply frustrating.

In the end, Get Fiquette is $.99. If you’re asking yourself if you should buy this game and add it to your likely overflowing iOS game library: it’s a great title for cheap, so why not? For the price, this unique little game has enough personality to prevail over its shortcomings. Fiquette will have you laughing and shaking your fist in the air as he makes his getaway. Small games like this deserve to get noticed, especially since it’s obvious it’s not a cash grab. There are no advertisements, and micro transactions, as of now, are completely unnecessary. While the gameplay doesn’t stretch above simple fun, it makes you excited for future titles from developer Dimsdale & Kreozot.

This review is based on a review copy of the iOS game Get Fiquette by Dimsdale & Kreozot