App Army Assemble: Going Up - "Does this puzzler elevate itself above the competition?"

• This week, our App Army put their thinking caps on with Going Up
• The group found the puzzler to be good fun in short bursts
• There were a few issues with it becoming a tad repetitive

Going Up is a minimalist game with a simple goal - get passengers to their floor before they become impatient. It has an easy-to-understand ruleset, which is always key for a good puzzler. Does it work, though? Well, Will Quick praised Going Up in his review, but will our App Army agree?

Here's what they said:

Jason Rosner

Going Up by Dylan Kwok can best be described as a strategic elevator-style puzzler. The goal is to deliver passengers to their correct floors as quickly and efficiently as possible to ultimately achieve the most points. Challenge the difficulty starts to ramp up the further you progress, starting rather basic with just a few floors, to multiple elevators with numerous types of passengers that can get very impatient to just outright confused— this adds a time element that pressures you into making quick decisions so as to not take penalties that deduct from your score.

The backdrop for all this is a rather minimalistic cyber-infused mystical skyscraper that almost begs you to keep going to see what comes next. The music also has an “elevator” type vibe which is rather fitting. With quick play sessions and simple controls, Going Up fits the mobile platform quite nicely!

Oksana Ryan

As the title suggests it’s a game where you control a set of elevators in a very tall skyscraper. The basic idea is to make sure everyone catches an elevator but if you keep anyone waiting too long, they turn red and leave. As you climb through the levels you meet various characters such as security guards and each level has its own theme.

The graphics are suited to the game, and the gameplay is easy to pick up but the sound is very basic and I turned it off. Despite the simple gameplay, I found the game quite entertaining for those times when I needed something to just pick up, and play. Levels aren’t very long so it was easy to break off without losing any points. All in all, I found the game enjoyable.

Jim Linford

This is a really nice game to play in short bursts. Lovely graphics it reminds me of Monument Valley and I like the premise. But I don’t think it will be the type of game I will play for hours. It’s more of a time-waster game while waiting for the bus. I like the music and the models the premise is simple enough: get the people to the desired floor don’t keep them waiting.

You can get a few people in lifts to get them to the floor before they lose patience. Janitors are the only ones who need a lift to themselves and you need to get three janitors to their floors to complete a level. After each level, you go to the next floor up a skyscraper. I will keep playing but in short bursts. If you like these games then it’s up your alley.

Tom Chan

Going Up is a delightful puzzle game that challenges players to efficiently manage multiple elevators in a building. The premise of the game is simple yet addictive - you must guide passengers, e.g. soldiers, janitors, business people, and tourists to their desired floors as quickly as possible. The challenging part is getting 3 stars by scoring 40 points.

Torbjörn Kämblad

I never associated a ride in an elevator with hot love. Sure, Aerosmith gave it a go over 20 years ago. Going Up doesn’t try, and yeah elevator rides aren’t sexy. In Going Up you queue people, and the bit more sexy janitors, going up and down your building.

Easy controls, but the timing gets ever more crucial as you get more demanding travellers. Failure gets to be a matter of speed and priority. I found Going Up to be a quite rewarding game combining a zen vibe with a sense of urgency. Recommended to those looking for a nice casual puzzler.

Mark Abukoff

This is a stylish minimalist puzzler/game where decision-making and reflexes are key. It starts off very simple, but before long the difficulty ramps up. Very hard to get three stars after a while, as others have said, and there’s a degree of frustration you’ll run into as someone pushes in ahead of your janitor and takes the car.

And this happens more and more often as you go along. And yeah, it does get repetitive after a while, but that makes it great in short bursts, which is always a plus for me. Nice music though; as a personal preference, I turned it off. As I said, a stylish-looking game, different enough from most games that I’ve played to appeal to me.

Massimo Saraconi

Overall it's a good game, some strategy in advanced levels is necessary, but as always it all becomes very repetitive. Chilled music and minimalist graphics that are a bit reminiscent of a cyberpunk setting, at least from my point of view, give it that extra touch that makes it likeable.

Eduard Pandele

Minimalistic time management/finger twister puzzler where you're an elevator operator. Your only action? Tap on a door to send the elevator there. Each successfully delivered package, and passenger rewards you a point. Do it quickly and you get 2 points. Obviously, passengers lose patience if they wait too long, and you lose a point for each passenger who gets angry. 

The elevator can take four passengers, but there's a specific type of passenger, Janitor Joe, who fills the elevator by himself; delivering Joe three times to his destination will end the level. (There are more interesting passengers at higher levels, but I won't spoil them for you.) Unlock new levels by beating specific score targets. And... that's it. Judging by the stars counter in the upper right corner of the screen, there are 10 levels to play. I was only able to unlock 6, and it's definitely the game's fault, not mine.

It has simple, clear and efficient rules, challenging gameplay, and that "just one more try" hook. It's a one-finger game, so you can definitely play this while commuting on the subway.

The randomness means you often get into unwinnable situations, which will prevent you from unlocking all the levels. For example, I get that I'm supposed to delay the janitor as much as possible. But I was never able to three-star any level because if I leave the janitor to stew a little to bump up my score by ferrying other people instead, the game always starts spawning normal passengers on the janitor's floor, and the normal passengers always steal the janitor's ride. 

This means I start losing points big time, as the janitor gets angrier and angrier. To unlock level 5, Sanctuary, you need to three-star at least one level. To unlock level 6, Arcadia, you need to three-star at least two levels. And so on. So unless you deal with a lot of frustration, you won't be able to unlock all levels. All in all, it's worth the price if you like this type of one-button time management/arcade gameplay.

Naail Zahid

The minimalist design of the game, and the simplicity of the puzzle-based gameplay, make it a fun little app to play during short bursts. The art style, though muted, is pretty cool and reminds me a lot of the games like Alto's Odyssey or Journey. It's a fun game in short bursts but can be a bit repetitive. Some will enjoy the basic game play while those expecting something more may feel disappointed. It's a basic click puzzle which you get used to in a matter of minutes but can get challenging pretty quickly. Overall a fun little puzzle game to play on a trip or commute. But does get somewhat repetitive soon

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