Let’s Create! Pottery HD: Get Artistic in a Whole New Way

App Name:	Let's Create! Pottery HD
Platforms:	iPad
Publisher(s):	Infinite Dreams
Version Reviewed:	1.01
Genre(s):	art
Release Date:	July 26, 2010 (updated)
Price:	$4.99
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The iPad is pretty great for drawing/painting applications. Artists have created stunning portraits using nothing but its expansive touch screen. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the iPad is perfectly suited for other artistic endeavors. Let’s Create! Pottery HD gets everything right beginning with the unique start up screen, and all the way until you become an accomplished potter. Developer Infinite Dreams has exercised restraint and imagination in making this game a beautiful, stripped down experience that’s all about the craftsmanship.

One of the best things about Let’s Create! is its seamless integration of the career and freeplay modes, though they’re not labeled as such. Upon launching the game, you select from the options of create, shop, and inbox. Should you choose to go straight to creating, you can freestyle at the potter’s wheel and then auction the item to make some money. After awhile, though, you’ll want to head over to the inbox and start filling the orders that pour in once you begin to make a name for yourself in the pottery world. The shop is always available, and it’s here that you’ll purchase new paint colors and brush styles. These will be necessary to fill orders as things get more complicated and more money is required. It may sound elementary, but the game’s organization successfully gives you enough motivation to keep playing, while never becoming mundane.

Shaping the clay utilizes some very intuitive controls. It spins on the wheel center screen and starts off as an unshapely blob. But begin to touch that blob and you’ll soon see how easy it is to shape it into whatever your imagination designs. The controls are essentially a combination of pushing and pulling the clay. No tutorial is required, as figuring things out as you go is part of the joy of Let’s Create. I’m almost embarrassed to say that, after creating a particularly cool looking piece, I felt proud enough of my work that I used the game’s email feature to share it with some friends. Be warned, though, that those who know nothing about the game aren’t likely to share your enthusiasm . . .

Visually, it’s also a treat. A lush, green background is always present, and Infinite Dreams managed to make it feel quite alive by making the background respond to movements of the iPad. This makes it much easier to forget that you’re manipulating digital clay and focus solely on your creation . . .  After firing a piece, you can get really fancy with the paints and brushes (but only those you’ve earned from the shop). Applying colors is almost as fun as shaping the clay, and you can get just as detailed in mixing shades and creating patterns.

Let’s Create! is such an organic, well-designed application that I almost feel bad pointing out flaws. However, it should be said that Infinite Dreams might work on improving the controls when shaping clay. Filling orders requires that you attempt to match the shape and color of a pictured item. Doing so sometimes requires a lot of accuracy, and achieving enough precision to please the customer can be difficult.
Anyone with even the least bit of interest in artistic “games” that have nothing to do with virtual joysticks or button mashing should waste no time in shelling out the $4.99 for Let’s Create! Pottery HD. It’s title might be cheesy, but the gameplay certainly is not. There’s entertainment and fun here for casual users, as well as those who want to go far into the game’s career features. We have Infinite Dreams to thank for a game that thinks outside the clay box and delivers on all levels.

Our Score: 4.5/5

Let’s Create! Pottery HD is $4.99 at the time of this Review.

About the Author

Devin Wieland

 

Free! Gem Keeper