PAX: Bastion for iPad feels surprisingly intuitive

Shows how ports to touch devices should be done

Earlier this week, Bastion was released for iPad (2 and newer). While it’s easy to be skeptical about how well a game of this nature would transfer to a touch-screen device, the end result is wonderful. Supergiant Games brought the new version to PAX Prime and I was surprised at how well it all came together.

Tapping the screen moves the Kid around the environment, as does dragging, while double tapping causes him to evade. Interestingly enough, firing is done automatically. While that might sound awkward, it allows you to focus on positioning and your weapon can be swapped with the touch of an icon.

There’s also a virtual joystick setup as an alternative control scheme, though the aforementioned option seems like the clear way to go here. Everything just works as if Bastion was only ever made with iPad in mind. I can’t imagine how many tweaks were involved to get the entirety of the content to be properly balanced for the platform.

Since there isn’t a demo available for download, I figured giving my quick impressions would be helpful. I own Bastion already, but this is worth an impulse buy at $4.99. The pacing of the game is even conducive to short bursts of play time, too. Don’t knock this until you’ve tried it for yourself, honestly.