Help With the "Graveyard Shift" iPad Game

"Graveyard Shift" features gameplay appropriate for all ages.

“Graveyard Shift,” an app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch from PunBros Games, is a physics-based puzzle game that employs a technique known as ragdoll physics to create realistic character movement on the fly. The game tasks players with returning escaped skeletons to their coffins by removing blocks in the levels and triggering chain reactions. With more than 20 levels to conquer, players may need a little help along the way.

Strategy

The goal of “Graveyard Shift” is to return a ragdoll-like skeleton to its coffin by removing blocks and causing him to fall downward to his coffin, which is located on the ground. Each level begins with the skeleton standing on elevated blocks and ends when he returns to his coffin. While early levels can be completed on your own time, later levels require you to break blocks or detonate bombs at a specific moment to cause a chain of events, so don't be afraid of trial and error.

Gameplay Basics

“Graveyard Shift” is completely touch controlled. Tap gray blocks to make them crumble and disappear. Dark-colored blocks won't crumble; you'll have remove the blocks around them to make them fall. Tap the wooden crates with yellow exclamation points to trigger an explosion, but remember explosions don't just make blocks disappear – the skeleton will also respond to the force of the explosion, which propels him across the level. In this way, you'll have to use gravity and physics in your favor.

Tips

To increase the game's challenge and replay value, task yourself with completing each level within the time limit using only the blocks removed as shown on the start screen – the game rewards you for destroying the minimum number of blocks and completing levels quickly. Later in the game, brown-colored blocks appear. The only way to destroy them is to make them contact blocks of the same color. Outside of blocks, look for other interactive elements in the game's levels. For instance, balls can be rolled and latches can be blown apart.

How to Download

Apple and PunBros Games offer “Graveyard Shift” for paid download at the iTunes App Store. At the time of publication, the game retails for a price of $2.99. A free trial version, “Graveyard Shift Lite,” features introductory six levels of the game. “Graveyard Shift,” a 14.8 MB file, requires an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch with Apple's iOS version 3.1.2 or later. The gameplay, levels and features of "Graveyard Shift" remain identical across platforms.

References

• AppModo: “Graveyard Shift” App Review for iPhone and iPod Touch
• Slide to Play: “Graveyard Shift” Review
• AppBank: [iPhone, iPad] “Graveyard Shift”: Think Well and Send Mr. Skeleton Back to His Coffin with This Physics-Puzzle
• touchArcade: “Graveyard Shift” Review – A Fun Physics Puzzler with Great Style
• App Spy: “Graveyard Shift”

Resources

• iTunes App Store: “Graveyard Shift”
• iTunes App Store: “Graveyard Shift Lite”