*=Video
^=Music
All Caps=Recommended
Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.
June 2015
 |  The scientist before she jets down deeper and deeper to slay her accidentally created monsters. |  You spin around shooting and can use a "stomp" ability every few seconds that sends all enemies slightly backwards. You can fill a meter to use special attacks, and you can switch which special attacks you use by collecting items. |
|---|---|---|
 Grapes are the worst. There's so many of them that one always sneaks through! |  Oranges and lanky bananas. |  |
 Strawberries are small and weak, oranges are tougher, and grapes are small and fast. |  |  Later on some food gets even bigger! |
 Like many free-to-play games, there are side challenges to focus on during each attempt. |  |  |
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 Trust me, floor 21 is pretty good. |  The watermelons! |  |
 This does not look good. |  Watermelon deaths look pretty gruesome . . . |  |
 Only highly skilled people like myself can keep this much fruit at bay. |  |  |
 |  |  The glorious triple shot. |
 |  |  Giant Watermelons!!! |
 |  My best run. |
Vitamin Z is a quirky, free-to-play game where you play as a mad scientist that has accidentally created an army of monsters out of food. In a way it's like an endless runner because the main objective is simply to get as far as you can, but rather than running you stay in the center of the screen and shoot at all of the enemies homing in on you.
Over time you can earn permanent upgrades that improve your chances, but it takes quite a while to earn enough for each upgrade. There are temporary boosts that randomly drop throughout each playthrough, and most of the upgrades make those boosts better. So, fairly standard game design for a free-to-play mobile game.
I thought the food monsters were pretty fun and the game as a whole has a distinctive charm. I particularly liked the watermelon who roll around in tighter and tighter circles until they munch on you. They look like they've had a big slice taken out of them and the empty space is filled with teeth! Even though there's only one song throughout the game, I thought it was pretty catchy and found myself humming along.
All in all, Vitamin Z is simple but fun. I'm always glad to find a pearl in the sea of mediocre free-to-play games.