Three reasons why Melbits World should be your next break-time mobile game

Everyone has a game they subconsciously open on their phone when they’ve got some free time on their hands. And most recently for me, it’s been a little puzzle game called Melbits World.

A good amount of my work involves writing, reading, and looking at words and this can get really tiring for my eyes. Melbits World became appealing because it gave me something really cute and colorful to look at while still being able to give my brain some kind of challenge.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Melbits World is also available on PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. Unlike its console counterparts though, you’ll be able to play the game solo. In fact, I personally liked it better that way because it became much more fun. I know that might make it sound like I may be a bit of a loner but no, if you play the game you’ll understand. But if you really want to, you can technically play local co-op by having another person control half of the device’s screen but I didn’t find it the most intuitive especially if you’re playing on a smaller device.

So, what about Melbits World got me hooked and had me opening it up every time I’d take a break?

It’s surprisingly challenging

When you look at the game’s characters, colors, and design, you really wouldn’t think much of it. The world is cute, simplistic, and a pastel lover’s dream. The characters are pudgy, squishy, and sound adorable. But beneath the cuddly exterior of Melbits World are real challenging puzzles. The mechanics are quite simple. In every level, you’ll have to figure out how to get your Melbits to the exit using moveable platforms and other contraptions like springs, fans, and others that you’ll be controlling. All this while collecting seeds on the way and avoiding enemies.

When you start the game off, you’re given fairly simple puzzles. This is the best way to really get familiar with the gameplay. When you start progressing and getting to higher levels, you’ll be greeted with different combinations of enemies, puzzles, and contraptions to use which makes it really challenging. And when you have to figure out the correct path for more than one character at a time, you’re challenged to think and act fast. One wrong move or pressing the button just a second too late can make all the difference and it can get really frustrating to have to figure it all out at once. But it’s a fun kind of frustrating. The kind that makes you want to keep doing it over and over again till you get it right.

Binge-worthy gameplay

With 72 levels to finish, you’re going to be playing this game for a little while. The levels are spread over different worlds which are all differently themed. I found all the worlds to be really well-designed and, more importantly, it gave me a reason to keep playing. You can switch from one world to another if you want a different feel and this really helped in making the game feel fresh every time.

Apart from the number of levels, another reason you’ll want to keep playing is that you can actually finish a level in more than just one way. I do believe there’s an optimal way, but it’s also really fun to look for alternative ways to get the characters across or to beat certain challenges. There are also different goals to achieve for every level which makes the game very replayable. Whenever I needed a break from work, I could easily grab my phone and start playing a couple of levels (or the same level) for a good while. It really was a good way to “stretch” my brain after it’s been working too hard on much more serious things.

Cute and customizable characters

You just can’t deny how cute Melbits World is. The game perfectly captures that kawaii look it’s so obviously going for and the result are charming, well-designed levels accompanied by instantly lovable characters. The variety in the designs of the worlds, as I mentioned earlier, was different enough to help keep the game feeling new. But whether you’re playing on Hobby Island or the funky Art District, you’ll always feel that Melbits World charm.

Now, of course, it’s only logical that cute characters like these can be given costumes too. There are a lot of unlockable outfits and accessories you can use on your characters. Some you unlock, some you can purchase. The costumes are adorable and it’s really fun to see your Melbits dressed as a sumo wrestler or unicorn. You can dress up the different characters from different worlds so you can really make your characters look unique.

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for a cute game to fill up a couple of minutes (hours?) of your time, then I highly suggest Melbits World. You’ll get drawn in by the unassuming cuteness of it all only to be greeted with challenging and fun puzzles that you’ll want to replay over and over again. Every level provides a different problem that really challenges how creative you can be. Combine that with cute, bouncy characters running around wonderfully designed worlds, then you’ve got yourself a pretty fun game.

If you want to check the game out yourselves, Melbits World is now available for download for free on both Google PlayStore and Apple App Store.

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realme Smart Cam 360 review: Making security smarter (and cuter)

11/09/2020

realme has recently become the number one smartphone vendor in the Philippines but that doesn’t mean they’re just limited to smartphones. The brand has since evolved to providing products to further make everyday lives easier and a bit more exciting (and dubbed it AIoT). But then, realme is already done with fitness trackers and TWS and is now moving on to tech for your home.

Included in the array of new products that realme has announced, what we have here is the Smart Cam 360. Despite sounding like an action camera, it’s a security camera that’s easily accessible by you while you’re away. It also comes with useful features that improve picture quality, efficiency of transmitted data, and stability of connection.

Design

The realme Smart Cam 360 comes in this robot-looking physique. Its black and white color combination almost reminds us of EVE from the movie WALL-E, although not as futuristic-looking. The entire black part rotates and acts like the eyeball of the camera when you look around the room. Roll it upwards, and the microSD slot for storage is then accessible with support up to 128GB.

As its name suggests, it provides a 360-degree panoramic vision using the included pedestal at the base that the camera rotates on.

At the back, the device has a speaker grille since it supports two-way voice calls (more on that later).

There are two ways of mounting the Smart Cam 360: One is simply placing it on top of a flat surface, while you can also choose to mount it upside down on the ceiling. If you choose to go with the latter, there are included screws for inverted mounting.

The package even comes with a set of stickers to personalize your own security camera.

Setup

It gets power via a micro-USB cable connected to a wall charger — both included in the box. Whether you choose to place it on a surface or mounted inverted, setup is pretty easy. It involves a three-step process that involves downloading the realme Link App, turning the camera on, and pairing the app to the camera.

Using a realme narzo 20, pairing between the two devices was fast with no hiccups. The app was able to detect the presence of the camera instantly and after following a couple of instructions, the camera was ready to go.

Image Quality

The Smart Cam 360 shoots at Full HD resolution or 1080p with a wide dynamic range to help in improving picture quality — especially to improve the dark and light areas of the image. Of course, images produced are not smartphone-level in terms of clarity, but they still remain decent.

Even at night and in pitch black rooms, the camera uses its infrared night vision that reveals images our naked eyes wouldn’t able to see. It even comes with 3D noise canceling to provide clearer images and an edge distortion correction so it doesn’t look like the images were captured with a fish-eye lens.

Of course, when you want to playback videos you would be streaming it from the device since it’s where the clips are stored. And depending on the stability of connectivity, online playback is notorious for lags and images breaking apart while playing. That was not the case with the Smart Cam 360. Playback was actually smooth and without issue with only minimal lags. The company says this is thanks to a new video encoding technology using an H.265 video format.

Performance

The app layout is simple and straightforward so functions are easily understandable. From the home screen, you can choose to control where the camera is looking, check the Alarms or Replay if you want to check for movements or disturbances in the room (yes, it can tell), activate a two-way call, and access saved images. Apart from the Settings tab, you can also access the Multi-channel page if you have more than one camera set up.

The ‘smart’ part of this AIoT device is the fact that it can log multiple disturbances even when you’re not actively monitoring the camera through the app. It can detect motion, humans, or sound — specifically, or altogether — and list down the date and timestamp when these were recorded. This way, it will be hard to miss any events happening back home while you’re away.

“You don’t watch me, hooman. I watch you.”

Additionally, the app even sends you notifications at the moment it records something. That alone is really helpful if you want to keep your home secure.

As mentioned, the Smart Cam 360 supports two-way voice calls. It’s not likely that this feature is for another human being since you can easily reach someone through a phone. We think this is specifically for your pets, if you have some left at home, so you can still somehow talk to them whenever you miss them. Either that or you can scare any trespassing fellow by talking through the speakers. Nevertheless, audio was clear when we tested using it, and it can definitely be used to check up on your pet at any time of the day.

For those worried about filling up the memory card’s capacity while they’re out for a long time, for example, you’d be happy to know that realme made sure that compression of files is efficient. With a 128GB memory card in, the company says you’ll be able to record Full HD video non-stop for 14 days.

In terms of the app’s compatibility, we tried pairing the camera using a non-realme phone and the performance is pretty much the same.

Creature Feature

In our review, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in devices that make them worth having. Something that gives a device an edge from its peers. For the realme Smart Cam 360, it would have to be the real-time notification of disturbances happening back where the camera is set up plus the fact that it has a two-way voice call feature.

The real-time notification could mean saving your dog from eating something he’s not supposed to eat or calling the authorities when someone breaks inside your house. Its two-way voice calling is also something that could be useful for fur parents who just miss their babies or vice-versa.

Final thoughts

Having other smart devices apart from having a smartphone is something that we should be willing to adapt. After all, these are all mainly relying to our phones which are always with us anyway, and it improves lives even in small ways. Plus, with realme offering the Smart Cam 360 for just PhP 2,790, you don’t have to break the bank to get yourself a smart (and cute) security camera.

Additionally, the realme Smart Cam 360 could be yours for PhP 1,990 via Lazada and Shopee’s 11.11 sale. And, if you use the Lazada Wallet to pay for a minimum purchase of PhP 5,000, you may claim an additional discount of PhP 400.

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