Alto's Odyssey: The Most Relaxing Game Ever

Angry Bird teaches projection and precise calculation, Temple Run keeps your guard and teaches you how to think on your feet and Plant Vs Zombies gives you tangible stakes and a great soundtrack to play to.

Now, Take all of those elements, put them in one game and you'll get Alto's Odyssey.

Alto's Odyssey (Available in both Android and iOs) is an endless, runner, side scroller-game about a sledder named Alto.

You spend the whole game sledding through mountains, desserts and vines while dealing with obstacles such as jumping over chasms, avoiding giant rocks, riding walls and escaping pesky lemurs all while going through different kinds of beautiful and captivating "Biomes" or weather conditions such as blizzards, desserts, rainforests and storms.

As action packed and fast paced as this game may be due to how I describe it, Alto's Odyssey is one of the only games that keeps coming back to my phone. Even though my phone is already warning me that there's too much storage this game is just that worth it.

Because this game is the perfect time consumer (that's a compliment) but at the same time I'd go as far as say that this game is a stress reliever and reduces my anxiety.

And if you'd let me, I'll tell you the reasons why i believe this and decide for yourself if this game is worth downloading.

THE MOST BASIC GAMEPLAY

First off, Alto's Odyssey applies one of the most general and basic gameplay that anyone can easily understand and follow.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the most famous video game in the world; Super Mario Bros., says in an interview with Vox that there are three basic elements that every game has and that those elements are the reason that Super Mario Bros. is so successful and I believe that Alto's Odyssey has these elements.

    1. A Sense Of Accomplishment

Alto's Odyssey makes you level up not by finishing levels but by finishing 3 goals at a time so that every run is not just to beat your longest run but to also complete precise tasks. Not only that, the coins are shiny and the power-ups glow so that spotting them and going for them are also easy.

    2. Simplicity

Just like in Super Mario Bros., Alto's Odyssey is a side-scroller that only goes in one direction, from right to left, that means that the direction of the game is clear and concise.

    3. You Are The Hero

There are numerous and endless chasms, broken bridges, vines and lemurs that Alto has to overcome adding the dangerous terrain of weathers and all of these factors contribute to make Alto the hero thus making the player feel that they are the Hero and they need to face all these obstacles.

All of these factors are all there to say that this game is not making you feel dumb, it makes you in control and it makes you feel accomplished, a huge contributor in helping ease anxiety and stress.

THE COMBOS ARE SATISFYING

A trend that I've been seeing lately are posts that are called: "Oddly Satisfying", 

There are a lot of variations of 'Oddly Satisfying' posts but my personal favorite are the ones which are digital renders of shapes and objects that turn, shape, cut and move in such satisfying ways such as shapes being cut into precise ways and looping or a turning mechanism that has holes which shapes go in and out in such a perfect way.

If you're familiar with these kinds of posts and it pleases your senses then imagine that this is the whole feeling of Alto's Odyssey.

Another feature of the game is that when you perform flips, chasm jumps, hot air balloon flips and wall grinding one after the other in one continuous combo the game rewards you with points and power ups such as a wing suit that you can use to fly or a bird companion that catches extra coins on your behalf.

And along with perfectly partnered sound effects, this makes every trick so precise and calculated that just performing them is so satisfying.

This game not forces you but exercises your instincts in calculating certain jumps and flips, and it never feels tedious because the tasks given to you make it so fulfilling and fun to accomplish.

And if if you've ever been stressed out, when everything seems out of place and not only your things are cluttered but also your mind, seeing how clean and concise playing Alto's Odyssey is eases your feeling and gives you a sense of minimalism or being simple.

THE ANIMATION STYLE

I am a big fan of cartoons and all sorts of animation programs.

And one of my most favorite and in my opinion one of the greatest cartoon programs in history is Steven Universe.

One of the many things I love about it apart from it's amazing storytelling, compelling characters and wholesome content is its minimalistic, colorful and captivating animation style.

And playing Alto's Odyssey reminds me of just this aesthetic, it's cool palette doesn't hurt my eyes, they're bright enough to see obstacles and obscure enough so that I can keep track of where Alto is and they're also so refreshing to the eyes that I can almost taste the screen. It's minimalist style keeps everything clean even when the Biomes change and the color change it doesn't clutter up the playing field and it's almost too smooth of a transition.

And it overall feels like a child's playground, with it's cute trees, vines and hot air balloons that whenever I grind on them or bounce on them it makes me actually feel like it's a place I'd want to go. 

It's the second biggest reason that I deem this game relaxing as it's animation doesn't irritate my eyes, it's fast paced enough to hone my instincts but doesn't stress me and it overall reminds me of the cartoons I loved when growing up.

THE AMAZING SOUNDTRACK

And finally, the most relaxing part of the whole game to me is it's Zen soundtrack.

At first I wasn't sure why the soundtrack drove me but calmed me so much, but in researching about this soundtrack, I read a comment that someone said that it reminded the of the Legend of Zelda theme song and that's when it clicked.

I remember the Legend of Zelda theme song being the perfect combination of tranquility and that from an epic saga, the Zen soundtrack of Alto's Odyssey is just like that, as it begins (usually) in the quite and calm dessert the music is a mixture of wind instruments and what sounds like a kalimba that encourages you to bide your time and wind up for what's about to come.

Then as the storm or the blizzard comes, the music picks up but not too much that it's just jarring but enough to encourage you be more adventurous, it makes doing combos more fluid and it the music just drives you to be loose with your moves, to be honest it's when the music picks up that I lose the most because it's makes me do more flips and tricks to gain more points and if you're not careful enough you might lose balance and make Alto wipe out.

And THAT just makes me want to play again.

This post is in no way sponsored by Alto's Odyssey or any company affiliated with them but if anyone who worked on this game is reading this, I'd really like to thank you for easing my anxiety in dark times in my life, it really helped and I hope anyone reading this would give it a chance and play it.

GAME OVER.