Ahoy mates! Batten down the hatches! There are a lot of boats headed this way and they all need to get unloaded now. Developed by Imangi Studios, Harbor Master is another addictive game much like Flight Control, with a slight difference. Not only are you responsible for safely guiding the boats into the loading docks, you will also have to return them back out into safe waters.

Review
The goal is to guide the incoming ships to the loading docks. There are five different harbors, but only one is unlocked when you play for the first time. To unlock the others, you will have to earn high scores by playing the unlocked harbor. Controls are simple. Simply touch and drag your finger from the ship to a dock. Their course will be charted and once it gets there, it will unload its cargo. When the ship is pointing back towards the water, you’ll be able to chart it back into safe waters and off screen. A flashing arrow will tell you where the next ship will be coming from. It’s pretty easy at first, but as the game progresses, more ships appear on the screen and that’s when you run the risk of collisions.

The larger the ship, the more cargo it has and the slower it moves. That means that the largest ship with four cargo blocks takes up the most time at a dock, but it also increases your score by four. Scoring is cargo-based, so while the tiny ships are easier to manage, the bulky carriers have the bigger pay-off. Once you gain access to the other harbors, you’ll see that they’re all set up differently. They have different numbers of docks: one has colored docks that you have to match the ships to, another harbor has water spouts that you’ll have to avoid and even a harbor where you’ll have to fend off attacking pirates.

New content is being added every two weeks. Just last week, a new addition that I have yet to play is called Pocket God Attacks! The developers want your input, so feel free to give them your ideas.

Tips

• Keep in mind is that the ships all move at different paces. This will cause things to get pretty wild and hairy when you’re waiting for a ship to unload and a fast ship is making its way to that dock.
• If your docks are full, make the ships detour around the harbor, but bear in mind, this will increase your risk for crashing.

Recommendation

Harbor Master is a great game. The graphics are crisp, the soundtrack is fitting and the controls are clean. The game has multiple save options and even allows you to post your high score on Twitter. Updates are constant and the price is just right at $.99. So get your copy now at the iTunes App Store.

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