Eskenly Alleys

Three riders start ahead of you, the alley is three lanes wide, and somebody has parked a crate of lemons in the middle one. What kind of game is Eskenly Alleys? A top-down scooter race through the whitewashed lanes of three invented Greek-style islands. In every alley you race three computer riders to a chequered line strung with bougainvillea. How do I steer? Tap the left half of the screen to swerve one lane left, the right half to swerve one lane right. Flower pots, lemon crates and bread carts block the lanes, and clipping one costs you most of your speed. What is the slipstream gauge? Tuck in close behind a rival in the same lane and the gauge at the bottom of the screen starts to fill. When it is full you get a short boost. On the last island the locals are almost as quick as you are, so drafting is the way past them. How many races are there? Eighteen alleys over three islands, Naxa, Thirasi and Folegos, with six alleys each. First place earns three stars, second two and third one. Stars open the next alley, the next island and new paint pots for your scooter, and every star adds a whitewashed house to the harbour village on the title screen. Is there something new each day? Yes: the ferry race, one alley generated from the date. Finish in the top three on back-to-back days and the ferry streak grows. How long is a race? Roughly half a minute on the first island and a little over a minute on the last one. Can I switch off the sound or the buzz? Settings has separate switches for sound, haptics and reduce motion. Reduce motion drops the screen shake, the drifting petals and the big bursts, while taps still answer straight away. Does it need a connection? No. Eskenly Alleys runs with the phone in flight mode, has no adverts and nothing to buy, and keeps your stars, paints and ferry streak on the device.

Launching with three islands, eighteen alley races, the daily ferry race and seven scooter paints.