Dollar Dash Turns Friends Into Frienemies

Like any good party game, Dollar Dash plays by the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

You and any combination of three other players – be they bots, local friends or online pals – collect scattered cash from around each of the game’s 31 maps and return it to the getaway car. Whoever collects the most coin wins, so even though you all arrived at this crime scene as brothers in illicit arms, it’s ultimately every man for himself. Simple enough, right?

Yep, and that’s the point. Dollar Dash is meant to be a pick-up-and-play party game, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t without clever nuance. For instance, because loot weighs you down, you’ll need to decide on your strategy. Will you make frequent, speedy trips to the drop-off point? Or will you instead opt to gather more dinero and make a slower stroll back to the getaway car that leaves you more vulnerable to attacks from your frienemies?

And attack they will. When your competitors lay traps or shoot pellets at you, you’ll start spraying change as if you were the punchline of a Daniel Tosh stand-up bit. Change that said competitors are free to then collect for themselves. But power-ups will help you even the odds. Tools like speed shoes can help negate the effects of being flush with stacks of greenbacks, while a shop system allows you to purchase upgrades that affect the gameplay. Weapon upgrades like Nuke+ mean you’ll be immune to your own mega-blasts, and Call of Duty-like perks will let you take more damage, carry more ammo, and move faster. Hats, character faces, taunts, and dances are examples of benign unlockables that spice up the fun a bit.

Four-player mayhem puts the "dash" in Dollar Dash.

As we played, we found that the rounds dragged on a bit long for our tastes, but otherwise, the cute art style, extra game modes (like Hit ‘n’ Run, in which the goal is solely to beat up your competition), and approachable gameplay should make Dollar Dash a bargain at the $10 price it’s likely to go for.

Ryan McCaffrey is the Executive Editor at IGN Xbox. He used to own a DeLorean, which is weird. Follow him on Twitter, on IGN, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Source : ign[dot]com