Snowman returns to their breakout hit with Alto's Odyssey [$4.99], and while they don't veer too far from what worked in Alto's Adventure [$4.99], they still find room for a few surprises while maintaining the engrossing atmospheric experience of the original. It doesn't do enough new to change the minds of anyone that didn't like the first game, but everything Adventure does right, Odyssey expands on it.

If you've played the heck out of Alto's Adventure, you need to be patient. The game seems very similar at first. If you haven't, well, you control Alto or one of several other characters on a sandboard as they go through desert environments. Yes, sandboarding is a real thing, and it's awesome. You can tap and hold on the screen to perform backflips, and you need to land your flips safely in order to not crash. Land a flip, and you'll gain a speed boost. Chain together a bunch of tricks, such as multiple flips and grinds, and you'll get even bigger boosts. You can't flip forward, so if you need to correct your position, you need to let go and hope you land cleanly on your board. Timing your flips is crucial to success in Alto's Odyssey. Part of the hook for Alto's Adventure was that it was a backflipping endless runner like Ski Safari [$0.99] but really beautiful. And Alto's Odyssey manages to one-up Adventure in terms of creating a gorgeous atmosphere. The desert environments are stunning, and the biomes that the game introduces all come with their own elements to differe...