As a pale person, I can relate to Reaper — Tale of a Pale Swordsman, but, as someone who's mightiest sword is a butter knife, paleness is where the similarities end; however, now, thanks to the pale-filled Reaper, I can swing a sword like crazy, taking out blobs, knights, and enough bees to kill ten McCauley Caulkins in My Girl.
Reaper is a simple side-scrolling action-RPG with beautiful art that looks great on any device--Reaper is available on the Windows 8 app store, the Mac app store, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 and yes, even Ouya--and plays just as well. As with most action games, the touch controls are not the best, but they work surprisingly well thanks to an understanding that tapping and swiping is better than virtual d-pads and buttons; and, if you pick it up on PC, Mac, or Ouya, Reaper has controller support that works perfect in combat; though, using a controller to navigate menus is a bit funky and I don't recommend it.
The best thing about Reaper is that it is free to play up to level 10 and, once level 10 is reached, you can pay once to unlock the full game and go your merry way, saying, "That was fun, but I've had enough"; there are no annoying micro-transactions constantly being shoved in your face. If you do opt to buy the full game--there is a $3.99 version and a $4.99 version (there's no reason not to pay the extra buck)--you'll get more than your money's worth of content as Reaper is full of many enemies that fight differently and are fun to fight against; many weapons and items for the collector inside all of us; and many beautiful levels where you can use said weapons on said enemies. And, as an added bonus, the story and writing is surprisingly funny and worth paying attention to--something I did not expect.
*Reaper — Tale of a Pale Swordsman is available now on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Ouya for free up to level 10, with a one-time in-app purchase of $3.99/$4.99 for the full game.