TuawsDailyApp posts

Sega's classic ChuChu Rocket! puzzle title is on the App Store for both iPhone and iPad right now. I've been waiting for this one for a while. I loved the old Dreamcast version, and the remake for the iPhone not only recreates the mouse-redirecting gameplay (you place arrows on a board to guide mice around cats and into their mouseholes), but it adds a few iOS-specific features as well. There are 145 puzzles to play through, and as a special treat, Sega has added a one to four player multiplayer capability via Apple's Game Center; there are achievements to score as well.

The iPhone version is US$4.99, which is less than you'd pay if you found the used Dreamcast version in a store somewhere. The iPad version is $6.99, but it includes a multiplayer mode where up to four players can play on one screen -- it sounds pretty crazy. This one is a classic puzzler that you should definitely check out even if you never played the old game. We're lucky to have it up and running on iOS.

Halfbrick Studios is quickly becoming one of the best-loved developers on the App Store. They made a nice hit with Fruit Ninja, and I'm still enjoying their Canabalt-style Monster Dash title. Now, they've brought their PSP mini title, Age of Zombies, to the App Store, and it's another good one.

Originally created for Sony's handheld, and starring Barry Steakfries (the guy who's running around in Monster Dash, which this game has more or less been made into a sequel for), Age of Zombies is a dual stick shooter with the same old Halfbrick polish and a cool pixelated aesthetic. The action is fast but still friendly. You blast your way across five different worlds thanks to solid controls, a few witty lines from Steakfries and his dialogue, and a few weapons and power-ups to find on the way. Both Game Center and OpenFeint integration is included as well, along with a survival mode and a few other extras.

The game is US$2.99 right now as a universal app. It's an excellent game -- maybe a little casual for most dual stick fans, but if you're a big fan of Fruit Ninja and/or Monster Dash, this one is right up your alley. I'm excited to see even more from Halfbrick Studios in the future -- it certainly seems like they're doing very well on the iPhone.

I played Disney's Alice in Wonderland way back in February of this year, and back then, I wasn't super impressed. It was a little too much before the movie, and for US$4.99, it was a little too common for a platformer. But the app has just gone on sale for Halloween, and for $0.99, it's worth another look.

The game did have some fun innovations in it, with four different powers and the ability to use the iPhone's GPS to unlock some items. Especially for kids, it's a solid platformer, and at the sale price, it's worth seeing what Disney puts on display here (of course, this was before they picked up Tapulous and put them in charge of the mobile division).

Monster Feed is a colorful little tower defense title for the iPad, and it's a little more action-based than most TD titles. A lot of your interaction with the oncoming hordes is actually interactive, as you have not only towers to build and grow but also spells and even summonable minions fighting with you and at your side. Monsters have a few new tricks, too -- rather than just blindly following the paths, some will require you to tap on them or otherwise keep them back as you play. There are a few good ideas in the mix, and especially if you're a fan of the growing tower defense genre, this one seems like a must-see.

The iPad app is on sale right now for US $1.99, which is 50 percent off of the usual price. If you don't want to jump right in, you can try a lite version for free. And while the app isn't on the iPhone yet, we're told that it will be soon. If you want to try tower defense with a little bit more actual interaction, give Monster Feed a look.

Tiptop is a game that came out back in April of this year. It's a take on the Lemmings genre (which asks you to guide little characters through a map to an exit), and it uses line drawing to create paths for the characters, leading them around obstacles or across gaps. The style of the game is nuts, with lots of silly abstract flourishes and jokes, and the action can get frantic at times.

The game is now a universal app, and the graphics have been updated as well. Both versions are free to download, though the app is really just a trial version, with only four levels to play. The rest of the game can be unlocked with a US$0.99 in-app purchase, so if you like the free content and want to get the whole thing, it won't cost you any more than a buck.

We'll start with the obvious: Samurai II: Vengeance is one of the best, if not the best, looking games I've ever seen on the iPhone. It is simply gorgeous, with a unique, cel-shaded look filling out incredible 3D worlds. I'm excited for Epic Citadel's progeny, of course, but this one's in a class all its own in terms of the graphics. It's just amazing.

The gameplay isn't quite as astounding, but it's still quality. You play a samurai who (surprise!) is looking for vengeance and has to hack and slash his way through hordes of bad guys. Attacks are combo-based, and controls are responsive enough, given that they're based on overlay buttons, to pull off the attacks you want. Enemies are somewhat repetitive, but in an action game like this, that's kind of the way it works. And speaking of action, things can get kind of gory. Sometimes, by attacking just right, you'll up and chop a guy's head off or even slice him in half. That might be offputting if you're a more casual gamer, but what did you think was going to happen if you ran around swinging a samurai sword?

The game is US$2.99, and when you consider that includes both iPhone and iPad versions as well as Game Center integration and a survival mode, Samurai II: Vengeance is a bargain at twice the price. Definitely pick it up, if only to wander through the game's world and marvel at the way it's all portrayed.

A few super popular games on the App Store have basically helped spawn the "time management" genre. Games like Diner Dash and Sally's Spa pioneered the genre, and Sally's Salon follows in that tradition. The game tasks you with moving cashier, stylist, and masseuse Sally around her salon, where she has to take care of customers as quickly as possible. Sally's Salon is stylized for girls, with lots of pink and sparkles to go with the theme of a beauty salon, but the gameplay actually gets quite hardcore. It ramps up well as the customers quickly move in and through the store, and you try to make as much money as possible.

The app recently got a free upgrade to the "Luxury Edition," adding new salon locations, updated graphics and controls, and better visuals. As I write this, the app is just US$0.99, but even at the regular price of $2.99, it's an excellently polished game with very solid gameplay. If you're an old hand at the time management genre, or if you just want an excellent introduction to the process, Sally's Salon is a great way to dive right in.

Bebot is still one of my favorite apps on the App Store, and mScribble, a recently revamped app from Appular and a developer named Panpipes Ho!, reminds me a lot of Bebot in its simplicity and versatility. That's pretty high praise indeed if you're as big a fan of Bebot as I am, but if you've never heard of Bebot, let me explain. mScribble is an app that generates a melody for you on the fly. The app plays a simple drum beat in the background with whatever rhythm you want -- there are nine to choose from in the app's menu). Drawing a scribble on the screen plays notes in a melody that's already lined up to the tune. It sounds complicated, but the app does all of the hard work -- just swiping across the screen gives you music, and with a little bit of practice, you can make some really interesting tunes by just playing around.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as friendly to professional musicians as Bebot. This is more of a music generator than an actual instrument, and there aren't as many options. Each tune can play four tones, but you're pretty hard-coded to the drums in the background. But that's a plus for less experienced players -- it means that anyone can sit there, swipe across the screen, and create an interesting melody. It's a lot of fun, and just the ten minutes of random joy I spent playing around with the app was more than worth the buck they're charging for it. I'd like to see the idea developed even further (and Bebot is an excellent model), but for just swiping up a tune, mScribble is a great experience.

I have to say, I'm a little more interested lately in longer and more developed experiences for the iOS devices, which is one reason why I loved Game Dev Story so much. But there is still some space in my app diet for quick, pick-up-and-play experiences, and Tap Disc is one of those. Actually, "pick-up-and-play" might not be the right phrase to use -- there is a lengthy tutorial with the game, and lots of things are happening. But at its core, Tap Disc is a pretty straightforward action game, and it's clean and satisfying enough to be well worth the buck it's selling for on the App Store right now.

The basic gameplay has you following a series of discs around the iPhone's screen, and you tap the screen to create matching orbs for them to touch. Touch to create an orb, then line it up so the bouncing disc touches it at the right time. The twist is that the discs are all different colors, and the orbs you create change colors over time. For example, a white disc simply has to hit a white orb, which is the color it is when it's first created. But a red disc can only hit an orb after it's turned red -- about a half second after you create it. You have to calculate the angles and time your orb placement just right in order to match colors and clear the discs.

It sounds complicated, but in practice, it's not. What you end up with is a fun mix of a timing and angle game that's pretty addictive. There is also a "preschool" mode for kids (much less complicated -- just tap the moving objects to clear them), and there are a number of different difficulties and powerups to contend with. OpenFeint integration extends replayability, and the team is even offering a monthly contest with cash prizes for the game's best players. Tap Disc is definitely worth checking out.

I can't say I'm a huge traveler -- even though I've hit up quite a few conventions this year for work, I haven't been flying so much that I need to keep tabs on what's going on at the airport. But I like the idea of FlightBoard anyway. It's an app that will automatically create a departing flights board for any airport in the country, so you can see flight numbers, gate arrivals, and departure times for all the flights in the airport.

Like I said, I personally don't fly enough that I'd necessarily need an app just for this, but if you find yourself running off to the airport a lot for a certain reason, this app seems like it would be very helpful. Even beyond the specific function, I like the idea and design of FlightBoard -- it's modeled after the flight board at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and it is terrific example of how an app can successfully use an interface metaphor. In the real world, flight boards are often just a standard LED display (or, more recently, a series of monitors). But in this case, the app represents the idea of a flight board, so it recreates the LED display, and it makes the information more familiar to the user. We've all seen and used a flight board, and this app benefits from that previous experience in its interface.

In any case, that's just some interesting UI design insight. If nothing else, this app will tell you when and where planes are leaving at whatever airport you choose. FlightBoard is on the App Store right now for US$3.99.

Man, I love everything about Game Dev Story -- from the excellent premise to the cute, pixelated aesthetic to the great simulation gameplay. The idea is that you run your own game studio, and that idea is executed flawlessly. You hire your staff, choose a game genre (or do some contract work if you need extra cash), and then build up your game in terms of fun, graphics, sound, and gameplay, all while trying to keep your staff paid and avoid bugs when possible. Finally, you ship out your game and hope the reviews come back well, even while you're planning out your next title.

It's incredible fun, and the great chiptunes and graphics bring a lot to the table. There's a wild sense of humor in the mix here, too. New consoles are released into the market, a video game magazine comes every month, and you slowly build up your own studio's fanbase.

Game Dev Story is a ton of fun! It's somewhat pricey at US$3.99, but honestly, if you're a fan of the game industry at all (there's even a fake E3 where you can promote your games!), you'll find a lot of joy in this one. It's a very, very cool title.

Tripolar makes a big point of saying that it's not a match-3 game, and though the grid looks similar to that matching genre, it's really not. But it is a puzzle game. The idea is that you have pieces coming in on top of the board, and touching anywhere on the grid will insert that piece and delete any like-colored pieces around it. Any pieces of a different color will switch to the next color in order. It sounds a little confusing, but in practice, it works pretty well.

There's a timed mode, which challenges you to score as many points as possible in a certain amount of time, and a puzzle mode, which requires you to clear 50 different boards by putting the right pieces in the right places. Unfortunately, the gameplay is a little simple. Because you're dropping one piece in at a time, there are no real opportunities for building up combos, which is where the real fun is in these types of puzzle games. And unfortunately, there's no Game Center integration or leaderboards, though there is a high-score board for your phone itself.

It is well-made and entertaining for what it is, and it's worth the US$0.99 price if this kind of game appeals to you.

I visited IndieCade here in LA this past weekend, and I got to play some of the best indie games on offer over the past year. There are a few more write-ups on upcoming iPhone and iPad titles coming out later on today, but feelforit is one of the finalists that's already out for you to download (for free) on the App Store, so I suggest you give it a try. Developer Chris DeLeon is quite a character -- he made "an experimental interactive thing every day for ~7 months" for a game-a-day project. Just loading up feelforit shows you what he's talking about: interactive experiences that make you consider the world from a new angle. That's exactly what feelforit does -- it offers up random puzzles that require you to tilt the iPhone or iPad to a certain place in order to line up colored lines in the right locations.

Even after playing around with the app for a while, I still feel like I have no acuity for it (pardon the angular pun). But DeLeon was right when he told me that you can't think your way through it. You need to move the iPhone around until it "feels" like you're in the right place. It's barely a game since there's no time limit or requirement; there's just a reward once you've reached your goal. It's fascinating, though, and even more so because it only uses the iPhone's accelerometer, not the gyroscope or compass.

Anyway, the concept is hard to explain, but just trust me and give the game a download. DeLeon and his games are one reason that the iPhone and the App Store are so popular with indie developers -- they can easily release their experiences to a wide audience without having to worry about commercial pressure. App Store customers should be glad to have them around.

At every one of these gaming shows (it's GDC Online this week, which I'm at for TUAW), there's usually a "game of the show" that emerges. It's something, either on the show floor or demoing behind closed doors, that everyone starts to talk about. The buzz starts at parties and in the hallways, and then it carries over into panels and starts to crop up in those casual discussions about "what you've seen this week." But so far, the game everyone's talking about this week isn't even on display at the show. Epic's Mark Rein even recommended Chillingo's newest title, Cut the Rope, to me. It's a brand new game that's already making a huge splash this week (as of this writing, it was number two on the App Store paid list), and it's all the rage among app developers and journalists here at GDC.

The phrase being passed around is "Angry Birds meets Fruit Ninja," and those comparisons are apt. The idea is that you guide a little piece of candy, by cutting ropes and manipulating other items in the environment, to a cute little monster that's hungrily trying to eat it. Cut the Rope has the cute characters of Angry Birds and the fun, tactile interaction of Fruit Ninja all wrapped up into one extremely polished and shiny package. For only US$0.99, you get four stages full of levels, three stars to collect in each level (to add replayability), and to top it all off, Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards. The iPad version is $1.99, but there's also a lite version on that device to check out.

I'm not even that big of an Angry Birds fan, but I found myself giggling as I pulled off Cut the Rope's little puzzles. I was very charmed by Om Nom, the little monster who just wants that hanging candy. Cut the Rope has just barely gone live, and this is an app that is already getting into people's heads.