Category Archives: iPod Touch Games
Stumble Upon
Del.icio.us
Buzz
‘Blind World’ Review – Artistic 2D Rolling Puzzler
First Screenshots of Upcoming ‘Battleheart’ from Mika Mobile
First Screenshots of Upcoming ‘Battleheart’ from Mika Mobile is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Developer Mika Mobile, who are responsible for the popular Zombieville USA [$1.99/Lite/HD] and OMG Pirates! [$1.99/Lite], have just announced their newest iOS project called Battleheart. Battleheart is a real-time tactical strategy RPG that uses a line drawing mechanic for controlling the actions of its characters. You'll create a party of 4 from 8 different classes, and Mika Mobile assures there will be a robust skill system that offers a ton of ways to outfit your party members.
Here is an excerpt of some additional details about Battleheart that Mika Mobile has offered up in our forums:
The strategy lies in how you configure your party between the 8 classes and dozens of active and passive powers they possess. As they level up, you choose new skills which when used properly help to control the chaos of the battlefield. Examples include spells that slow time or raise your defenses, poisons that paralyze enemies, or attacks that simply deal heavy damage to thin out the enemies numbers fast.
Not too much more is known about the gameplay in Battleheart other than what can be found in the upcoming games thread, but we do know that the game will have universal iPad support and be optimized for Retina Display and fast-app switching. Mika Mobile is shooting for a release before the holidays, but are not going to rush anything out before the game is ready. They are currently working on a video preview of Battleheart in action, and we'll bring you any more news on the game as soon as it's available.
Dual-Stick Survival Shooter ‘Solomon’s Boneyard’ Goes Free for a Day
‘Robot Unicorn Attack’ Gains OpenFeint; ‘Labyrinth 2′ Adds Game Center
New ‘Gangstar: Miami Vindication’ Trailer Released
New ‘Gangstar: Miami Vindication’ Trailer Released is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Open world crime games have been incredibly popular for years now, so it wasn't much of a surprise to see Gameloft release Gangstar: West Coast Hustle [$4.99 / Free / HD] which we liked quite a bit in our review. Following the success of Gangstar, Rockstar threw its hat in to the ring with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [$9.99 / Free / HD] which really upped the ante with a real Grand Theft Auto experience with all the depth and complexity that players have come to expect of the series. It's going to be interesting to see what Gameloft includes in the Gangstar sequel to one-up Rockstar, but the good news is we won't have to wait much longer as Miami Vindication is set to be released on the 23rd.
If you're like us and are looking forward to stealing virtual cars on the streets of Gameloft's version of Miami, check out this new trailer:
Something that immediately pops out is how low polygon count everything is, but it remains to be seen how noticeable this is when you're actually playing the game. Thankfully, we don't have much longer to wait, and we should have a review available as soon as Gangstar: Miami Vindication hits the App Store late tomorrow night.
‘Words With Pirates’ – Misses The International Talk Like a Pirate Day Boat
‘Words With Pirates’ – Misses The International Talk Like a Pirate Day Boat is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Ahhh, International Pirate Day. A parodic holiday created by two guys back in 1995 that thanks to media coverage and the Internet as a whole has turned in to an international sensation. Assuming you observe the holiday, on the 19th of September you simply spend the day talking like a pirate. Some people take this even farther and dress like a pirate, go to pirate themed parties, or even pirate themed pub crawls with entire gangs of pirates marauding about town. iPhone developer Newtoy, creators of We Rule [Free] as well as both Chess With Friends [$2.99 / Free] and Words With Friends [$2.99 / Free] just released Words With Pirates [Free], a pirate-themed scrabble game.
Unfortunately it would seem that Words With Pirates got caught up in the Apple approval process, or met some other speed bump along the way preventing it from being available for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th. Even though it's a little late, the game is just as ridiculous. Basically, it's Words With Friends with all the push notification powered asynchronous multiplayer that made the original great with a tile set and dictionary conducive for playing pirate words. Y's, A's, R's, G's, H's, and exclamation marks are plentiful for playing words like "Arrrrgh!" or "Harg!"
Words With Pirates is free, and only available for a limited time per the iTunes description. If you've had a good time with Words With Friends in the past, and love pirates, I'm not sure why you wouldn't grab this. If this is the first you've heard of the With Friends games, I highly recommend checking out the ad-based free versions of both Words and Chess.
App Store Link: Words With Pirates, Free
Ngmoco’s ‘Touch Pets: Cats’ and ‘We City’ Launch in Canadian App Store
Ngmoco’s ‘Touch Pets: Cats’ and ‘We City’ Launch in Canadian App Store is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Two of Ngmoco's recently announced titles have made their debut in the Canadian App Store as of yesterday afternoon – Touch Pets: Cats and We City. As with most of Ngmoco's games that are hosted over online servers, they have released these games in the limited market of Canada in order to test them out and make tweaks to the system before readying a worldwide release. During a Ngmoco media event at WWDC in June, we took a look at both Touch Pets: Cats and We City and determined them to be pretty much in line with previous Ngmoco releases. Although the apple doesn't fall too far from the proverbial freemium tree that is the Ngmoco business model, both games offer up a nice free-to-play experience in their respective forms of virtual simulation.
Touch Pets: Cats – While retaining many of the same general concepts of its canine predecessor Touch Pets: Dogs, this feline-themed virtual pet game does away with the food bowl mechanic that was the bane of many Touch Pets: Dogs players and replaces it with catnip. In Touch Pets: Cats, you can play with your kitty at any time, and the catnip merely allows you to gain coins and experience at an accelerated rate. Playing with and caring for your pet is largely similar to Touch Pets: Dogs, and there is an emphasis on collecting items to customize your living spaces. You can visit your friends houses and pets as well using the Plus+ network, and can purchase additional catnip through IAP if you choose. Further information and a discussion of Touch Pets: Cats can be found in our forums.
We City – Following in the footsteps of We Rule and We Farm, We City takes many of the same mechanics from those titles and places them in a modern metropolis setting. You'll build your city from the ground up by placing buildings, streets, grass, and other infrastructure on a starting plot of land. As your city flourishes, you'll be able to expand the area where you can build and unlock more items and buildings for your city. The main focus in We City is on industrial production, and you'll need to build factories and stores that can produce goods and services for your citizens and those of your Plus+ network friends. This process can take time, however, and if you're feeling impatient you can use in-app purchasing to buy ZAP that will speed up your rate of production. As always, a discussion of We City is taking place in our forums if you're looking for more information and player impressions.
There's not currently a set US release date for Touch Pets: Cats or We City, but both titles are free to download if you happen to have a Canadian iTunes account. For those that don't, you can most likely expect to see both titles in the US App Store sometime before the end of the year.
‘Axe in Face’ Review – Stay Off the Daffodils if You Value Your Head
‘Axe in Face’ Review – Stay Off the Daffodils if You Value Your Head is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Vikings are widely considered a gruff and fearsome group, but what many people may not know is that they have a softer side as well. This has never been more readily apparent than it is in the game Axe in Face [99¢] from Blue Carrot Games. The Norse gardener Red Beard, when he's not looting and pillaging, likes to tend to his beautiful plot of yellow daffodils. His fellow Viking peers apparently don't share this appreciation of fine horticulture and will brazenly trample through Red Beard's garden, crushing the delicate flowers beneath their feet. This enrages Red Beard, and he deals with it in typical Viking fashion – by throwing an axe at the offenders and lopping off their heads.
Okay, so that part doesn't exactly qualify as the “softer” side of Red Beard, but it is an effective way to keep people out of your garden. Axe in Face can best be described as a line drawing defense game. Your daffodils occupy the left edge of the screen while waves of impolite Vikings approach from the right. Drawing a line from Red Beard creates a path for the axe to travel on before returning to him like a boomerang, and the goal is to behead as many Vikings as possible with each throw while not allowing any of them to get by you and into the garden. You can only throw one axe at a time and must wait for it to return to Red Beard before throwing again, and if even one Viking gets into the daffodils it's game over.
There's also some strategic elements to Axe in Face that add challenge and variety to the gameplay. Since the waves of Vikings are constantly moving forward, you'll need to lead each axe throw in order to ensure it crosses their path. There are different types of Vikings moving at different speeds, and it can be really satisfying to time your throw just right as to hit a group of them in one throw. One type of Viking is holding a tree as he walks, and your axe must first pass through a fire at the bottom of the screen before it will do damage to these enemies. Also, orbs can be collected from beheaded Vikings which contribute to a special meter which can allow you to either zap three Vikings with lightning or freeze the playfield and slow down their movement.
All of these elements come together really well in Axe in Face providing a simple concept with just enough depth and strategy to keep things interesting. It can be an incredibly challenging game too, but not overly frustrating. Rather than get mad at failing a level I can't help but smile as Red Beard bursts into tears when his flowers are trampled. The graphics and sound effects are really well done too, and Axe in Face contains 32 increasingly difficult levels and a number of achievements which should keep you busy for quite a while. Players in our forums are really enjoying the game, and the developer is there as well to answer questions and take suggestions for future updates. If you're looking for a game that blends elements from different genres in a fun way and provides a hearty challenge, Axe in Face is definitely a solid choice.
App Store Link: Axe in Face, $0.99
‘Pocket Frogs’ – 500,000 Downloads in Five Days and New Update Released
‘Blue Defense: Second Wave!’ Trailer Unveiled and Release Date Announced
‘Blue Defense: Second Wave!’ Trailer Unveiled and Release Date Announced is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
John Kooistra originally released Blue Defense! [$1.99] back in late 2008 and the game was both well received by our forum members as well as in our actual review. Since then, Kooistra formed Cat In a Box Games which went on to develop both Red Conquest! [$3.99] and Fastar! [$1.99], two games we also enjoyed quite a bit. Their next project was revealed this afternoon, a sequel to Blue Defense!, entitled Blue Defense: Second Wave!.
The Second Wave will be hitting the App Store on September 30th and is absolutely packed with content including 74 different mode-based leaderboards, Retina Display graphics, new enemies, and new controls. This is a sequel I can't wait to play, and we'll post a review as soon as we get our hands on the game.
‘Neuroshima Hex’ Review – You Had Me at Hex Grid
‘Neuroshima Hex’ Review – You Had Me at Hex Grid is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Earlier this month we took a look at Neuroshima Hex [$2.99], the iPhone adaptation of a strategy-heavy boardgame based in the Neuroshima universe. This game world straddles several sci-fi cliches and includes things like nuclear war, a sentient robotic revolt, mutants, humans doing whatever they can to survive, and even somewhat intelligent carnivorous plant life. Adapted from the tabletop Neuroshima game, Neuroshima Hex features four of the main factions and is fast-paced enough that calling it an "action" board game seems appropriate.
Like many strategy games with unique rulesets, Neuroshima Hex is fairly complicated. Playing the game involves selecting one of the four factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, then playing with a 35 tile "deck". Players start by placing their headquarters on the game board, and the rest of the game revolves around attacking the enemy HQ while defending your own utilizing the tiles you draw at the start of your turn. Your deck of tiles consists of three different types, tiles that contain different types of units, modules which buff those units, and instant action tiles that do things like destroy or slide a unit, or even initiate combat.
The issue with all this is that the learning curve of the game is less of a curve and more of a wall, as the developers didn't do much to make the game approachable to newbies aside from including a brief tutorial video. There is a help section in the game, but is isn't convenient at all to refer to while you're actually playing. Once you get a hang of strategically using your hex tiles to attack the opponent as well as deal with their threats on the game board Neuroshima Hex is a lot of fun… But as suggested in the thread in our forums getting there requires reading additional material on the game or even printing out a quick reference guide PDF.
In comparison, Carcassonne [$4.99] features a fully interactive voiced over tutorial that did an absolutely fantastic job at introducing new players to the game. Carcassonne is also host to some great online multiplayer options while Neuroshima Hex only comes with single device multiplayer. Thankfully, the developers have posted in our forums acknowledging these issues and plan on addressing them in the future.
Neuroshima Hex is a fun fast paced strategy game, and if you already know how to play, you'll likely have a great time jumping right in to this iPhone port. If you're intrigued by hex grid strategy games, and this is the first you've heard of Neuroshima Hex, just be aware that you've got quite a bit of work in front of you as you climb the steep learning curve.
App Store Link: Neuroshima Hex, $2.99
Creepy Zombie Shooter ‘Aftermath’ Goes Free Today
Creepy Zombie Shooter ‘Aftermath’ Goes Free Today is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
The atmospheric zombie shooter Aftermath went free for today only. We reviewed the game back in March and really loved the creepy mood the game offers.
The mood of the game really is perfect. The lighting effects, 3d engine and sound come together to give Aftermath a great feel. Your character is controlled by two thumb pads, but not in the traditional dual-stick format. Left is movement while the right one lets you turn left/right. Meanwhile, firing at zombies is automatic when you point at them with your flashlight. While this may sound awkward, it works quite well and makes the game feel a bit more realistic and frantic as you must be facing your opponents to fire at them.
There's a lot to like about this one, and we highly recommend picking it up for free today.
App Store Link: Aftermath, Free
Avast, Me Hearties! Our Booty Be “Stoneship” from Cyan!
Avast, Me Hearties! Our Booty Be “Stoneship” from Cyan! is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!
For the lot o' ye landlubbers readin' this post, I first be tellin' ye today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. All ye squiffies not knowin' this a'fore ought be keelhauled off me vessle! For the rest of ye buccaneers, enjoy the sweet trade 'till the sun be settin'! One lot o' scallywags that would ne'er be missin' this great, grand day be the scurvy dogs o'er at Cyan Worlds, thar in the far nor' west. And how timely it be for 'em to bestow such booty upon yer bold and mighty scriber (that be me) as a pre-release build of their latest 'ware, Stoneship: Curse of a Thousand Islands! (And I be not talkin' about the dressin', yer can be sure!) </piratespeak>
Indeed, never quite able to find enough ways to properly celebrate this fine holiday, I must thank Cyan Worlds for providing us with an exclusive preview build of their upcoming title, Stoneship. It has made my day of festivities that much richer.
As Cyan indicated to us earlier, Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands represents "a lighthearted new direction" for the studio. Cyan describes the game as a casual, top-down, turn-based, strategy puzzle game. That's quite a string of adjectives. After spending a bit of time with the game in its current form, I can say that each of those descriptors indeed apply. And, as such, it's something of a difficult title to nutshell for the uninitiated — but I'll try, and in two different ways.
I will first give a rather general characterization of the game "on paper," is it were. Stoneship sets you and your first mate on the high seas, charged with exploring, controlling, and protecting vast oceans and islands, under continual threat of pirate sieges and tangles with ghastly monsters from the deep. The game is played by moving about any given level, uncovering obscured blocks of both land and sea in an attempt to discover ports, and temples (and, as a result, weaponry) as well as rafts of men lost at sea who will join your forces, as well as the location of any pirate ships that make your forces necessary in the first place.
Once you find a port, it becomes your own…as well as a target for pirates in the area. Each level has a set number of moves you're permitted to execute before the inevitable pirate onslaught ensues. Multiple ports can be linked together to allow resource (battle-ready men) sharing, which is all about shifting men from port to port in the 10 second count-down before the pirate attack comes. Of course, you can only set things up to your advantage here if you've uncovered the location of the lurking pirates in your set number of turns. If not, the pirates come from one of the remaining hidden blocks on the map (which is pretty much a bad thing).
The core play mode is Campaign, which is a round-to-round push through the eighty three included levels (with additional levels to come later via update). A Challenge mode is also offered, which is a sort-of pick and choose affair.
Stoneship is not a complicated game — really, it's not. But it sounds like it might be, described thus. And so, in a move not typical for our demo videos, I've recorded nearly the entire tutorial session, which explains the gameplay by example, far better than I can with words alone. The action in the video steps up towards the end, after the tutorial, but forgive what must necessarily be somewhat of a less exciting, if highly informative, glimpse of the game in action.
It does take a little while to get the hang of, but after a few rounds, it ends up feeling quite natural.
The pre-release build we were given feels quite close to complete, with the minor issue here and there that should be addressed prior to launch. Stoneship is expected to soon make it's App Store appearance, and an update will shortly follow, bringing with it various enhancements including Game Center support.
Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands is a casual and interesting mix of ingredients from a number of different formulas that come together to make up a rather unique title. We hope Stoneship marks the beginning of a series of new iOS releases from MYST-maker Cyan.
‘Karate Champ’ Sale, Update from Revolutionary Concepts
‘Karate Champ’ Sale, Update from Revolutionary Concepts is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Wayne Whatford over at Revolutionary Concepts dropped us a line to let us know that '80s arcade classic Karate Champ – both the iPhone [link] and iPad [link] versions — is on sale this weekend for $0.99, down from $1.99 and $2.99, respectively. This marks a great chance for iPad users who grabbed the iPhone version early on to checkout the version tailored for Apple's tablet, featuring split-screen, head-to-head, two-player action.
In other news from the studio, forum readers may have noted the thread recently started by Revolutionary Concepts, challenging readers to guess what the initials of an upcoming game stand for. Those initials are "U. o. T." and some of the suggestions readers have been making are … well … amusing. The studio indicates the game is being created with just two criterion:
- It should have ZERO Buttons or onscreen controls of any kind, making it immediately accessible to anyone.
- Deliver it to you guys in just 2 weeks from start to finish!
Free copies of the game go to users with the closest (or funniest) guesses, at launch.
Whatford also indicated that his studio's iPhone adaptation of the Data East laserdisc classic Road Blaster is progressing nicely. The only time this game has been seen outside of Japan is in the Sega CD port which not only suffered from the same horrid video compression of all Sega CD games, but also got renamed to Road Avenger. Revolutionary Concepts have completely remastered the game, and when it is finally released, it will play at 60FPS at full iPhone 4 or iPad resolutions. They've also completely redesigned the dashboard of the car, added in tilt controls, and made a whole list of other tweaks. The studio is hoping for an end-of-month release for Road Blaster, we're told.
Whatford tells us that various, unspecified titles will follow shortly behind Road Blaster. Stay tuned.
App Store Link: Karate Champ, $0.99
App Store Link: Karate Champ XL, $0.99 (iPad Only)