iPhone gaming News, Reviews and more
Cogs is a unique puzzler that has you building crazy steam punk style contraptions by sliding tiles. The title has been available for download for some time on PC, and was announced back in August to be in development for the iPhone as well. The game was developed by Lazy 8 Studios, and Chillingo has recently announced they will publish the title which is slated for a release sometime this month. Click here for more details…
The developer that brought us Moonlights, has just released Blockoban for the iPhone, a new iPhone puzzler. Blockoban was released as a “try & buy” title, a format that has slowly gained popularity around the app store since it was made available to developers a few months back. Blockoban comes with 100 levels free, with a Full Version available to purchase for $1.99 as an in-app purchase. The Full Version includes an additional 820 levels.
Both free and full versions of the game are Plus+ enabled for online leaderboards and community features.
Big Pixel Studios has wrapped up a gift for the entire iPhone gaming community, offering their retro-cool title Piyo Blocks free until the new year. Piyo Blocks offers sharp gameplay and very cool retro stylized graphics.
Go get it!
Features:
Contains 3 different game modes:
• PIYO MODE – capture the target number of Piyos to level up
• HYAKU MODE – capture 99 or more of any Piyos to level up
• TIME ATTACK – you have 4 minutes to capture as many Piyos as you can
Features Include:
• High Score tables for each of the 3 game modes
• iPod library access – play your own music in-game
• Hundreds of levels
• Hidden cheats to discover
Dexoris, the fine folks that brought us Peter Und Vlad are about to release something very different from what you might expect. As many of you know from our review, we were big fans of Peter Und Vlad, as its level of polish was outstanding.
In their new title, Audio Puzzle, Dexoris brings something all together new to the app store. The game will actually take your music, and turn it into an audio jigsaw puzzle. You are then challenged to fit the pieces together and complete the song. If their last title was any indication, you can expect a high level of polish from this new title.
Feature List:
- Audio Puzzle turns every song from your music collection into an exciting jigsaw puzzle!
- Either choose the music yourself or let the game fetch random songs from the murky depths of your music collection!
- 3 gameplay modes: Basic, Distraction and Hardcore, that each allows for infinite amount of gameplay!
- Tutorial that teaches you the basics!
- Intuitive touch controls!
- Dazzling graphics!
- Use the album artwork as background while you play!
- Recommend songs to your friends as you rediscover old classics by playing the game!
- Songs are easily skippable to save you from the embarrassment when you need to quickly hide your dirty music secrets!
Audio Puzzle is available at an introductory rate of $0.99 iTunes Link
Here is a video:
Review Samegame Gravitized
Review By Edward Abarilla
Rating:
(3/5)
ooPixel is know for creating simple games with great appeal. They have recently released their first ever title for the iPhone, Samegame Gravitized. Their new release is a simple match 3 puzzle game consisting of colorful candy-like circles, and you have to simply tap a group of three or more of the same color to clear them from the screen. If you are not careful you will often find there are no more moves left as this game requires skill, pattern recognition, and concentration.
Samegame gravitized includes three game modes, all of which are un-timed. Classic mode has you tap 3 or more pieces of the same color causing them to explode and removing them from the game. Those pieces are replaced with new ones which fall from the top of the board. Gravitized mode is basically the same mode with one twist. Instead of falling from the top of the screen alone, new pieces can come from the left or the right at your direction. This mode works well. Before you tap a group, tilt your device left or right and an arrow will appear indicating the direction of your tilt, and as soon as the pieces are removed, the new pieces will come from wherever you the direction you tilted. If you want pieces to drop from the top, simply don’t tilt the device. The difference in the the last 2 modes is subtle but brings variety to the game. Puzzle mode has pre-located groups placed strategically on the screen, and you must remove all of the pieces in order to finish a level. This mode is harder than it sounds, as it forces you to think several steps ahead to beat . The difficulty on all modes ramps up quite fairly especially on Puzzle mode.
Visually, the game is very colorful, the pieces just looks like candies.The explosion effect is well done and ads to the game visually. Unfortunetely I can not say the same for the games sound. Yes, it has a nice explosion sound effect but I would love to hear some music for more variation, which is always a good thing. Having no music just makes the game a bit dull considering the game is visually impressive.
High-scores and awards are provided using Agon as the social platform for Gravitized. So, if you like having those features, you’re in for a treat. Award are a bit challenging to earn, but not terribly difficult.
The good things about this game is you can play it on short bursts or even more. This game is good, a fun time-waster and will surely be a sweet experience.
Rating: (3/5)
UPDATE: Congratulation to: Mike, Bill, Legowiz, Noahandbill, and OhBOI!!! I hope you enjoy this excellent game!!
We previewed VernX early this week, and have an interview with the developers which will go up tonight. They have generously decided to participate in The Current Gamer’s Free Friday this week.
We have 5 copies to give away, and you just need to comment below to enter. The winners will be chosen later tonight. Good Luck!!
This week I came across a new game by indie developer, Vladimir Vernacki. Screenshots really do not do this game justice, so I have posted a video below. We will have a full review ready in the next week, and you will also want to keep an eye out for VernX in this weeks FREE Friday.
In VernX you must guide 50 particles through various obstacles to get to the end of the level. The particle physics in VernX work extremely well, and when controlling them with the accelerometer controls, you may often be fooled into believing you are dealing with real physical objects. The physics are that good. The visuals are simple, but have a really nice classic feel. In my time with the game so far, I can already happily recommend you check out this title, especially fans of physics puzzlers. Keep an eye out for a full review soon.
Developer Listed Features:
-Unique and intuitive accelerometer-based control system
-45 different levels (more coming soon)
-2 gameplay modes (Challenge mode & Sandbox mode)
-4 game skins
-Various gameplay elements, levels are varied.
-Stable Framerate
VernX is now available in the app store for $2.99. iTunes Link
For those of you who like to try before you buy, Zach Gage has just released a lite version for Unify. In addition to the new lite version, there is also a new website: http://www.unifygame.com/
So for those of you still on the fence on this excellent action puzzler, check out the lite version. This is one game that easily sells itself.
Best iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ
Review: Heron Steam Machine by Edward Abarilla
Rating: (4/5)
Triangle Studios has been developing games for both Nintendo DS and recently WiiWare, and now has taken the dive into the app-store bandwagon by releasing Heron: Steam Machine to the iPhone and the iPod Touch alongside the WiiWare version. Heron: Steam Machine is a 2D pick-up-and-play puzzle game that will tease your brain with its challenging arcade-action gameplay.
The game starts with an animation that tells a story of an old man retiring from his Rubber Duckies Factory business, passing on the responsibility to his evil son. You play as a maintenance crew member working on the factories steam machine (which helps produce the rubber duckies). The evil son forces our little fellow to work twice as hard, and he gets stuck with an excessive amount of overtime hours to cope with. Frightened, our fellow needs to obey orders and keep the steam machine working properly.
The steam machine has four gauges that must be maintained by making sure the pressure on each gauge remains at a normal rate in order to prevent an overload.. The gauges represent steam (green), electricity (yellow), water (blue), and oil (red). Because the machine has been overworked, pressure starts to fill up quickly, which is really where the fun begins. When a gauge starts to rise, you must connect a pipe to its entry point, and create a route to the exit point, releasing pressure enough to keep the production of rubber duckies moving. If a gauge reaches its maximum pressure limit, the machine will explode. Not only does the factory go bankrupt, but our sad little maintenance man is fired for his unsatisfactory performance.
The controls are relatively simple. Tapping a pipe causes it to spin clock-wise. Keep on tapping until it connects to another, and continue until you make your way through to the exit point. The games does get hectic after some time as you have to deal with multiple gauges at once, and can only connect one route at a time. Heron does feature various power-ups to help, such as one that will allow you to release the pressure of two gauges at the same time when used correctly. If you want to score big points you will want to use as many pipe pieces as possible, and by utilizing the multiplier system you can increase you score further. Combos and multipliers are very important in Heron.
The music in the game is quite funny, and is well-suited to the game’s comical presentation. Sound effects are also really well done. While playing you will hear the hissing sounds of the steam machine and explosions when things start to go awry. Graphics are 2D and very crisp. The particle effects when pipes explode are a nice touch, but can be improved. The background animation is superb as well as the animation in the gauges’. Overall, Heron looks gorgeous on the smaller iPhone screen and is on par with the WiiWare version.
The WiiWare version features a local co-op multiplayer, which the iPhone version lacks. Let’s hope it will be implemented on an update. Currently there are no online leaderboards and no achievements. The developers have promised it will come along with future updates of the game, but we will have to wait and see if that does happen. The game also currently needs a save feature when exiting the game so that you can come back later, exactly where you left off. I also would have liked to see other game modes.
Heron: Steam Machine has a clever theme and gameplay mechanic along with a humorous back story, which is a rareity in iPhone games. This is a game that will appeal to everyone, providing casual yet challenging fun on the go. Although it lacks some important features as of this writing, this is a game will stay on my iPod forever and probably the only pipe-themed game I will ever own.
Rating: (4/5)
It is certainly no secret the iPhone is saturated with Match-3 games. Chillingo and Riverman Media however, have managed to breath new life into the Match-3 genre with Cash Cow, an addicting new title that is bursting at the seams with personality and just may give Bejeweled a real run for its er…money.
Originally developed for the PC a few years back, Cash Cow is no quick port. The developers clearly took their time refining the game in preparation for its iPhone release, and the work is very apparent. In Cash Cow you must help Buck the Cow convert his coins into cash in order to save his farm. His local bank stopped accepting coins for payment, forcing Buck to get to work counting his piles of coins to buy back his equipment and save the farm. The basic gameplay in Cash Cow is simple, and is accessible to gamers of all skills levels. The playing board is filled with pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and using the touch screen, you must combine coins together to produce coins of higher value. Five pennies grouped together become one nickel, two nickels become a dime and so on The maximum value per match is one dollar, and when a one dollar match is completed the coins used disappear from the board. Each time coins are matched the value of those coins is credited towards your goal.
Each level has a monetary goal, and a time limit, with each successful match adding to your time. More casual players who would rather not be bothered with a time limit can play the relaxed mode, which will take them through the entire campaign removing all time limits. Levels later in the main campaign do get challenging and may take a few tries to complete, and that is where the power-ups begin to become a necessity. As you progress the game introduces several power-ups. The power-ups in Cash Cow were clearly well thought out, and are actually fun to use, and well worth the effort to obtain. Instead of just randomly appearing, power-ups must be earned by playing the game strategically. This adds extra depth to the game and encourages you to think about each move when playing through the main story mode.
After completing each level a mini game opens up, and can be completed for bonus dollars. In the mini game you must guide coins through various obstacles and into a bucket. The controls for the mini game are accelerometer based; simply tilt the iPhone left or right to roll the coins through the course. Each course is set up like a mini physics puzzle where you must figure out how to properly navigate your coins into the bucket preventing them from falling off to the left or right. The mini games are enjoyable, and feel like a reward after winning each level. With so many games simply throwing in a few mini games to fill up time, it is nice to see that the developers really took the time to make each bonus level special and rewarding in their own right. There is even a mode available which allows the player to play all of the mini game levels in succession.
Another big element to the game had me building my own farm, choosing even what color to paint my barn. You are able to actually spend the money you earn in each level you complete to help Buck get his farm back up to snuff since the nasty banker repossessed all of his belongings. While purchasing a new windmill, or some flowers for the garden may sound trivial, I actually found the experience relaxing and enjoyable, and ended up taking quite a bit of pride in the farm I built. When you start the game, all you have is a dilapidated old barn, and an empty barnyard. By the time you complete the campaign you will have patched up your barn, planted produce, added barnyard animals, hay stacks, and maybe even the odd banjo. As you progress through the game you will unlock new items for your farm so there is always something new you will want to save up your coins for. With 5 separate modes, extremely addicting gameplay, and so many different activities to keep you occupied, it is best you prepare to lose some serious down time to Cash Cow.
The art in the game is very polished and looks great on the iPhone. I found the bright colors and cheery art style to be very fitting to the overall mood of the game. The music in the game is also really well done as it has a sort of “down on the farm” feeling. Cash Cow is one of the few quality casual games that can be enjoyed by both gamers and non gamers alike, and can be enjoyed by the entire family. Make sure you check this one out.
Cash Cow is currently on sale for $0.99 and is expected to be priced at $2.99 after the sale
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