Topic: iOS Gaming Thread

[idolminds]

Zen Bound is free for a little while.

[idolminds]

Naughty Bear is free.

Rimelands: Hammer of Thor is on sale for 99 cents since they just won Best Mobile Game at the Unity Awards (basically awards for games using the Unity engine). Looks to be a well reviewed RPG with a turn-based dice rolling combat resolution mechanic. I grabbed it and can tell more when I can play it.

[idolminds]

Rimelands is pretty sweet. The dice rolling combat is easy to understand and interesting. I'm going to enjoy playing this.

[Quemaqua]

I picked up Battle for Wesnoth finally, and I have to say it's really super stinking awesome.  Everyone should own this game if they have even the slightest inclination for fantasy strategy games.

[idolminds]

Anyone wanting a "demo" of Battle for Wesnoth, its an open source game for Win/Mac/Linux that you can get here.


Mutant Bash TV preview on IGN, with a video. I am so getting that.

[Quemaqua]

I just can't imagine how not being able to control movement would be fun in a shooter like that.  But it does look awesome... I'll have my eye on it for sure. Bisthat what the doom game plays like as well?  I don't think that one reviewed too highly.

Wesnoth may have a lite version in the app store as well, but I can't remember. But honestly, just buy the fucker.  It's a beautiful and very professional port, and I think it's on sale right now.

[idolminds]

Doom Resurrection is supposed to have similar gameplay, but its a bit slower paced and not really about the high score (from what I've read. I haven't actually played it). I don't mind the on-rails so much since generally FPS controls on a touchscreen suck ass. Think of it more like Area 51 or Time Crisis than a FPS.

[Quemaqua]

Hmm.  Interesting.

In other news, I can't stop playing Wesnoth.  It's hard to believe how much game is in there for a mobile game period, let alone one that only costs a bloody $1.  It's crazy.  And so far what I've played has been compelling.  The stories are somewhat typical fantasy stuff, but there's enough effort put into it that you get a sense of it being a quality little tale that backs up the fun of all the gameplay.  And the graphics and music are fantastic.  This makes both a fantastic mobile game because you can save any time and play in bite-sized chunks by just playing a turn or two, but there's also a lot of gameplay there you can dig down into if you feel like having a long sit with it, and there's a ton of content to go through so you don't feel like you're going to run out any time soon at all.  If you have a buck laying around and have ever been interested in this sort of thing, get it.  There's no reason at all not to.

[idolminds]

More freebies!

Minigore: Pretty sweet twin stick shooter. If you like those, definitely grab this.
Mecho Wars: Turn based strategy, similar to Advance Wars.
Kingdom conquest: Some free to play MMO-ish game from Sega. I dunno, might be worth checking out.

[idolminds]

Add to that:

Bear vs Penguins: Basically looks like a rethemed Plants vs Zombies. Looks nice, actually.

[idolminds]

RAGE and RAGE HD are out now for $0.99 and $1.99, respectively. Only difference between them is texture resolution, the HD version is for the newer devices with higher resolutions. 537 MB for regular, 743 MB for HD.

[idolminds]

Game Dev Story has a little price drop going on, bringing it down to $2.99.
Neuroshima Hex is also on sale at $1.99. Que, I thought you said you had this one...how is it?

[Quemaqua]

Neuroshima Hex is pretty fun.  It's no-frills in the sense that it literally is just the board game.  There's no stat tracking or tournament modes or anything of that nature at all, and you can't even get information on the individual pieces from the board screen itself.  But the game itself is actually really fun, I like it a lot, and the general design is pretty slick and looks, sounds, and moves well.  There's sufficient documentation on how to play available from the main menu.  A quick glance at that and a few times in the game, you'll have it all figured out.  It's not bad for $2, and it's a nice simple kind of game that you can play and enjoy quickly or sit down and dig into for a few games.  No multiplayer or anything, though, and it isn't quite to the level of chess or something as far as replayability, but the randomness of the tiles makes it feel like half board game, half card game.  I dig it.

Also, I'm really enjoying Rage.  It's really quite fun, and while part of me wishes it was a real FPS, part of me really enjoys the unique parts of what it does.  I'd still hope for more levels even at the cost of increased install size, but I've actually had a lot of fun with it and smiled many times and had a few "holy shit!" moments with it.  Good times.

[iPPi]

Found a fun game on Android that should be out on iOS as well.  It's called Steambirds.  It's a turn based top down flight combat game.

You have to choose your plane's flight trajectory in relation to the enemies and try to destroy them before you get destroyed.

The first few missions are absolutely trivial but the later missions are extremely difficult.

[Quemaqua]

Deathworm is a super fun little arcade game.  Great stuff.  Be a giant worm, destroy tons of stuff, eat people, and get bigger and badder as they throw bigger and badder things at you.  Really fluid, really fun.

Pacman Championship Edition actually has an iOS version.  I don't know how it compares to the console offerings, but it's great fun and works pretty darn well as a portable game.

Treasure Grab is another Pac-style game, but has a fun little story and some twists to it.  You're basically a thief going around stealing stuff in mansions and avoid guards.  The controls take some getting used to and might be a dealbreaker for some, but it's a cool little game.

[gpw11]

Yeah, Steambirds is hella fun and should be available for both iOS and Android.  The same could be said for Pac Man CE, although I wish the Android version would let me install to the SD (come on Froyo).

Finally, if you have an iOS or android device and don't have Homerun Battle 3D, you're a scrub.

[iPPi]

Homerun Battle 3D is a good game but it's like 20MB.

[gpw11]

It shows up in my list as substantially smaller (like 5mb).  I think it saves most of it's data to the SD card, I don't know if the demo version does that. 


But really, the main flaw with Android (which has been partially fixed with Froyo I believe) gaming is the retarded restriction they had on having to install to device memory.

[Pugnate]

Yea Homerun Battle is a fun distraction.

I most play Angry Birds though.

[Quemaqua]

Anybody try The Quest?  It looks like an old-school, PC-style, turn based RPG-FPS.  And it looks awesome.  It has a bunch of expansions out too, and a Gold pack that comes with the core game plus 3 of the expansions.  I'm so bloody tempted.  It makes me wonder why the fuck Daggerfall isn't available for iOS.

[idolminds]

Big sale on a bunch of EA games for Thanksgiving. Tetris, SimCity, Need For Speed, etc.

Deep Deep Dungeon is on sale for 99 cents. Ill grab it here in a minute, but its basically a casual dungeon crawling game. The combat is timing based much like the timing of swings in golf games.

[idolminds]

Deep Deep Dungeon is pretty sweet. Grab it while its cheap.

Depict is like a pixel art Pictionary. Going free for this weekend.

[idolminds]

Driver and Super KO Boxing 2 are free today. GET THEM

[iPPi]

Yahtzee reviews the top iPhone games, calling them more innovative then recent mainstream games. 

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/2506-iPhone-Games

[gpw11]

Probably the first time I've watched Zero Punctuation in a couple years, and now I remember why; it's just not funny anymore and his cadence is hella annoying.

That said, I do agree with him....to a point. Mobile gaming is far more limited than mainstream gaming, both in hardware and control options, and as such developers have to look at designing games in new ways to make them accessible, functional, and give them appeal. Apart from that, I think it's a stretch to call mobile gaming more innovative at this point.

Angry Birds isn't all that innovative.  There were dozens of trajectory games before it that are pretty much just like it.  What it brought to the table was artistic appeal and a high level of polish.  Cut the Rope I haven't played and can't comment on.  Fruit Ninja?  Duck Hunt or any other target hitting game...without a light gun.  The only thing innovative it brought forth was a swipe instead of a poke.

Beyond that, the mobile gaming market is just as, or more, saturated with crap as the mainstream gaming market.  The only difference is that a shitty Angry Birds knockoff only costs $.099, while a shitty Wii Sports knockoff costs at least $19.99

[idolminds]

Of the games he mentioned, Cut The Rope is probably the best, but still not all that great. Its sort of fiddley and relies a little much on reflexes.

Someone compared iphone games to random arcade games. You'll drop a dollar on it to give it a spin but it doesn't have much staying power. But hell, it was only $1.

[sirean_syan]

Back in my day, that costs us a quarter.

[Quemaqua]

Inflation.

[idolminds]

You could play the arcade game like 4 times for $1! Which is about how many times you can stand playing the average iphone game.

[idolminds]

Riese: Battle for Eleysia is free today. A card game based off of some SyFy show. Felicia Day narrates.

Rogue Runner is also free. Another infinite running game, but lots of groovy pixel art themes to choose from.

[idolminds]

Oh yeah, almost forgot. Zen Bound 2 is 99 cents. Contains all the levels of the original ZB, too. Really interesting game.

[Quemaqua]

I picked up Epic's Epic Citadel and Infinity Blade yesterday... and holy fucking hell.  I can't believe what I see when I play them.  The graphics are just astounding for the iPod.  No idea how they squashed Unreal Engine 3 on there and still get it to run so well.

Anyway, I'm not sure if IB is worth the price (the other is free, just a tech demo, but totally worth the download).  It's $6 and only 80-something megs, which is astounding for how good it looks, but it seems really super limited.  I've only been through it once, but it appears to basically be a single level you play over and over.  You fight dudes, get treasure, fight more dudes, and upgrade yourself and your stuff, fight the big bad dude at the end, then start over and fight harder, higher level enemies, get new gear, find more stuff, fight the big bad guy again... and then I'm guessing you just keep doing that.  It seems to play into the story, though I don't know if there really is one or not.  The guy kills you and each time you go through it's as if you're the son of the last guy, but the bad guy is sucking up each soul every time you fail.  He's level 50, so I'm guessing eventually through your bloodlines you get powerful enough to kill him and then win the game.

I don't know if things open up a little more on subsequent playthroughs or not.  I'll have to put a little more time into it before I can say, I only confronted him once.  There are new enemies as I go so far, some of which look different and have some different moves, but I don't know how many are included.  The good news is there's going to be at least one free addon, some sort of dungeon you can go through (hopefully a whole new level like the one that's included), with more gear and more enemies to fight.  If they do a few of those, I'd say the game would very likely be worth getting.  I'll let you know if there's anything new going on as my playthroughs increase, but so far it seems like it may be too limited to truly be worth the price of entry.  Still, they do seem to be supporting it with free content and supposedly a multiplayer element later on, so there's definitely some hope.

But man does it look gorgeous, easily the coolest looking game I've seen for iOS.  Everything about it is just... well, epic.  Will post an update soon in regards to its current level of content.  I particularly need to see if they add enough new enemy types as it goes to keep the combat from getting stale.  My primary gripe right now is there doesn't seem to be any reason to dodge versus parry.  Block is sort of the easy way out, but if you fuck up a dodge or parry you take damage, and if you dodge strikes correctly you open the enemy up for an attack string, and if you parry his strikes correctly you open him up for an attack string.  I'm hoping that with new and higher level enemies you'll have to mix it up because some strikes can't be blocked, maybe some you have to dodge because they're too strong to parry... dunno'.  We'll see.

[idolminds]

Free today: Axe in Face

How can you not want that?

[gpw11]

I picked up Epic's Epic Citadel and Infinity Blade yesterday... and holy fucking hell.  I can't believe what I see when I play them.  The graphics are just astounding for the iPod.  No idea how they squashed Unreal Engine 3 on there and still get it to run so well.

Anyway, I'm not sure if IB is worth the price (the other is free, just a tech demo, but totally worth the download).  It's $6 and only 80-something megs, which is astounding for how good it looks, but it seems really super limited.  I've only been through it once, but it appears to basically be a single level you play over and over.  You fight dudes, get treasure, fight more dudes, and upgrade yourself and your stuff, fight the big bad dude at the end, then start over and fight harder, higher level enemies, get new gear, find more stuff, fight the big bad guy again... and then I'm guessing you just keep doing that.  It seems to play into the story, though I don't know if there really is one or not.  The guy kills you and each time you go through it's as if you're the son of the last guy, but the bad guy is sucking up each soul every time you fail.  He's level 50, so I'm guessing eventually through your bloodlines you get powerful enough to kill him and then win the game.

I don't know if things open up a little more on subsequent playthroughs or not.  I'll have to put a little more time into it before I can say, I only confronted him once.  There are new enemies as I go so far, some of which look different and have some different moves, but I don't know how many are included.  The good news is there's going to be at least one free addon, some sort of dungeon you can go through (hopefully a whole new level like the one that's included), with more gear and more enemies to fight.  If they do a few of those, I'd say the game would very likely be worth getting.  I'll let you know if there's anything new going on as my playthroughs increase, but so far it seems like it may be too limited to truly be worth the price of entry.  Still, they do seem to be supporting it with free content and supposedly a multiplayer element later on, so there's definitely some hope.

But man does it look gorgeous, easily the coolest looking game I've seen for iOS.  Everything about it is just... well, epic.  Will post an update soon in regards to its current level of content.  I particularly need to see if they add enough new enemy types as it goes to keep the combat from getting stale.  My primary gripe right now is there doesn't seem to be any reason to dodge versus parry.  Block is sort of the easy way out, but if you fuck up a dodge or parry you take damage, and if you dodge strikes correctly you open the enemy up for an attack string, and if you parry his strikes correctly you open him up for an attack string.  I'm hoping that with new and higher level enemies you'll have to mix it up because some strikes can't be blocked, maybe some you have to dodge because they're too strong to parry... dunno'.  We'll see.

How would you say it compares to Rage?

[Quemaqua]

Different.  Rage is exactly the same each time, but it's more dynamic feeling and faster moving and has more levels.  This is slower, less intense, and there's only one short level, but the game isn't the same each time.  Enemies get stronger, attack types change, attack patterns get more interesting and unpredictable, etc.  Rage is the same thing but you try to get better, to perfect your run.  Infinity Blade is the same thing, but it mutates and grows as you play it.

I've gone through it about three and a half times now, and even though it sucks there isn't more to it, I'm finding the combat enjoyable and having fun seeing what new stuff they throw at me.  I think if there's enough enemy types and small evolutions going forward, once they release the free dungeon level andthe MP stuff, the game will be a worthy buy.

[idolminds]

Stick Golf is free. Get it, right now. Its awesome, like Worms meets golf.

[idolminds]

Roll Through The Ages is free for today. Boardgamey dice fun!

Companies are trying to get their games out before the holidays because duh people will buy them, but also because Apple has a week-ish time period (23rd-28th) where no games can be added, updated, or have their prices changed. So some of the games that have hit (or will hit today):

Riven - $6
Real Racing 2 - $10
Dungeon Defenders: First Wave - $3
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - $1
Shadow Guardian - $7 (aka, Uncharted for iOS)
Hook Worlds - $1
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - $7
Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD - $7
The 7th Guest - $3

And thats just this week. Last week we had Infinity Blade, Illusia, Dead Rising, and a bunch of other "big" games.

Personally I'm in for Hook Worlds. Thinking about getting Aralon except I'm guessing the download is going to be huge. And Dungeon Defenders might be fun for a couple bucks. Always hard to decide since I'm sure most if not all of them will go on sale in the not so distant future.

EDIT
Going to hold off on Aralon. I'm sure its a good game, but they hired a guy to do their icons...

Yeah. Supposedly they are looking into it now, but its pretty obvious the dude just edited some Guild Wars icons. Which means they will probably replace them. Which means I'd have to redownload the entire game since there isn't any real patching for iOS stuff. And so, I wait for a sale.

EDIT2

Another game to check out is WINtA. A music game designed by the creator of Parappa the Rapper. Its free, with one song that comes with. Supposedly there will be more free songs and of course you can buy more. Its published by OneBigGame, same dudes that published Chime so all the profits go to charity.

[scottws]

I'm still waiting for a good Android game.  All I have that is any good is Angry Birds.  Infect is alright too.

[iPPi]

I'm still waiting for a good Android game.  All I have that is any good is Angry Birds.  Infect is alright too.

I have the following Android games and I think they're pretty good... though they are still not up to the caliber of what iOS is getting like Infinity Blade and Rage:

Angry Birds -- obviously good.
Angry Birds Seasons -- seasonal version of Angry Birds.  Free; currently has the Halloween and Christmas themes.
Buka -- shmup like game.  Simple but fun.  You touch and hold on a point on the screen to shoot to clear the path for your character.  There's a free version so try it out first before you buy.
Fruit Ninja -- same as the iOS version. 
Flight Director -- There are a couple variants of this on the market but I think this one is the best because it offers the most maps and uses 'real' airports.  You direct planes to land.
Retro Defense -- good defense game
Robo Defense -- another good defense game
SliceIt -- Same as iOS version, but this one is free.  One drawback is fairly intrusive ads though.
Spaghetti Marshmallow -- great game on Android.  You build structures using spaghettis and marshmallows to try and reach objects.  Kind of like World of Goo and other physics based construction puzzles.  Really challenging once you get past the demo stages though.
SteamBirds -- good turn based flight strategy game.  There's a flash version of the game for free on the web though.
Totemo -- from the same developers as Buka.  This one is a brain teaser though where you have to clear the screen in groups of 2, 3, 4, 5. 
Speedx 3D -- like Wipeout in 'Pure' mode.  Try and survive as long as possible.  One of my favorite games on Android at the moment.
aTilt 3D -- I just downloaded this one and it's kind of fun.

[idolminds]

EAs games are all supposed to be $.99 minus the following:
Rock Band Reloaded
Rock Band
Mirror's Edge
and those released today

Prices havent updated yet, though.