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iOS Gaming August 2013: The Curious Case of no Subtitle

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T

toddhunter

Member
So watchcraft.

What do you get when you mix World of Warcraft with a game and watch style? Probably something that is nothing like Watchcraft, which isn't like WoW at all. But you might just get something that is interesting to play.

game-of-watchcraftx3prb.png
Click to expand...

If you ever played something like the old handheld Donkey Kong games you'll immediately see what they are going for here. You move around on a tick timer and perform simple actions whilst you try to survive. The game mixes up the simple formula with quests and mechanics like mana to provide a bit of depth. Overall, the style is perfectly executed and there is a lot of potential nostalgia there. It is also accessible as it takes only a few seconds to work out the flow of the game and then you are away.

However there are issues. The controls are not as tight as they could be, even for a touch device. The mechanics like mana, whilst adding depth also end up adding frustration due to the imprecise usage. For example, you may have a quest to defeat the large boss which you can do via mana shots. However they quickly run out and regenerate slowly as enemies randomly spawn and get in the way. Whilst waiting, there isn't anything interesting to do so you will feel the pinch after going through this a few times.

Still, for $1? It works. The game sets out to achieve what it is trying to do before it hits a wall engineered by its own limitations.

Give it a look.

---
Meanwhile kid tripp didn't do it for me. I think it is just the style of the game.
 
N

Nyx

Member
I want an old school JRPG for my iPhone 5 but don't know what to choose.

Preferably with turn-based combat, not active, I hate that.

Any tips besides the FF games? Lunar Silver Story perhaps?
 
T

toddhunter

Member
Nyx said:
I want an old school JRPG for my iPhone 5 but don't know what to choose.

Preferably with turn-based combat, not active, I hate that.

Any tips besides the FF games? Lunar Silver Story perhaps?
Click to expand...

Slim pickings outside of FF.

Have a look at:
Penny arcade 3
Cthulhu Saves the World
Lunar Silver Story
Chaos Rings
Eternal Legacy
 
H

hongcha

Member
Nyx said:
I want an old school JRPG for my iPhone 5 but don't know what to choose.

Preferably with turn-based combat, not active, I hate that.

Any tips besides the FF games? Lunar Silver Story perhaps?
Click to expand...

My faves:

Chaos Rings 2
Guardian Saga
Symphony of the Origin (not as good as the other two, but the only decent Kemco RPG, IMO)

Avoid Vay, the controls are so awful I found the game unplayable and the dev refuses to patch in a virtual dpad for some reason. Also, it has a really crappy menu system.
 
S

Shearie

Member
Kid Tripp is soooo damn good!

Who knew an auto-runner, which I'm usually not that into, would become one of my favorite platformers on iOS.
 
T

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Shearie said:
Kid Tripp is soooo damn good!

Who knew an auto-runner, which I'm usually not that into, would become one of my favorite platformers on iOS.
Click to expand...

I've made it half-way through the snow world now, it's just right in terms of "frustrating" this game.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Trial By Survival update coming soon

From Toucharcade
I just wanted to stop by and announce that we have started testing our 1.1 update. Here are a few of the features that we are going to be testing:

-Game Center and Google Play Game Service Support
-Additional Arenas and leaderboards
-Additional melee weapons
-Food Mechanic for Survival Mode
-Night Time Searches

All additional content and features are going to be included in current IAP, there will be no additional IAP.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
O

okno

Member
Tunesmith said:
I've made it half-way through the snow world now, it's just right in terms of "frustrating" this game.
Click to expand...

The game is giving me serious flashbacks of playing Super Magnetic Neo on Dreamcast. It has that perfect balance of making you yell at your iPad/Phone and hugging it.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Space Bits (0.99)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/space-bits/id676831207?mt=8

"Space Bits is a shoot'em up RPG hybrid jam-packed with randomly generated loot!"

screen1136x1136.jpeg
Click to expand...

Game's getting really good user impressions on TA and the dev is working on new content updates. This is from the TA review:
At first, your craft will feel fairly slow, weak, and helpless, with the pitiful ability to fire errant, sluggish shots. Like any RPG, this feeling is natural, and will pass in time as you pick up more powerful armor and weapons, and upgrade your power, defense, and dodge stats. Naturally, the difficulty will crescendo in turn, and introduce you to nastier enemies to deal with.

You can choose to min-max your ship, going for a pure glass-cannon build, a cautious turtle build, a risk-reward dodge setup, or anything in-between. For the most part, the statistical enhancements are noticeable, and it was fun to choose how I wanted my ship to evolve.
Click to expand...
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
I know I've asked this before but some months have passed so...

I need to get rid of the headphones cable...playing in bed with iPad or iPhone is driving me mad with that damn cord.
More specifically I want the cord cut between the device and the headphones, so I was thinking about getting a device like the Jabra Street 2 or something like that, to continue using MY headphones, but detatched from the device.

Main use is for games, no calls or music...so...music quality problems? Lag while playing?
Any advice for a specific model?
I'm now actually using the (new) Apple headphones and quality is OK for me.

Many thanks.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
RustyO said:
Because of that? Or because the game is crap?
Click to expand...

Uhhh like I said? The game was uninteresting before it got racist. Then it was racist and my ultimate determination was "This is crap and takes too much space."

At this point maybe I'm the wrong dude to be asking? lofl
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Line Bound (0.99)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id687082520?mt=8

Trailer

From the dev site:
"In this crazy arcade game you will guide a line that moves inside another line. Avoid obstacles and choose the right moment and correct direction for each turning. Movement speed increases each level, so as the difficulty of levels. Be prepared for a stress test of your reaction and nerves =)

The game is super minimalistic. No noisy music, just soft sounds. Nothing should distract player from his 145 attempt on yet another level. Controls are very simple: tap on left screen half to rotate left, on right half to rotate right."

screen568x568.jpeg


screenshot-3-960x640.png
Click to expand...
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Okay, Line Bound is great. It's in the same family as Super Hexagon, Impossible Road, Expander, Pivvot, etc. The controls are simple but there is bit more depth than the screenshots may imply. One, like a racing game, you have to choose when to turn carefully or else you'll overshoot or undershoot and hit the walls. So it's not just mindless direction changing. And two, the game plays with your perspective a la Expander, challenging you to reorient yourself in time for the next turn.

The minimalist design is nice and the game feels very polished overall. There's no IAP and the auto restarts give Line Bound that addictive "one more go" appeal. For 0.99, I'd recommend it
 
K

Katana_Strikes

Member
colinp said:
Hah, less than a week from release. iOS(tm).
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's plenty of IAP too.

Honestly the game is very tough. I've ploughed through TD games such as both Kingdom Rush and this is just throwing too much at you with pretty crappy/weak towers. And I'm playing on Easy.

It's ok for 69p. It tries to follow the KR presentation and gameplay but falls rather short. It's way too busy (especially on a smaller screen) and there's many multiple paths which make it rather unbalanced and against you. Difficulty needs toning down a little for it to be a bit more enjoyable.
 
F

FlashFlooder

Member
^weird, I'm playing on Hard and finding it too easy...

Then again, I'm a total TD nut but did think that Kingdom Rush was pretty tough (Frontiers, not so much)
 
K

Katana_Strikes

Member
FlashFlooder said:
^weird, I'm playing on Hard and finding it too easy...

Then again, I'm a total TD nut but did think that Kingdom Rush was pretty tough (Frontiers, not so much)
Click to expand...

Ha, I'm the complete opposite. I thought Frontiers was easy enough but this game is bloody tough going on Easy :p

Any tips then, as I seem to be doing something quite wrong. Best towers to use. They all seem a bit meh and it's hard to get the coins up for upgrades quick enough. It's when you get the bigger boats/ships that is all starts to go wrong and can't get their health down quick enough. I've been using a mix of cannons, gun tower and slow mostly.
 
R

Rasec

Member
More_Badass said:
Okay, Line Bound is great. It's in the same family as Super Hexagon, Impossible Road, Expander, Pivvot, etc. The controls are simple but there is bit more depth than the screenshots may imply. One, like a racing game, you have to choose when to turn carefully or else you'll overshoot or undershoot and hit the walls. So it's not just mindless direction changing. And two, the game plays with your perspective a la Expander, challenging you to reorient yourself in time for the next turn.

The minimalist design is nice and the game feels very polished overall. There's no IAP and the auto restarts give Line Bound that addictive "one more go" appeal. For 0.99, I'd recommend it
Click to expand...

and i'm convinced. here i go to try this game *_*
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Rasec said:
and i'm convinced. here i go to try this game *_*
Click to expand...
Hope you like it. Saw it on TA today and then I realized it was released last week and there's been no reviews or anything. Only thing people might not like is that it's not score driven like SH or Impossible and it's not endless. It's level based and need to reach the end. Of course reaching the end is easier said than done. They may be totally different genres, but I'd compare it to Kid Tripp in that the goal is to perfect each level, you'll fail, but each time you'll learn more of the level and eventually be able to complete it
 
F

FlashFlooder

Member
Katana_Strikes said:
Ha, I'm the complete opposite. I thought Frontiers was easy enough but this game is bloody tough going on Easy :p

Any tips then, as I seem to be doing something quite wrong. Best towers to use. They all seem a bit meh and it's hard to get the coins up for upgrades quick enough. It's when you get the bigger boats/ships that is all starts to go wrong and can't get their health down quick enough. I've been using a mix of cannons, gun tower and slow mostly.
Click to expand...

Just been using & upgrading (via tech tree) the cannon and chemical towers, seems to work pretty well. The voodoo towers are powerful, might start upgrading those next.

Still, the game is missing something. It's just not all that much fun. Guess KR spoiled me.
 
J

JimtotheHum

Member
Has any other iOS developers on here had to deal with major piracy? I was shocked at how much our app has been pirated.

I would say it currently stands that 99% of the people showing up on our gamecenter leaderboards have not purchased the game. It's definitely disheartening.
 
chris121580

chris121580

Member
JimtotheHum said:
Has any other iOS developers on here had to deal with major piracy? I was shocked at how much our app has been pirated.

I would say it currently stands that 99% of the people showing up on our gamecenter leaderboards have not purchased the game. It's definitely disheartening.
Click to expand...

That's really awful to hear. What game are you referring to?
 
R

RustyO

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Uhhh like I said? The game was uninteresting before it got racist. Then it was racist and my ultimate determination was "This is crap and takes too much space."
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry about that, misinterpreted, my bad.

BenjaminBirdie said:
At this point maybe I'm the wrong dude to be asking? lofl
Click to expand...

Maybe? lol. I nabbed it anyway yesterday; for 99c thought it would do me, but... not voerly feeling it too much so far ??? Onto Level 3 now.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
So...let's talk Smash Bandits

I freaking love the gameplay. It's almost like an open world Reckless Getaway with roadblocks and spike strips and mayhem and speed boats. And that's just awesome. The controls are perfect. The graphics and art style is great. The menus are beautiful and are made 100% with touchscreen in mind. Fast loading. Only issue is some lag on my iPhone 4.

The gameplay is fantastic but...
(And this is a huge but)

Those goddamn freemium mechanics! Ugh. Just...ugh. 5 runs and then you have to wait 10 minutes. The second car costs 10,000 credits, which isnt that bad, but every other car is unlocked with chips. I think the next one is 45 chips or something. Upgrades and gear prices are way too high to balance between upgrading, equipping gear, and unlocking new cars.

This game could have been perfect but the freemium model is just garbage. It's an absolute shame because I love the gameplay. It's so fun. If this was a 0.99, 1.99, 2.99 premium game, I would have bought it in an instant. Instead I already deleted :(
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Got Asphalt 8

If you're a fan of arcade racers, this is a 100% must buy. 110% if you have a newer device. I'm playing on iPhone 4, runs very well and graphics are decent IMO. But the gameplay is what matters and the gameplay is awesome. The tracks have tons of alternate routes and are even multi-tiered, more traffic to dodge, crazy jumps, and is just really really fun. For 0.99, this is an absolute steal.

IAP is car packs and credits, but it's really only for the impatient.
 
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