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iOS Gaming January 2014: Catching up with the Holiday Sales Backlog Edition

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FantasticMrFoxdie said:
Any games that are similar to Sword&Poker? I'm really enjoying it. Perfect example of gameplay>everything



Totally worth it, especially if you have a ton of music on your phone. Another cool this is you can use it as a visualizer while you listen to music.
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done and done.

also pro tip. dont buy hero siege.
 
mr_toa said:
Any one been trying out Front Wars?


Kind of looks familiar to me :-)
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It is not a clone of Advance Wars. There's just a single map that's done as an homage to AW (though using it in the iTunes description was definitely a mistake). Check out the dev update in this article:

Hi Owen,

Thanks for putting this to my attention. If IGN had really tried the game they would have noticed that there is just one map that is inspired by an Advance Wars map, and I put it in the game as an homage to a game I love, Advance Wars. All the others maps are created by myself. I see now it was probably a mistake to include this map in the game, so I will remove it. Of course Front Wars is inspired by Advance Wars, as well as Advance Wars was inspired by Military Madness, Nintendo didn’t invent the genre.

But I don’t think my game is a clone to advance wars, the universe is different, the history also. Even the gameplay is different, different units, simplified game mechanics. I want to give players on iOS as myself a game experience close to a game I love and that was missing on iOS. I not competing with Nintendo with my game, and I never will! Even if Nintendo would published Advance Wars on iOS, I am sure they would sell their game as well as if my game didn’t exist. You know, it’s Nintendo!

I feel really unfortunate that people think it’s plagiarism, today there is so many games that inspired from each other without getting any negative feedbacks. I don’t do this to get rich as some people may think, as I’m sure it’s not going to happen, I see myself more as a provider of a game service, I want to listen to the players and provide what they want to play, and provide content for the game they like.

I hope people will see beyond that article, and try the game by themselves. I could build a limited free version later for sceptics player who want to give it a try before buying.
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Glyph Quest is pretty awesome.
When you unlock the elemental combos it gets really really fantastic...was a while since I liked a match 3 this much.
 
PittaGAF said:
Glyph Quest is pretty awesome.
When you unlock the elemental combos it gets really really fantastic...was a while since I liked a match 3 this much.
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I played a bit and it seems fun. Think I'll drop the $1.99 and get the Mage thing. I really liked the idea of reverse combos, seems like the game has some novel tricks up its sleeve and sounds like it doesn't disappoint. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
colinp said:
I played a bit and it seems fun. Think I'll drop the $1.99 and get the Mage thing. I really liked the idea of reverse combos, seems like the game has some novel tricks up its sleeve and sounds like it doesn't disappoint. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Definitely worth the unlock...I LOVE when high level enemies cast some spell and destroy your plans of maintaining high level chains.
Simply brilliant.
Some things could be more evident (like enemies strengths instead of memorizing those reading the bestiary or when you are about to level up an element instead of checking the inn) but so far I had a blast...was really a long time since I had so much fun with a match 3 game.
Endless mode is the icing on the cake.

So far it misses just Gamecenter and possibly better fonts.
 
Not sure if someone has mentioned it before, but yesterday Aksys released a visual novel called "Banshee's Last Cry". It's (as far as I know) the first time that the game "Kamaitachi no Yoru" ( "Night of the Sickleweasel") has been translated into English. It's a port of the first game that originally came out on the SNES/PSX. The story is fantastic, with all the twists and turns you expect from a good murder mystery. The "game" plays a lot like 999/VLR, only that you don't solve any puzzles. You read the story, make decisions and change the outcome of the story while listening to very moody music.

The app is free, you unlock the whole game via an $3,99 in-app purchase.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/banshees-last-cry/id740139977?mt=8&affId=1822652
 
Complex Shadow said:
done and done.

also pro tip. dont buy hero siege.
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Why? Hero Siege is great. It's like Minigore with some RPG elements. And the developer is awesome, constantly communicating with the players and talking about development. New levels, new classes, new relics, and other new content will be coming soon in updates
 
Glyph Quest is my top game this week. I've been playing all day whenever I get a few minutes, and am almost at the end.

The devs say there's an update in the works to add an endless mode, which will have leaderboards. I kind of hope they add achievements as well.

If you're playing the game and are on the fence about paying for the full thing, I recorded a video of gameplay much later on so you can see some of the tougher bosses, larger glyph area, and element combos you'll get:
http://youtu.be/1rX2_C8Wzrg
 
putermcgee said:
Glyph Quest is my top game this week. I've been playing all day whenever I get a few minutes, and am almost at the end.

The devs say there's an update in the works to add an endless mode, which will have leaderboards. I kind of hope they add achievements as well.

If you're playing the game and are on the fence about paying for the full thing, I recorded a video of gameplay much later on so you can see some of the tougher bosses, larger glyph area, and element combos you'll get:
http://youtu.be/1rX2_C8Wzrg
Click to expand...

Isn't the castle in the middle the endless mode? I can play it (once you've finished some quests) and it's wave based and it seems endless.
 
Guys, check out Polara. It's a game I consider an IOS classic, and while the devs released a free version with ads, I implore you to consider getting the paid version. I've been reading about the devs, and it's been a long struggle for them; while the game has been praised by players and elsewhere, they haven't found success despite their efforts and publishers won't help, because their game isn't freemium.
...we have been approached by publishers such as Zynga, Moonshark Games, And a few others but they can't help until we can produce another title that is Freemium. We are looking at a port over to PS Vita and are trying to find places to publish the PC /Mac versions on storefronts at the moment and every marketing team I contact outright says the game must be freemium because no one is bothering with the traditional paid paradigm anymore.
Click to expand...
That was last January and they's still struggling

Polara is a fast paced precision runner that takes its core mechanic and wrings it for all its worth, delivering inventive and varied hazards to avoid and a huge amount of content between its campaign and endless modes. Quick reflexes and reaction are a must to succeed.
Paid | Free
 
putermcgee said:
Glyph Quest is my top game this week. I've been playing all day whenever I get a few minutes, and am almost at the end.

The devs say there's an update in the works to add an endless mode, which will have leaderboards. I kind of hope they add achievements as well.

If you're playing the game and are on the fence about paying for the full thing, I recorded a video of gameplay much later on so you can see some of the tougher bosses, larger glyph area, and element combos you'll get:
http://youtu.be/1rX2_C8Wzrg
Click to expand...

I read what the dev wrote...but actually if you tap the castle in the middle of the map...you enter the endless mode already.

And yes, the game is fantastic...playing it obsessively too.
 
killercow said:
Isn't the castle in the middle the endless mode? I can play it (once you've finished some quests) and it's wave based and it seems endless.
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Yeah me too.
Weird the dev is writing it will add that in the future....maybe the code already slipped in and he didn't realize it was already pretty great.
He is a bit busy at the moment, waiting for his wife to have his baby...so maybe that's where comes the confusion :P

The endless mode is a lot of fun too, and I usually hate these kind of modes.
 
Didn't know where else to put this but I had to share. Picked up Where's my Mickey when it was free the other day. This happened...

JnPBLZy.jpg


I like how the star looks visibly disgusted at the display.
 
Cyan said:
:O Tell me more...
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It's Splinter Cell by way of Super Meat Boy, fast paced precision puzzle platforming with stealth mechanics and humor

The touch controls work surprisingly well and everything that made the game so great on PC and PSN is present. It's tough and tricky and the level design is fantastic

And with a $1.99 unlock, you get access to 2000+ community levels
 
More_Badass said:
Guys, check out Polara. It's a game I consider an IOS classic, and while the devs released a free version with ads, I implore you to consider getting the paid version. I've been reading about the devs, and it's been a long struggle for them; while the game has been praised by players and elsewhere, they haven't found success despite their efforts and publishers won't help, because their game isn't freemium.

That was last January and they's still struggling

Polara is a fast paced precision runner that takes its core mechanic and wrings it for all its worth, delivering inventive and varied hazards to avoid and a huge amount of content between its campaign and endless modes. Quick reflexes and reaction are a must to succeed.
Paid | Free
Click to expand...

Completely agree - when I bought this game a year or so ago I couldn't put it down. One of the best "runner" type games released so far.
 
WoolyNinja said:
Completely agree - when I bought this game a year or so ago I couldn't put it down. One of the best "runner" type games released so far.
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From TA, thought you guys might be interested
http://www.hammerfistclan.com/forum...good-game-may-have-helped-kill-studio-552971/
From last year, but HTW's struggles and troubles still persist today

Just...damn it...sometimes I'm happy to be an IOS gamer and support the platfom, and sometimes I'm disgusted by the mentality and practices that are supported and thrive on the store. That, right there, is real and depressing evidence of the human toil that those practices have.

I don't want to see yet another great developer go down.
 
I love Polara. Will have to boot it up again tonight, thanks for the reminder. Highly recommended. Really fun to play.
 
killercow said:
Isn't the castle in the middle the endless mode? I can play it (once you've finished some quests) and it's wave based and it seems endless.
Click to expand...

PittaGAF said:
I read what the dev wrote...but actually if you tap the castle in the middle of the map...you enter the endless mode already.

And yes, the game is fantastic...playing it obsessively too.
Click to expand...
I had tapped on the castle previously, but for whatever reason looked over the fact that the big green "Quest" text was even there. I'm playing it now, and on wave 85 or so.

Also, the dev said there's not supposed to be an endless mode at the moment, and that it's not balanced and doesn't really have leaderboards. That explains why I'm so far in it and am still not having trouble!
 
I just started Deus Ex. This is easily the most frustrating game I've ever played. Did this game have IAP before the price drop?

The shooting fucking sucks.
The movement fucking sucks.
Hacking is good.

I don't recall being this frustrated with a game in my life. I'm glad I only paid $1 for this.

*EDIT* Slayin is an almost complete ripoff. You die a lot without having the option to save your progress. You have to earn 5000 points to unlock the ability to keep progress after death.

My current games as of now:
Clumsy Ninja
Slayin
Angry Birds Star Wars 2
Deus Ex The Fall
Godville
 
More_Badass said:
From TA, thought you guys might be interested
http://www.hammerfistclan.com/forum...good-game-may-have-helped-kill-studio-552971/
From last year, but HTW's struggles and troubles still persist today

Just...damn it...sometimes I'm happy to be an IOS gamer and support the platfom, and sometimes I'm disgusted by the mentality and practices that are supported and thrive on the store. That, right there, is real and depressing evidence of the human toil that those practices have.

I don't want to see yet another great developer go down.
Click to expand...

Polara is awesome, but they were fighting an uphill battle from the start. The game, a runner, is a genre flooded with F2P/.99 games. Yet this game is highly influenced by Ikaruga, a very hardcore game. That's a tough sell. I disagree with the article's notion they did everything right from a business perspective. A tiny indie developer hiring a PR firm to pump up a niche game? (Granted I'm MMQB'ing based solely on this article and as someone with no experience in the gaming industry:)

Whatever the reasons, I am sad Polara didn't do better. I still have three levels to beat. The game is pretty tough:) Let's see if I can finally do this. Maybe then I can figure out why suddenly out of the blue they pushed through an update to change the icon...
 
bonesquad said:
Polara is awesome, but they were fighting an uphill battle from the start. The game, a runner, is a genre flooded with F2P/.99 games. Yet this game is highly influenced by Ikaruga, a very hardcore game. That's a tough sell. I disagree with the article's notion they did everything right from a business perspective. A tiny indie developer hiring a PR firm to pump up a niche game? (Granted I'm MMQB'ing based solely on this article and as someone with no experience in the gaming industry:)

Whatever the reasons, I am sad Polara didn't do better. I still have three levels to beat. The game is pretty tough:) Let's see if I can finally do this. Maybe then I can figure out why suddenly out of the blue they pushed through an update to change the icon...
Click to expand...
They did much more than that.
I will however point out that we didn't just sit here and expect people to download the game. We did a number of giveaways, hired a PR company which gained us quite a bit of exposure on web media, have done a number of giveaways throughout the year to the excess of almost 300,000+ titles in 2012 alone which cross promote our game on new storefronts, we cross promoted with Get Set Games Mega Run to the tune of 1400 click throughs a minute, we have had promo code giveaway where we asked those whom got the codes to spread the word on Twitter which none of them did save 2, we are trying to get involved with promotions and bundles that would ensure a number of new customers, we have been featured twice last year by Google with Kunundrum, and once this year (this week just passed) with Polara, tried countless of times to reach a Twitter community, did an IAmA on Reddit, that article on Penny Arcade(which was their idea to publish, thankfully they were kind enough to do so) got us the attention of a number of people, I've tried introducing the title to other communities on other forums, tried to connect with Mike's Crazy App Reviews to do a video review and SEO campaign, we were chosen on a number of best apps of 2012 which was spread through social networks, we've tried banner advertising which has really been a complete flop(10,000 impressions on a 250x500px banner and we got maybe 15?), tried to hand out codes to those that could help solidify the credibility of the title(other major talents in the industry like ex-EGM editors, celebrities, major creative forces), have run Facebook campaigns through their user acquisition marketing, ran a marketing campaign through Flurry with a paid supported click through initiative, we have been approached by publishers such as Zynga, Moonshark Games, And a few others but they can't help until we can produce another title that is Freemium. We are looking at a port over to PS Vita and are trying to find places to publish the PC /Mac versions on storefronts at the moment and every marketing team I contact outright says the game must be freemium because no one is bothering with the traditional paid paradigm anymore.
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The fact that they still couldn't find success, and the whole freemium part is such a shame. And this quote was from last year. They still haven't collected a salary or been able to find a way to give their game more exposure
 
They made a product that simply wasn't appealing enough. And, while very well made, it's in a oversaturated genre. When there's plenty of well made runners for free, it's going to take a lot to convince people to buy one.
 
I don't understand how I can select NO to allow push notifications when installing a game, and yet on certain games I still get them. Is this not enforced in any way? The app just ignores it.
 
I made it its own thread but I think this game definitely deserves its own spot in the highlights of the month:
https://itunes.apple.com/cl/app/id740139977?mt=8&affId=2104182
Banshee's Last Cry, it's like an interactive book and one of the first visual novels ever created, originally released for the SNES/SFC back in the 90's it has finally made its way over here translated by Aksys. The game is by the same developers of 999, VLR and 428 which Aksys also brought over (well, save for 428) and it's basically a thriller in visual novel form.
People who liked Year Walk or Device 6 definitely should check it out!
I just got the true ending myself but before that I got five bad endings, and you unlock more endings and story lines after getting the true ending.
 
There is a Star Trek Triple Triad game on the App Store. It's call Star Trek Rivals and is one of the better Triple Triad games on iOS. Take this from an expert that has played most of them.

Sound effects are annoying though.
 
Goli said:
I made it its own thread but I think this game definitely deserves its own spot in the highlights of the month:
https://itunes.apple.com/cl/app/id740139977?mt=8&affId=2104182
Banshee's Last Cry, it's like an interactive book and one of the first visual novels ever created, originally released for the SNES/SFC back in the 90's it has finally made its way over here translated by Aksys. The game is by the same developers of 999, VLR and 428 which Aksys also brought over (well, save for 428) and it's basically a thriller in visual novel form.
People who liked Year Walk or Device 6 definitely should check it out!
I just got the true ending myself but before that I got five bad endings, and you unlock more endings and story lines after getting the true ending.
Click to expand...

Looks and sounds cool, thanks for pointing it put earlier. Thinking of picking it up soon!
 
I picked up glyph quest, it's fun and the mechanics seem great, but it's really unpolished and glitchy, also you should show some info about the IAP before prompting the user for password.

I probably pay for the IAP after an update that polished the games.
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
I picked up glyph quest, it's fun and the mechanics seem great, but it's really unpolished and glitchy, also you should show some info about the IAP before prompting the user for password.

I probably pay for the IAP after an update that polished the games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it feels quite rushed. I guess the dev is having a baby so that's why, but eh that's not really an excuse when they expect us to pay money for it. Still, good fun all told.
 
Community Forum said:
I don't understand how I can select NO to allow push notifications when installing a game, and yet on certain games I still get them. Is this not enforced in any way? The app just ignores it.
Click to expand...
Because the prompt is about push notifications (those sent over the air from the internets) and not local notifications (sent from the app itself). I'm not sure if turning off all alerts from the Settings will solve your issues, but it's worth a try.
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
I picked up glyph quest, it's fun and the mechanics seem great, but it's really unpolished and glitchy, also you should show some info about the IAP before prompting the user for password.

I probably pay for the IAP after an update that polished the games.
Click to expand...

I think the unlock iap thing is the major complaint everyone had.
I wrote the dev about it too...he is aware of it (actually the code that display the price and description doesn't work in the AppStore version); he is working on it plus refining the endless mode.

Still, game is great IMHO...I'm LOVING the later combos...feels like playing a JRPG sometimes with thoselong animations :)
After the unlock, as soon as you enable 4-matches and the combo time the game is orders of magnitude better.
I wish in the future for new monsters and bosses...expecially the ones with multiples spells and special skills.
 
Really enjoying Man at Arms TD atm, it's very much inspired by Kingdom Rush, with the same 4 types of towers, but this game has added cards in the mix which you use to upgrade towers, reinforcements, direct attacks etc.

You can also combine cards to create new ones which add all kinds of cool stuff like f.e. archers on bridges, or treant reinforcements.

The iPad version even has a level editor.

It's not a universal app though , but I read on the TA forums that if you email the dev you bought one version he'll give you a code for the other.

Game looks charming too :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PrnMKnrrRCo
 
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