One of the more interesting puzzle games we've seen appear in the App Store is Ancient Workshop's Ancient Frog [App Store, $4.99]. We took a look at this one earlier this month and found it to be a highly challenging and unique game--sort of a zen experience.
The goal of the game is to move a lifelike frog from the bottom to the top of the screen so that it may eat a fly that has unwisely lighted upon it. This involves moving one leg at a time to and from various marked foothold points via touch / drag in a fashion that brings to mind the game of Twister. When any of the frog's feet are touched all points of foothold that can be reached by that foot, given the frog's current orientation on the leaf, are illuminated. It's an interesting challenge that starts out quite easy but quickly becomes (maddeningly?) difficult.
For those wanting a closer look than the developer video (of the paid app) provides...
...Ancient Workshop has just released Ancient Frog LE [App Store] , a 'lite' version of the company's addicting puzzler. Ancient Frog LE features "a smattering of levels and a couple of frogs, so you can try it for free and see if you want to pay for the full experience." We encourage anyone on the fence to spend some time with the lite version to experience this notable iPhone release.
PopCap’s Bookworm [App Store] is to word games as Bejeweled 2 [App Store] is to match three games--often imitated, never duplicated. Prior to Bookworm’s arrival, every other word game was a mere steward to the throne. After hours of playing the new iPhone port of this PopCap classic, I can confidently say there is a new king in town.
Bookworm uses the same formula of most word games, offering a field of random tiles from A to Z, (with 'Qu' combined in to one tile) that players must search through to find words. The tiles are large enough that accurately tapping them with your finger isn’t an issue and you can then either select the rest of your word by tapping adjacent tiles or dragging your finger through them. Lex, the Bookworm mascot accompanies you throughout the game, showing you the score of the current word you have selected. Tapping the selected word removes the tiles from the board. Lex eats them, and sometimes offers a definition of the previous word as more tiles fall from the top.
The length of the word you just entered determines the type of new tiles that are spawned. If you manage to find a huge word, green, golden or diamond-like tiles will appear. Using these special letters to create other words sends your score skyrocketing. Each word fills up Lex’s bookshelves, represented below the play field along with your current score. Fill up a shelf and you graduate to the next level, picking up a snazzy new title on the way.
After you rank up a few times, a new type of letter will appear: The dreaded burning tile. These tiles start at the top, and slowly burn their way towards the bottom with each word that doesn’t include the flaming letter. If one of them reaches the bottom and sets your library on fire, it’s game over. These tiles can be cleared like any other letter on the board by using them in a word. The shorter the word you enter, the higher the risk of new tiles being on fire. This makes for a fun game play mechanic which forces the player to either search for longer words, or risk the consequences in dealing with an inferno closing in on Lex’s books.
If you can't find any words, shake the iPhone a few times and Bookworm offers you the chance to scramble up the tiles. While shaking things up might save you from being stuck, it also clears all the bonus tiles and adds a few fire tiles. Depending on your luck, shuffling the tiles can work out very well for you, or put you in a worse situation than you were in before.
Bookworm comes with two game types, depending on the pace you prefer. Classic mode has no time penalties, and is perfect for analytical word game players who enjoy searching endlessly for the longest words or planning ahead to have tiles line up for even longer words. This game mode is also great for playing while you’re doing something else, but have a few moments here and there to find a few words.
If you prefer a more frantic pace, Timed mode will be more your style. Letter tiles will spontaneously catch fire, and have to be dealt with accordingly to protect Lex’s library. Initially the tiles take quite a while to be set on fire, but as you level up, the flaming tiles come at you faster and faster. It doesn’t take very long until timed mode will have you desperately searching for any word--regardless of length--as long as it puts out a few fires.
The best part though? Unlike an increasingly large number of iPhone games that completely lose your progress when you get a call or need to quit the application, Bookworm saves everything. I really do mean everything, including remembering the tiles you had selected when you resume your game. On top of this, Bookworm keeps two separate save states for each of the game modes. PopCap really went the extra mile to guarantee that Bookworm is a game you can pick up and play whenever you only have a few seconds, or if you’re sitting down for a word-finding marathon.
The pacing of the game is excellent and has a very fun feel to it. Bookworm also keeps track of your overall statistics, recording your best words, scores, and highest ranks. It even includes a word history so you can see how many three to twelve letter (twelve letter!?) words you’ve found complete with a brief listing of the words you’ve used recently from each word length.
As cliché speaking to the “polish” of a game has become, it’s hard to come up with a better way to describe the highly refined game play in Bookworm. It’s no surprise either; Bookworm has been on nearly every platform imaginable starting with the PC over six years ago. Even after playing the game when it first debuted on PC and several other platforms, I still find myself going back to Bookworm on my iPhone to see if I can beat my previous high score.
While there are word games on the App Store that offer similar game play--and even some fairly obvious clones--none really compare with the complete Bookworm package as it has evolved over the years. While there is no lite version currently available, PopCap has both an online flash version of the game, and demos you can download on the same page for both the PC and Mac.
Bookworm is one of the best iPhone word games available. While $4.99 might seem a little pricey when there are similarly structured games for less, the quality and replay value of this long-running game really shows and it comes highly recommended.
This review was written by Eli Hodapp, a guest contributor at TouchArcade.
James Daniels of Apex Designs, author of GTA-like Payback [App Store, $4.99] for the iPhone and iPod touch, has made a post to his website detailing the notable sales success of Payback during its first two months in the App Store.
Since Payback made its App Store debut (at $6.99) in late January it has generated gross revenues of $400,000 across 65,000 copies sold. The lite version [App Store, Free], which appeared about two weeks ago, has seen roughly half a million downloads.
As Daniels points out, the sales he's had so far represent only 0.2% of the iPhone platform user base, speaking to the enormity of the App Store market.
And while Apex Designs has done quite well with this action / RPG, Daniels knows it's not success stories all around when it comes to the App Store and offers some advice to Apple.
We do have one criticism though: it's vitally important to get visibility on the device, so getting into the Top 50 can really boost sales - unfortunately, the paid app charts are sorted by sales, which is inevitably going to skew things towards the cheaper apps and so will make it harder for relatively expensive apps like ours to break through (in fact, we have only occasionally been in the charts in most countries).
We've been lucky (and the lite version certainly helped), but others haven't been so fortunate. We'd therefore like to humbly suggest a solution to Apple - please sort the paid apps by revenue not by units sold. This would effectively allow the better value apps to rise to the top irrespective of price, giving them the visibility they deserve. This would benefit customers and developers alike because it would encourage quality software rather than cheap novelties.
Congrats, Apex. Payback has come a long way since its humble Amiga beginnings.
Developers keep releasing new tower defense games on the iPhone and customers keep buying them. Two interesting tower defense variants appeared in the App Store last week while we were away at GDC. While neither seem to be "must haves" for everyone, one or the other may pique your interest.
ElementalMonster TD
ElementalMonster TD [App Store] comes from Hudson and offers a mix between tower defense and card-based strategy games (such as Magic: The Gathering).
There are 50 different cards that can be obtained and you choose five to bring into each stage. The cards represent distinct "towers" (characters) that can be placed along the path to defend against enemies. Unlike normal "towers" in these type of games, these characters move and fight the oncoming enemies.
The game appears to offer a significant amount of depth and gameplay and should appeal to more hard-core tower defense fans or those who enjoy the added card/RPG elements. A lengthy forum thread has formed discussing the game's merits.
Meanwhile, InMotion Software's Dungeon Defense [App Store] also offers a very nicely executed take on tower defense. Like ElementalMonster TD, the game also introduces specific characters (swordsman, archer, axeman) to place onto the map. These characters actually walk up and battle oncoming waves of enemies and can take damage themselves. The goal is to protect the King who is found at the end of the map.
Whereas ElementalMonster TD has a deep system of gameplay, the primary criticism of Dungeon Defense from our readers is that it seems very light on content. There is a single map with three levels of difficulty, which can be defeated relatively quickly.
The game, however, seems very promising and there are hopes that the developers will add additional levels and deeper gameplay. This will be one to watch. See the ongoing discussion in our forums.
IUGO has provided these screenshots and game descriptions for their upcoming A.D.D. and Star Hogs games that we briefly highlighted earlier.
Click on thumbnails for full size images.
A.D.D
Brace yourself for high impact, fast-paced gaming! A.D.D. is just Another Dumb Distraction. Blast through 50 mini games jam-packed with humor, culture, controversy, and personality. Clean and quirky graphics combined with truly unique games will push your device and brain to the limits!
Kill boredom with A.D.D.; the game everyone is talking about.
A.D.D. will be available in May.
Star Hogs
"Rig up your hogs, strap yourself in, and head out into orbit for the fiercest battles this side of Uranus. Obliterate the competition with a Cruise Missile or close in for some potshots from your Vulcan gun. Not your style? Don't worry, you've got more than 20 ways to kill someone. Nuke some asteroids for an extra payday, but remember, they're the only thing protecting you from a re-entry hangover you won't wake up from.
Take out some chumps and unlock heaps of new gear in 32 campaign levels, or ride into the online arena to face curly tails from all over the universe. But remember, in space no one can hear you squeal."
A number of sales and 'lite' version releases have hit the App Store over the past week. We wanted to provide a quick roundup of some of the more notable titles' price reductions and releases.
Rasta Monkey [App Store, $0.99 (sale)] is a 2D platformer in which the player assumes the role of a Rastafarian monkey. The goal is to swing through the branches to collect fruit and navigate obstacles. Many of our forum users seem very happy with this unique title. Rasta Monkey is on sale for $0.99, down from $1.99, until April 5th.
The Quest Lite [App Store, Free] is a limited version of Chillingo's 3D role playing game done in the style of Dungeon Master and The Bard's Tale. It transports the player to a sinister world full of magic, music and challenges. The game offers five customizable races and an array of skills, attributes, weapons, armor and enchantments. Gameplay ranges across four different cities as well as a wilderness of mountains, caves, lakes and forests.
iShoot [App Store, $1.99 (reduced)] from Ethan Nicholas is an extremely popular turn-based artillery game in the style of Scorched Earth. iShoot held the #1 position in the App Store in January and February of this year and has been a huge success for Nicholas. iShoot has been reduced in price to $1.99. The recent 2.0 update added music, multiplayer support, weapons editor and more.
Ferrari GT Evolution: Lite Version [App Store, Free] is a feature-reduced version of Gameloft's officially licensed iPhone racer that offers only basic Quick Race gameplay set in the streets of Paris. This lite version gives the prospective buyer a good taste of the paid app experience. Some of our readers feel this is one of the best racers in the App Store.
geoDefense Lite [App Store, Free] is a limited six-level version of Critical Thought's $0.99 tower defense game (which features 30 levels). We found geoDefense to be an excellent game with an appealing retro aesthetic and a bit more action than the typical tower defense title. The author has been quick with updated and our readers love it.
IGF Mobile Gaming Nominees and Winners - Radio Flare [$0.99], Galcon [$0.99], Smiles [$2.99], and Dizzy Bee [$0.99] have gone on sale to celebrate the event. Fieldrunners remains discounted at $2.99 from an earlier sale.
Fans of the 1984 Ghostbusters franchise have a spectral package of campy '80s goodness floating their way. As Electricpig reports, Sony Pictures Television has just announced an iPhone version of the upcoming X360 / PS3 / Wii game of Ghostbusters. Despite its spotty past, the game is set to arrive in mid-June and will be a shade more picturesque than the '80s Activision Apple II original.
And to fans of the the 8-bit original: you're old. And so are we. It's been 25 years--God help us. But we're in this together, so let's just make the best of it.
Featuring a storyline written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, the '09 release of the game Ghostbusters will effectively be Ghostbusters III, says Aykroyd. Most of the movie's actors have signed on for voice roles, with the notable exception of Rick Moranis, who has retired from acting.
Sony says the Ghostbusters iPhone game will see you playing as the traditional team from the Ghostbusters movies, tackling New York borough by borough, trapping pesky poltergeists and stopping innocent citizens from being slimed. Think Halloween Harry, only with Ghostbusters’ Peter Venkman deadpanning it all the way through.
At present, details are scant. There's no indication of the nature of the game's controls or any indication of price point. But, stay tuned--we'll bring more details as they surface and take a frighteningly close look when the game hits the App Store. (After all, I ain't 'fraid of no ghost...)
Mirage Labs' Hill Billy [App Store] has finally made it into the App Store. The game was originally rejected due to excessive gore. Well, the game was resubmitted (now with green blood), and has been accepted and released.
The game revolves around you defending your carrots from biomechanical creatures:
You are Hill Billy: the world's largest carrot grower. You have a problem: a strange invasion of biomechanical creatures hungry of vegetables. You have a solution: your shotgun…
So get ready and try to rescue all the carrots by stopping those strange creatures; Explore and defend Hill Billy's properties, find his homemade weapons and hidden odd items… Where those footprints will lead you?
Part of the appeal of this game is the fact that it looks like a high quality first person shooter. And in my brief time with the game, I can safely say this is the most impressive first person shooter currently available on the iPhone. Overall the game's graphics are very nice with rather smooth gameplay and it also offers a reasonable set of controls to manipulate the action.
The game relies entirely on accelerometer controls for foward/back and left/right movement. Meanwhile, shooting is accomplished by tapping on the screen. Additional strafe (left/right) buttons are offered at the top of the screen. It's hard to say at this early stage if these controls are superior to other options we've seen, but it is nice to be able to easily fire and change direction.
The gameplay, itself, is a bit unusual. The game appears to be split into five chapters. Each level appears to revolve around you finding a new weapon and trying to take out your enemies with said weapon. At 5 levels, however, there's going to be a question of whether or not there is enough gameplay to warrant its purchase. We at TouchArcade have not finished the game yet.
Hill Billy does have a very nice atmosphere feel to it that adds to its creepiness. In just the second level, you'll find yourself in close quarters, fighting against a number of the enemies.
Ever since Toy Bot Diaries, IUGO has been one our favorite iPhone gaming companies.
Their games come with a very unique style and quirkiness that is refreshing to find in the App Store. While you may not love every game [App Store] they produce, at least you know you are in for something original.
Freeballin'
At GDC, we met with IUGO to get more information on their upcoming titles. Their newest title called Freeballin' brings IUGO's flare to the pinball genre. Pinball gaming on the iPhone has been a relatively sparsely populated category, but one that's been dominated by rather traditional pinball titles. IUGO's Freeballin' brings a bit more zany twist to the genre.
Freeballin' comes with four different unique tables including: Tiki Trouble, Monsteropolis, Dreams and Nightmares, and Neometric. All tables offer an interactive environment with different feels. Tables even include hidden sub-tables and boss levels.
While the game includes more traditional modes such as Score Attack and Time Attack in which high scores are the goal, Freeballin' also introduces an Adventure mode which challenges you to table-specific missions.
Each mission requires you to perform a specific task, such as hitting specific objects within the level. As a result, these tasks require you to have good control of your ball, and provide pinballers more tangible goals than just racking up points.
As you complete missions, you collect tokens which can be used to purchase power ups in the game. These include an extra orb (ball), orb saver (bumper between your paddles), or extra bumpers.
The game is presented in landscape mode with a vertically scrolling view. This gameplay video shows two of the tables in Adventure mode:
Freeballin' has been submitted to the App Store and should become available in the next week or so.
IUGO also was able to mention two other upcoming games, but no screenshots or materials are available yet for these games. In brief:
Star Hogs
This will be a turn-based strategy game that will offer Wi-Fi multiplayer for up to 4 players. The game is in deep development and puts you in command of a rover around a mining rock. You battle the other rovers with turn based commands. As you earn points, you can upgrade weapons and armor on your individual rover. This game is expected in April.
A.D.D.
A WarioWare-like collection of about 50 very short mini games that are played in quick succession. The average session per game is said to be about 5 seconds. Individual games will focus on very specific tasks which may revolve around touch or tilt controls. This game should be available in May.
Fuel Industries has released Vans SK8: Pool Service [App Store] to the App Store this evening. The title officially licenses the Vans brand and includes real-life skaters Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan as player options within the game.
We spoke briefly with developer Fuel Industries at GDC about the company and their game. Fuel has been around since 2001 and has had a lot of experience in branded entertainment. They've done work in video, film, and web and have recently started an iPhone studio. Their goal with Vans SK8: Pool Service was to create a more authentic skating game for the iPhone.
The game comes with a single pool location and the two official skaters as player options. Gameplay revolves around career mode in which there are 10 different events and a timed run. Performing well in the timed run allows you to unlock the 27 achievements and the 10 different events. Various events offer specific challenges for you to defeat in order to unlock more skateboard/wheel designs to use.
Game controls include the use of the accelerometer to control the direction of your skateboard, while swipe controls designate tricks. Successfully pulling off tricks include swiping at the right time and having enough momentum to successfully complete the trick.
Early adopters of the title seem to be enjoying it, but with the caveat that there is only a single pool location to play. The game is a high quality production with a nice soundtrack and voice overs by Hassan.
The developer's trailer provides a brief clip of game play:
The platform game. Looking from the present all the way back to the very early days of video gaming, it is perhaps the quintessential video game genre. And, while thousands of platformers have been written for hundreds of platforms over the years, a few truly exceptional examples stand out from the rest.
One of those was Capcom's Mega Man II, originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988. GameSpot called Mega Man II one of "The Greatest Games of All Time."
What really made Mega Man 2 so superb can be summed up in a single word: consistency. To elaborate on that, Mega Man 2 was consistently challenging, inventive, and, most importantly, fun throughout the entire gameplay experience. Every level in the game was a significant improvement over the basic concepts laid in the first Mega Man, each with an impressive array of challenging jumps and tough bad guys that made it a unique experience. All of the boss characters were impressively designed, as were their acquirable weapons--well, except for maybe Bubble Man, but seven out of eight isn't bad at all.
Retro iPhone gamers may be happy to hear that Capcom has released Mega Man II [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Mega Man II for the iPhone is pretty close to a direct rendition of the NES original. The game features the original's simple graphics and 256x256 pixel playfield (with a graphical border and control panel to fill out the rest of the iPhone's screen). Controls are handled via a virtual onscreen joystick that can be manipulated by touch swipes and two buttons (fire and jump). The game supports multitouch, so the stick and both buttons can be used at the same time--and using all three at once is often a necessity in this game.
See a video of one NES level for a feel of the action:
The release of Mega Man II for the iPhone and iPod touch is being discussed in a lengthy thread in our forums, however, with disappointing reviews even amongst original MegaMan fans:
The controls are not very well done. The jump isn't right and the joystick controls are to touchy.
The sound was set to off by default. Go to options and you can turn it on. I am very disappointed I love megaman 2 but I hate this sloppy port.
I just beat 2 levels and it seems easier than the original. The bosses seem to have very little health. The controls still don't feel very natural.
Oldshool Mac gamers will likely remember a shortlist of classics that provided real entertainment betweens sessions of MacWrite, MacPaint, and other more "productive" titles. Crystal Quest, Glider, and Dark Castle are on the list. Another such title surely worth mentioning is the simple classic Stunt Copter.
StuntCopter is a rather basic game where the player controls an onscreen helicopter with the objective of dropping little men into a moving horse-drawn, hay-filled cart. The higher the helicopter, the more points per successful drop. Kill all your men, the driver, or the horse and it's game over.
Nerdgames has just released an accelerometer-controlled iPhone version [link] of this simple Mac classic through the App Store. The company has the following to say about the title.
All classic Mac users will remember StuntCopter - the game where you drop an endless supply of flailing little men from a perfectly good helicopter into a horse-drawn cart. Does he fall or is he pushed? That’s not for us to decide. All we know is you’ll love the challenge of StuntCopter; the addictive gameplay will keep you coming back for more.
The developer indicates that, while the graphics and sound have been pulled directly from the original, the actual game code has been completely rewritten for the iPhone. As the iPhone version looks and plays like an '80s game, StuntCopter may have limited appeal to those without a special place in their heart for the 1987 Macintosh original. Those wanting to try before they buy should have a look at the free Mac OS X adaptation from Antell Software.
Sadly, Duane Blehm, author of the Macintosh original, passed away several years back. His parents have since released Stunt Copter into the public domain.
iPhone developer Chillingo has announced from GDC that they are currently working with Atman Software to bring a port of the Mac/PC action based 3D side-scroller on rails called io to the iPhone and iPod touch.
The Nautilus-114, a rather expensive interstellar research spacecraft now lies marooned in the orbit of Jupiter's moon, io. The status of the crew is unknown. In io your mission is to bring the Nautilus-114 spaceship back home. However, the spaceship is infested with many robotic minions that will block your every move. In order to accomplish your mission, you have to play evasively, avoid detection and carry out your objectives.
“This side scroller on rails shooter is a great pick up and play shooter – great iPhone based touch-screen game play with great story line and stunning 3D visuals to match. ” says Chris Byatte, co-Founder and Managing Director for Chillingo.
The work of a single developer over the course of five years, the unusual and subdued io has received positive reviews on its original platforms.
Considering the budget io had, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Not only does the game mix bright colors with moody lighting - something most blockbusters can’t get right - but it looks downright impressive.
At GDC, Touch Arcade met with India-based 99Games, an iPhone-focused division of Robosoft, the 10-year-old Mac publisher responsible for a large number of big-name conversions, including Lego Star Wars, Fable: The Lost Chapters, and Sid Meyer's Pirates. They shared with us details of their upcoming iPhone updates and new releases.
WordsWorth
The company revealed that their popular word puzzle game WordsWorth [App Store] (which was on the App Store's Top 100 list for 3-4 weeks) will soon be getting a notable update that includes Facebook Connect functionality, which will allow friends to keep track of each others' scores and progress. What's more, the company will be releasing a Flash-based version of the game that ties to the Facebook Connect functionality in the new iPhone version.
Chess Pro
99Games' Chess Pro [App Store] will also be receiving a major update adding online gameplay functionality to the title. The new version will allow gamers to engage in multiple (asynchronous) online games at once and will also include a chat system. Facebook Connect will also be rolled in and another new feature will allow players wanting to learn from their game sessions to able to play back the moves of a chess game after it has ended.
The update to Chess Pro will be available in the next couple of weeks.
Aqua Jigsaw
Simple Jigsaw puzzle game Aqua Jigsaw [App Store] will soon be receiving an update that enhances the game's visuals by adding fluid water animation effects, similar to those in Koi Pond [App Store].
New Titles
Wordulous is one of several new titles in the works at 99Games. It's a Text Twist-like word making game that displays a series of six jumbled letters to the player and challenges them to use them to form words. A 180-second countdown timer paces the action. The more words formed within the time limit, the higher the score, and any word greater than 4 letters in length adds seconds to the timer.
The game will feature local and online leaderboards, cut-scene characters that offer encouragement along the way, and localization in six languages (English, French Italian, Spanish, German, and Russian). Wordulous will debut in late April at a limited-time introductory price of $.99.
While details were few, the company is also working on two licensed titles that will appear in the App Store later this year. One is a hidden-object game and the other is a conversion of a PC title similar to the popular Pocket God [App Store]. Stay tuned for more info on these as it becomes available.
Yesterday, Touch Arcade spent some time at ngmoco's headquarters having a look at a few of their upcoming games. In our last post we gave a hands-on look at the company's upcoming 3D tower defense game Star Defense.
Ngmoco producers Stephanie Morgan and Chris Plummer also gave us the chance to have a look at their upcoming virtual pet title Touch Pet Dogs as well as first-person shooter LiveFire. Like some of our readers, we weren't exactly sure what to make of Touch Pet Dogs from the pre-release information, but we found it to be a surprisingly deep and polished experience.
Touch Pet Dogs
Touch Pet Dogs, created by Andrew Stern, the man behind Virtual Babyz, Dogz and Catz, is a virtual pet simulation that delivers perhaps the most "realistic" and involving experiences of any such title we've seen to date. As the company describes it,
In Touch Pets Dogs, players adopt, nurture and play with their virtual puppies through one-on-one touch screen interaction or on play dates with other players’ dogs from around the world. The ambitious Touch Pets social network, embedded within the game, allows owners and dogs alike to build relationships with other players and their Touch Pets. Puppies’ social lives continue to evolve whether their owners are logged into the game or not, and the results are broadcast for the world to see on the Touch Pets social network dog feed.
The game starts off at a virtual pet shop where the player can choose a puppy of his or her liking. The virtual puppy comes home from the pet shop knowing how to do very little. It's just eat, sleep, and...well...poop, at first. It's up to the new owner to teach the puppy how to chase a ball, catch a boomerang, and do other tricks like walking on two feet. This is done by simply playing with the dog with various doggie toys (moving them around the screen with a finger) as well as using doggie treats in conjunction with training gestures for more complex tricks.
Aside from playing in the house and yard, there are five career tracks (or missions) that the virtual puppie can engage in: crime fighting, rescue operations, fashion diva, politician, and scientist. Each of these missions have associated venues, and success in each is awarded by relevant doggie items, such as police hats, jackets, and the like. The missions are actually more about successfully conducting warm-up play sessions and having learned the appropriate skills (chasing, catching, etc..) rather than performing the actual mission which simply returns a simple "success" or "failure" when attempted.
The game features a social networking side that's somewhat akin to a Twitter feed. Whenever doggie makes a notable accomplishment, such as completing a mission successfuly, that accomplishment (and associated image) is posted to a global feed and can be seen by anyone online. Players wanting to keep tabs on each others' accomplishments can share in a friend feed. Another aspect of the game's social networking capabilities is the ability to engage in play dates with others' pets. Some dogs may not enjoy each others' company...and some may fall in love.
What impressed us most about Touch Pets Dogs is the artificial intelligence driving the virtual pets. The learning process is convincing and the dogs really do seem to have their own personality. Anyone relating to the genre will have little trouble forming an emotional bond with the onscreen canine.
We captured a gameplay video of Plummer playing the latest build, walking us through some of the game's features.
We also had a chance to play more than a few rounds of LiveFire deathmatch.
The demo builds on the 2G iPod touch showed an impressively high framerate with very smooth 3D animation in the 3-person game we played.
While we played over the studio's WiFi networks, Plummer tells us that gameplay over the 3G networks is just as responsive, thanks to the heavy customizations ngmoco has made to the Quake 3 engine upon which the game is based.
The game's controls are modeled closely after those of Dropship; left and right thumbs control movement and view angle, not at a fixed point onscreen, but outward from an origina tap anywhere on the left and right sides of the screen. It works well and feels comfortable. The game will focus on versions of online deathmatch play rather than single-player modes.
I think most telling is the fact that, even with this early build, we got lost in playing the game against each other -- well after the demo portion of our meeting with ngmoco was over.
We don't have an exact release date on either title, but Touch Pets Dogs is expected in the spring.
One of the more interesting puzzle games we've seen appear in the App Store is Ancient Workshop's Ancient Frog [App Store, $4.99]. We took a look at this one earlier this month and found it to be a highly challenging and unique game--sort of a zen experience.
IGF Mobile Gaming Nominees and Winners - Radio Flare [
Fans of the 1984 
The platform game. Looking from the present all the way back to the very early days of video gaming, it is perhaps the quintessential video game genre. And, while thousands of platformers have been written for hundreds of platforms over the years, a few truly exceptional examples stand out from the rest. 
WordsWorth
Touch Pet Dogs, created by Andrew Stern, the man behind Virtual Babyz, Dogz and Catz, is a virtual pet simulation that delivers perhaps the most "realistic" and involving experiences of any such title we've seen to date. As the company describes it,
