'Tis the season for holiday spins on our favorite apps, and one of the first overhauls we've heard about, Aiko Island: Holidays [Free / HD], is now out and available at zero dollars. It, as you assume, is a follow-up of sorts to IceFlame's original Aiko Island [$.99 / HD]. The key difference is in its art direction -- Holidays offers the same kind of puzzle play, but it's all wrapped up in fresh, Christmas-y art.
IceFlame is positioning this as a "gift" for its fans, and judging from what we've seen so far, it's probably a good one to boot. For those of you out there who haven't bought the original game, this is can also operate as a money-free starting point to see if its specific blend of puzzle action is up your alley. Our review wouldn't be too bad to take a look at, either.
Blueprint 3D [$.99 / HD], FDG Entertainment's extremely cool twist-to-solve 3D puzzle game, received a notable content update the other morning. At the top, FDG has added two all new, more challenging modes of play: advanced and pro. As the names imply, these modes give users a fresh way to play by introducing new layers.
FDG has also dropped in a few "minor fixes," including progress saves in each level, and a new trophy. Perhaps the most enticing of this Other Stuff is the new Christmas-themed set of levels. Unfortunately, you'll need 280 stars to even catch a glimpse of the santa stuff and reindeer it has added into the mix.
If you're not up-to-date on Blueprint 3D, stop on by our review. Spoiler: it's pretty good, occasionally challenging, and surprisingly elegant. Sure, it's ultimately a simple game, but we think it has enough for its asking price.
This version of Kinectimals seems like it's pretty close to the Kinect experience that it's based on, though we've also heard that it's strikingly similar to the Windows 7 mobile version of the game, too. In a nutshell, it's just a collection of mini-games starring several super cute cats that you can train to do tricks or participate in a wide range of not-necessarily-stimulating-for-adults activities.
Of note, this version, developed by Frontier Developments as well, incorporates "brand new ways to play with your cub" and offers an unlock for five additional cats on the Xbox 360.
We'll be playing with this throughout the day, and will bring you some more details a bit later. As a side-note, we're absolutely loving the fact that Microsoft is down for actively supporting the Xbox 360 and its games via iOS. The future! It's here!
Stretched [99¢] is a new physics-based slingshot-platformer from Chillingo, which has been receiving praise in our discussion thread. The objective is to fling a ball between various slingshots, collecting as many bubbles from each level as possible, before reaching the exit portal. There's no time limit or restriction on the number of turns, so there's no hurry, but each time you fling yourself you need to land safely, as there's no ground or safety net.
The best feature of Stretched is that new gameplay elements are constantly being introduced as you progress through the 80+ levels and 4 worlds (Sunrise, Monochrome, Misty and Desert). Each world has it's own features and music and it's often a pleasant surprise to discover what comes next.
Initially, I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw a thread in our forums posted for a game called Infinity of God. After the sweeping success of the Infinity Blade series, tacking "infinity" onto your title in any way has just about as much effect on me as if it was "doodle" or "angry." That's to say, the predetermination is that what I'll find will be a low quality knockoff of the highly successful games that have made those words ubiquitous on the App Store.
For better or worse, Infinity of God actually does not resemble Infinity Blade so much, but it definitely does not hide the fact that it's a God of War-inspired game. In fact, it appears that in the developer Calvi Game's native Chinese, the subtitle reads as "Wrath of God of War". And so it goes.
However, no matter your feelings on games that are very blatantly "heavily inspired" by other successful games, the trailer for Infinity of God looks mighty impressive:
Easily one of my most anticipated games this year, and I'm sure many of yours out there as well, is Warballoon Games' Star Command. In case you aren't familiar, Star Command can most simply be described as Game Dev Story meets a Star Trek-like science fiction theme, though from what we've seen of the game thus far I'm not totally sure that does it justice. Game Dev Story was beautiful in its simplicity, but Star Command appears to take those simplistic game mechanics and add all sorts of depth on top, creating what we hope will be a deep strategy affair that's still not too convoluted for anybody to jump in to.
We first learned of Star Command this past March, and originally the game was slated for a summertime release. However, that didn't quite pan out, and in August we got a look at some new screenshots for the game but we haven't really heard anything since then. Today Warballoon sent over a quick update on the status of Star Command, along with a slew of new screenshots to check out. It sounds like they are really interested in making the best possible game that they can, rather than trying to rush something out just to hit a planned release date. This latest set of screens is to demonstrate a bit of the work they've put into tightening up the overall user interface.
As we've teased previously today: On this week's bonus edition of The TouchArcade Show, we speak with Harmonix's Josh Randall about the big-time update to VidRhythm, which will add new styles, new improvements for hardcore users, and more music. We also dig a bit into Josh Randall -- who he is, what he likes, and what he does. Randall is a cool guy, and we think he's a really good example of what Harmonix is all about.
If you'd like to listen to this episode, go ahead and do so via these handy-dandy links just below. If you like what you're hearing, we heartily suggest that you subscribe to us on iTunes or Zune. You'll get the episodes the second they hit and make the world a better place.*
Infinite Dreams has jollied up its tower defense title Jelly Defense [$2.99] in celebration of the season. In a new content update that you can grab right now for the price of free, Infinite Dreams has added two all new winter-themed levels, laid down a new music track, dropped in some new leaderboard support, and thrown in a new endless level. Reindeer and cookies are a part of this package as you'll see, and of course, so are optimizations and refinements.
Jelly Defense is a straight-up tower defense title; it's not going to offer you anything you haven't seen before mechanic-wise. But it does have a ton of style. Seeing Infinite do Christmas like it has in Jelly Defense is definitely a treat, so give these levels a look if you haven't updated your app yet. Oh! And if you're on the fence about it, take a gander our our official review.
Fasten your time-travellings belts and turn off your electronic devices. Back in August, we checked out Toxic Blob's Sin Or Win for the first time. We came away impressed, and were stoked to see it that coming September. The game didn't make it out. In fact, it still isn't out and won't be until ... this week.
Toxic Blob's Jamie McCarter dropped us an e-mail saying that he's been using the delay time, which he's written about extensively on his studio's blog, to focus on tweaking and refining the entire experience. The final, retail build of Sin Or Win you'll play this coming December 15 has new fiends, better load times, a "solid" 60 FPS, and even an in-app hint system.
We've had a long, long time since initially seeing this game to figure out how the heck to categorize Sin Or Win. No luck -- we'll continue to let McCarter pitch it, and also use his words as a way to convienently remind you about what it is.
"In the game, the cavemen come from either side, and following the Grim Reapers' command, leap into the abyss," McCarter told us awhile back. From here, you'll get the choice to either save cavemen (winning) by flicking them into clouds or kill them by letting them dive into the pit and burn to death (sinning)."
December is going to be crazy busy with releases, but we're definitely going to give this the official look closer to release. Also, with the game finished, McCarter has moved on to a content update for the game: version 1.1 will "expand" the play, as well as add in Game Center. Neat!
Earlier this summer, we caught word that Frontier Developments's LostWindswas headed to iOS and Android. Now, we've got a great first-look at the iOS version title in action -- and, guys, it's silly gorgeous.
Once an acclaimed WiiWare title, Frontier has obviously pushed the visuals to the max for our phones and tablets. And if you look, you'll notice that it's a fairly HUD-free port with specific touch actions, which has us thinking that we're actually in for an all mobiled-out experience.
No solid date or price point have been announced, but we do know that LostWinds is coming to every iDevice this holiday as a Universal app. Also, it'll ship with a "new map feature" specific to touch devices. Our popcorn is ready, for sure.
UPDATE: Yay, technology! The trailer we originally posted was cut short for some... reason. This is the full thing.
Harmonix is giving the gift of VidRhythm [$1.99] away this holiday season. Soon, the crazy, but always hilarious audio and video mash-up app will go free indefinitely. Also, it'll receive one of its biggest updates at the same time -- twelve new tracks, including "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls, six new video styles, an all new pitch correction mechanic, and an iPad 2 and iPhone 4/4S-exclusive YouTube export upgrade to 720p are all a part of the new package.
We spent some time speaking with the man who spearheaded VidRhythm at Harmonix, Josh Randall, in this week's bonus edition podcast. Randall and I go deep on this update and many other things Harmonix, so check it out if you want to hear this news and other bits from one of the creators. And, hey, I also think you'll leave the conversation with a pretty good idea of how much music truly matters to the studio and how iThing stuff figures into its future. Later today!
Games that tie in to major properties are sometimes, shall we say, a little lacking. So you might be tempted to think that Assassin's Creed Recollection [99¢] is just your average cash-in, perhaps a standard collectable card game with images of franchise heroes Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze slapped on the cards. You can stop thinking that right about now, because this game is something far more interesting.
That's not to say it's without its problems -- Ubisoft has been chasing down some big-time bugs since the game was released -- but Assassin's Creed Recollection is more than just another coat of paint on the traditional CCG. It takes the formula real time, pitting you and your opponent against the clock as well as each other.
Typically, Monday is the day that people have to say goodbye to their weekend of relaxation and fun and get back to the ol' grindstone. I imagine this is doubly hard for people who work with actual grindstones, like medieval blacksmiths and whatnot. But for your average nine to fiver, Mondays pretty much suck. So I figure, what better way to get through the longest day of the week than with a slew of free games to occupy your attention instead of actual work?
There are quite a few awesome games that have dropped to free over the weekend and into today, so here's a short list compiling them. As with any App Store sale, it's usually best to jump on these as soon as possible if you're interested, as the pricing can change in the bat of an eye if you aren't careful.
The Mr. series by developer Ponos has been a favorite of casual gaming fans for several years now (and has been covered by us severaltimesbefore). Mr. Oops!! [99¢], the latest title in the series, looks to continue the popularity of its predecessors by offering the same approachable controls, frenetic gameplay, and leaderboard-based competition that made previous games successful. As far as casual titles are concerned, Mr. Oops!! succeeds at preserving the fun we’ve had with earlier titles and is a game worthy of recommendation.
If you’ve never played a Mr. game before, each title centers around a simple premise, easy controls, and a difficulty curve that ramps up quickly. In the case of Mr. Oops!!, players must maneuver their Mr. stick figure across a checkerboard-like environment in the hopes of avoiding the weapons being launched down the grid. Also accompanying the game is a rocking musical score that sets the tone well for the game.
Last week, we let you know that Rebuild [$2.99], the city-building time sink that we loved in our review and on our podcast, would soon be getting support for the original iPad, and today that update is now here. Rebuild was originally an iPad 2-only title, due to some technical limitations that the developer explained on her blog.
But, since that initial release, she has toiled away to lower the RAM requirements for the game which now allows it to be played and enjoyed on Apple's first iPad. There are further enhancements to the visuals for those of you who have been playing on an iPad 2, as well.
Also explained in that blog post is how difficult it would be to add Game Center support since the game was written in Flash and she'd have to dip into some Xcode-only stuff in order to patch the online service in. However, this has also been tackled on the development side of things, as Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements is also available in this latest update.
If the technical limitations of your original iPad were preventing you from enjoying this excellent title, then now would be the time to spring into action and see what you've been missing out on with Rebuild.
'Tis the season for holiday spins on our favorite apps, and one of the first overhauls we've heard about, Aiko Island: Holidays [Free / HD], is now out and available at zero dollars. It, as you assume, is a follow-up of sorts to IceFlame's original Aiko Island [$.99 / HD]. The key difference is in its art direction -- Holidays offers the same kind of puzzle play, but it's all wrapped up in fresh, Christmas-y art.
Fasten your time-travellings belts and turn off your electronic devices. Back in August, we 
Earlier this summer, we caught word that 
Harmonix is giving the gift of 
Last week, 
