I have to admit my eyes glazed over a bit when I took my first look at Tomb Breaker [Free] It could probably look more like Bejewled with a little effort, but I've had my fill of straight Match-3s and then some. I probably wouldn't have given it a second look if I hadn't noticed it was from Kurt Bieg, creator of the delightfully frustrating Circadia [$0.99]. That bit of trivia caught my attention, and I'm glad it did.
Tomb Breaker has promise. It's clear Bieg's Simple Machine is catering to a more casual crowd, but it boosts the business of matching gems into something a bit more cerebral than we've come to expect.
If you've played Bejeweled Blitz, you've got the basics of the setup. Tomb Breaker gives you sixty seconds on the clock to pull in the highest score you can, and the option of competing with friends on Game Center. You can use up to three boosts per attempt, paying out of a pool of gems that you can earn or (more likely) buy. It lacks some of Blitz's more aggressive psychological tricks, but the bones are there.
There's no doubt that Mojang's Minecraft has become a nearly unfathomable success over the past few years, and as with anything that becomes popular there's a seemingly unending line of people that rush to ride the coattails of that success.
Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with taking heavy inspiration from a game. I mean heck, even Minecraft was inspired by similar games that came before it. But in the mobile space especially, 99% of anything that gets released that's reminiscent of Minecraft is just a crappy knock-off and cash-in attempt that's of little value to anyone. "Minecraft" is the new "Angry" or "Temple" in terms of latest SEO hotness, I guess you could say.
I can tell you from personal experience working at TouchArcade that with dozens of these kinds of games coming out every week it gets very hard to decide which ones are worth exploring and which ones should just be written off as the cheap clones that they are. It gets very easy to dismiss these games when so many bad ones are churned out at such an incredible pace.
With that said, a new Minecraft-y game has been ripping up the charts lately and even jockeying for position with Mojang's official Minecraft - Pocket Edition [$6.99]. That game is called Survivalcraft [$3.99], and despite being made by just a single person it bests even Mojang's official mobile offering and even does some unique things to set itself apart from the pack. And, despite our initial hesitations, this is anything but a cheap knock-off attempting to cash in on the Minecraft craze, and is in fact the best mobile sandbox game of its kind that you can get at this time.
Baseball season is in full swing, and in celebration of the 2013 All-Star Game coming in July Major League Baseball has released MLB.com Home Run Derby [Free], a free-to-play game that puts you in the shoes of an actual MLB player as they try to become the winner of the Home Run Derby competition. While the core game at the center of Home Run Derby is solid, and visually it looks great, the whole thing is hampered by a stingy free-to-play model that pretty much ruins what would have been a fun little mobile game for baseball fans.
The game uses a dual-currency system, MLBucks and coins. At the onset you're given enough bucks to purchase one lower-tier player from all the players who have participated in the last three Home Run Derbys. You're then given the option to play either of the game's two modes: the Home Run Derby itself or Arcade mode. Both can be played in single player or in online multiplayer.
Following what appears to have been a pretty successful release across iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Star Command [$2.99] creator War Balloon has announced that it's starting to work on some pretty big updates to the game as it, simultaneously, starts porting it across Mac, PC, and Android.
The list of new stuff War Balloon has in mind is pretty exhaustive, but wicked cool. For one, it plans to give fire the ability to spread, which should really jack up the frenzy of battle. Also, ship destructibility is in the works. You may or may not know this, but apparently your ship can't really blow up and you don't necessarily HAVE to fix damage.
Squad grouping, automatic healing and repair, cloud saves, and the removal of ammunition tokens are all on deck, too, as eventual updates. War Ballon outlines the whys for each of these improvements, tweaks or overhauls. The update's neat reading if you're really into the game or need some weird sort of validation.
Last but not least: away teams are said to be coming down the line as well. "The focus here is on planet exploration and enemy ship invasion," War Balloon writes in the update. "These are VERY different systems and will take some time to get right. They are our focus for the PC / Mac version of the game, but will be seen across the platforms.
"You would probably be surprised with how far along we are with them and they should really expand the game from cool simulator to something very epic," War Ballon adds.
Star Command is pretty cool and we're excited to see it grow. There's no doubt about that. As for a timeline when will see any of this? War Balloon isn't setting anymore release dates, which is a good thing.
Ok not a spare thumb like an extra one, but if one of your thumbs is free then I've got a game for you to check out. Bouncy! Trampoline [$0.99] is one of those games that came out a few months ago, I played around with it real quick, and then it's sort of just been hiding on my device ever since. Recently, when going through my many folders of games that time forgot, I came across Bouncy! once again and decided to give it another go. This time Bouncy! really stuck with me.
A deceptively simple game at its core, Bouncy! sees you playing as an adorable rabbit bouncing on a trampoline. Pressing the screen causes you to throw your weight downward into the trampoline, and once the elastic surface hits the lowest point it can from your weight, you let go for maximum propulsion into the sky. If you've played a Mario game or any of the many similar platformers over the years with a springboard in it, then you should be familiar with this mechanic.
My official most-played-iPhone-game True Skate [$1.99] just received a minor, though significant update. Backing up, True Skate is Jet Car Stunts [$1.99 / Free] developer True Axis' attempt to create a skateboarding simulation built for the touchscreen, and they absolutely nailed it. We loved the game in our review from back in October, and since that time True Skate game has been updated frequently with new features and customization options, and even a huge new skatepark to play around in.
More parks are planned for later this year, but today's True Skate update includes two enhancements that actually change the fundamentals in the game. One is the ability to tilt a gyroscope-equipped device prior to doing an ollie, which will then shift which way your ollie ends up in the air depending on which direction you tilt. It's a small change, but it helps a lot when trying to line up your board to hit a rail or ledge for a grind or slide trick.
The second and more significant change in this update relates to skating transition, a spot that True Skate has had difficulty getting right in the past. Previously, when skating transitions you'd have to stick to the larger stuff that had actual vertical surface in order to keep your board in the air and land back down in the transition. Otherwise you'd just launch yourself out of the bowl or quarter pipe and it acted more like a jump ramp.
With the updated version, you can actually flick your device towards you right before doing a trick in transition and it will ensure you stay hovered in the air above that transition, so you can land right back down in it. This totally improves skating transition in True Skate, and I have to say it feels awesome to bust a big trick in a bowl and be able to land back down and keep going. I'm not typically a huge fan of having to flick or move my device in any way, but here it feels completely natural and works incredibly well. Hats off to True Axis for finding an elegant solution to this tricky problem.
As I mentioned, True Axis has more goodies planned for True Skate in the future, but for right now they're going hard and heavy on Jet Car Stunts 2 and as much as I love True Skate I have to say I'm more than happy for them to devote the time to that much-anticipated sequel. However, I'm also quite pleased they were able to push out this latest update and how just a couple of minor tweaks have really improved the overall experience. It's also worth mentioning that this update improves performance on older devices, and you can now slow down by touching the ground with your finger if you feel like you're going too fast at any time.
If you're into skating or skating games and have yet to check out True Skate then you should get on that, and join in on the discussion in our forums too.
Heads up: Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded isn't hitting at the end of this month, as was planned. Instead, it'll hit towards "the end of June," creator Replay Games confirmed via the game's Kickstarter page. This latest delay comes courtesy of bugs, as is the usual case with these kinds of short-ish postponements.
Here's the skinny, ripped from that update:
Here’s the problem, and thus this un-scehdule Kickstarter update: due to the pure number of bugs found in the PC version alone (the Mac version is being tested now, but not via Steam), we’re having to delay the game, yet again, until the end of June.
I can’t tell you how many phone calls, arguments, and heart breaking conversations I’ve had with my advisors on this. I SERIOUSLY wanted this game out by the end of May because we’ve postponed it more times than Larry’s been rejected. Ok, well, maybe not THAT many, but still... we’ve had some delays.
While a bummer, delays are usually a good thing. Who wants to play a buggy game? For this one in particular, a buggy release could be pretty catastrophic. If bugs keep folks from enjoying this one, there's really no incentive for them to play the next re-make in the series. Plus, there's that whole "re-introducing Larry to people who have never played the original" thing, too.
We know what you're thinking, but give Trucker: Parking Simulator [Free] a chance. Parking a massive truck with a stupid big trailer can be as rewarding as landing a video game airplane. It takes a lot of skill, a lot of understanding of how physics, momentum, and trajectory play into the perfect parking job. It's kinda surprising (and awesome), as Eli and I discovered today.
This sim's a particularly hard sale because the titling is so awful, so we decided to do a little video of the game in action to show it off. In the below, Eli and I power through several levels, carefully avoiding all road cones and parking like pros. Give it a look and, hey, maybe get as hooked on this thing as we are at the moment:
You can grab this right now, by the way, and you should if you need another simulator in your life. Here's a Steam link to Eurotruck Simulator 2 for PC, as well, since we talked about it so much.
There was a time when pretty much every movie tie-in game was just plain awful, but for some reason in the mobile gaming world there have been quite a few really good ones. Games like Temple Run Oz or Fruit Ninja Puss in Boots take an already proven formula for a game and weave the movie theme around it to make a natural fit.
One of the newest movie tie-in games released is a joint venture between PikPok and Dreamworks Studios for the upcoming movie Turbo. The movie is about a snail named Turbo who dreams of being a race car driver, and following a freak accident involving a nitrous oxide spill that gives him turbo speed he sets out to make his dream come true.
PikPok's take on the movie is called Turbo Racing League [Free], and follows Turbo's escapades on his way to becoming the fastest snail in the universe. Is that even something to be proud of? That's like being called the smartest dumb person in the world. But I digress.
Turbo Racing League itself is actually a very fun kart-style racing game. By that I mean it's very casual and arcadey, with a heavy emphasis on drifting and hitting turbo pads spread along the track. The game's 9 courses are all made out of real-life mini locations like a kitchen table or a garage, and you can trick Turbo out with spoilers for his shell that give him improved attributes.
It's all pretty standard racing game stuff, but it's very well done, like most PikPok games. What sort of blew my mind is that in conjunction with the release of Turbo Racing League, Verizon has stepped in to throw a competition called the $1,000,000 Shell Out and are giving away a million dollars in prize money. For the next 8 weeks the top 10 racers per week will each win prizes from a $500,000 pool, then all 8 of the 1st place winners will fly out to Los Angeles for the finals and a chance to win the grand prize which is the other half of the million.
A million dollar prize for a mobile movie tie-in game seems nuts to me, but here we are. You can get the full rules and all that jazz from the official $1,000,000 Shell Out website if you're interested in entering, but even if not, Turbo Racing League is a pretty neat racing game that's free to check out. People in our forums have been enjoying it as well, and as for the actual movie, that'll be opening in theaters in July.
Gangstar Rio: City of Saints, $4.99 - Gameloft is offering up a couple of freebies this weekend on two games which have never been free before. First up is Gangstar Rio: City of Saints [$4.99], their take on the whole Grand Theft Auto open-world sandbox game. We reviewed Gangstar Rio when it released back in late 2011, and despite some typical Gameloft-isms like terrible voice work and a paper thin story, we thought it offered up a fairly robust open-world crime game experience.
It's been pretty regularly updated too, adding in new content and most recently widescreen support for the iPhone 5.
N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, $6.99 - The second game being offered up for free is N.O.V.A. 3 [$6.99]. Previously, the N.O.V.A. series had been mostly a riff on the Halo games, but this most recent entry more closely resembles something like Crysis. Either way, expect lots of sci-fi first-person shooting action and impressive visuals. As with most Gameloft entries, there's a robust online multiplayer offering in N.O.V.A. 3, and as such we gave it its own review back when the game released in May of last year. We also reviewed the single-player campaign, which is pretty excellent as well.
Gameloft has been flirting more with free-to-play games as of late, but both N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio are premium-priced games that you can snag for zero dollars right now and through this weekend. Don't miss out.
EA's The Simpsons: Tapped Out [Free] received a new update the other day, adding in a bunch of new stuff especially for maxed out players. Of most note, the update expands the cap to level 29 and allows you to pick up Agnes Skinner. Also, new buildings, including Sprawl-Mart have been added in addition to a new quest involving Agnes and new Springfield Park Entrance and Cobblestone Wall decorations.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out, for the 12 of you or so who haven't seen it yet, is a free-to-play city simulation game that tasks you with building a new Springfield after the first one got blown up. Along the way, you'll meet familiar faces and build familiar places. EA constantly updates the app, adding in stuff like the above for users.
You can download Tapped Out now, of course, but be warned: this thing seems to eat up folks' time.
While tower defense is one of those genres that I can't seem to get enough of, even I have to admit that it's high-time for some innovation. Enter Go Home Dinosaurs [$4.99 (HD)], the latest title from Fire Hose Games and a TD game that looks to carve its own niche.
While a first glance might lead one to believe its primarily for kids, beneath the playful, cartoony exterior lies a game that expertly combines tower defense with puzzle elements, making it one of my current favorites of the genre.
Apparently the love for BBQ is so great it extends across time periods and species. As such, Dinosaurs puts you in command of an army of gophers that must guard their delectable BBQ pit against an onslaught of hungry dinosaurs.
When it comes to basic tower defense gameplay, Go Home Dinosaurs plays similar to many other titles. Dinosaurs run down a pre-set path towards the BBQ pit with two pieces of dynamite acting as last-second defenses against impending BBQ devouring. Meanwhile, players place a variety of gopher-manned weapons around the path in an attempt to drive the dinos towards extinction. A coin system rounds out the gameplay, allowing players to earn currency in-game (no IAPs) and purchase supplemental towers with limited, but powerful effects.
The introduction of airplanes changed the face of warfare. The same could be said of Firaxis' entry to the iOS gaming scene: when a Triple-A studio headed by the cherished game designer Sid Meier starts putting out iOS exclusives, you just know things are never going to be the same. Only, instead of bringing about unparalleled death and destruction, this watershed moment marks a new era of quality mobile gaming.
Firaxis has stormed on to the mobile scene: first came last week's spooky strategy game, Haunted Hollow [Free] (see our review here), and later this summer should see the release of the much-anticipated iOS port of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [Free] completes this strategy trifecta, and is the first iOS exclusive to bear the legendary designer's name. His involvement shows: Ace Patrol is a fantastic, meaty title well-deserving of your time and gaming dollar.
Ace Patrol sees the player leading a squadron of pilots in World War I, witnessing the infancy of aerial combat. Ace Patrol is a premium game masquerading as a freemium title: the free download serves as a demo and gives you a portion of the British campaign to play. The full British, French, German and American campaigns are unlocked as IAP for $0.99 a piece.
With the recent announcement that Diablo would be making its way to consoles, gamers have been looking for something to satisfy their hack-and-slash needs on their iOS device. Gameloft recently released the fourth installment of their dungeon crawler, Dungeon Hunter 4, and less than two weeks after, Gamevil has come out with their first foray into dungeon crawlers with Dark Avenger [Free]
Dark Avenger is all action with little in the way of overall substance. As of this review, there is only one playable class, the Templar, with a second class “coming soon”, the Ranger. Despite having only one type of character at the moment, the game gives you three save game slots. You're tasked with killing bad things from bad places because... well, it's a game without a story. Perhaps because some evil convenience store clerk looked at your grandma the wrong way and now you're exacting sweet revenge.
Delving into the game proper is as easy as choosing your character and selecting your mode. Single player consists of progressing through multiple levels, all within the same basic environment. The virtual joystick is dead simple to use; one joystick on your left controls movement and direction, while the icon on your right controls attacks. Tap it once for a basic attack, tap it up to three times for a combo attack.
Veteran designer John Butterfield's Batle of the Bulge [$6.99 (HD)] is one of the best historical wargames we've played. Designed from the ground up for the iPad, it feels perfectly suited to that device - so much so that one of its few flaws is that it isn't quite as perfect a fit on the iPad Mini's smaller screen. With it's Avalon Hill-esque gameplay, appealing and unintrusive winter campaign styling, and inspired mix of original and sampled period music, the main thing we wanted in our review of it was more.
Shenandoah Studio delivers in a new update that includes three additional scenarios (two free, one IAP) and two new AI generals. They're so confident that the new AIs, modeled on Omar Bradley and Hasso Von Manteuffel, are going to your socks off that each one is a $1.99 IAP. I was initially skeptical of that decision, but having played against each one, I have to say that Von Manteuffel is, as advertized, a tricky bastard. He stole a draw from me in what should have been a clear win for the Allies. When I played Axis against Omar Bradley in the shortest scenario, "Race to the Meuse," I won easily, but I noticed that he'd done a good job of flanking me: if I'd been playing the full Battle of the Bulge scenario, I would have been in a lot of trouble going forward.
The scenarios are more straightforward: "Bitter End" appeals to those with no patience for victory points and conditional wins by playing out to the, ahem, bitter end of the engagement. That's a feature many players had been clamoring for. There's also added replayability with "Luck of the Draw" which deviates from history by shuffling starting unit placement and reinforcements. Both "Bitter End" and "Luck of the Draw" are free, and are more oriented to players who want some of the options commonly found in strategy videogames.
For the grognards, there's "The Endgame," featuring the siege of Bastogne, which some of you may know from Band of Brothers, and famous for Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe's laconic response to a demand that he surrender: "NUTS!" If you've ever wanted to stand with the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, or if want to see if you can break McAuliffe for his impudence, "The Endgame" will let you fulfill that fantasy for $3.99.
The pricing scheme here is clever: Shenandoah has made the content that will appease those who wanted more "bang for their buck" free, while offering more exotic goodies to the hardcore at a premium. In a move worthy of Von Manteuffel, you have to go to the "purchase" screen to get "Luck of the Draw" (for free), thus ensuring that nearly every player will see the premium IAP. The update is also well-timed, bridging the gap between the winter release of Battle of the Bulge and forthcoming El Alamein, which should be giving us a chance to wage war in the desert sometime this summer.
I have to admit my eyes glazed over a bit when I took my first look at Tomb Breaker [Free] It could probably look more like Bejewled with a little effort, but I've had my fill of straight Match-3s and then some. I probably wouldn't have given it a second look if I hadn't noticed it was from Kurt Bieg, creator of the delightfully frustrating Circadia [$0.99]. That bit of trivia caught my attention, and I'm glad it did.
