In scouring the App Store, it’s not out of the ordinary to come across games that have vague descriptions and a few screenshots that don’t give you much of an idea of what is actually going on in the game. I usually grab games like this because every once in a while you come across an otherwise undiscovered treasure. The Curse of Skabooki [App Store] just so happens to be one of those hidden gems.
Skabooki is absolutely dripping with atmosphere between the art and sound design, which is kind of odd for a puzzle game. Wrapped in a story that is slowly unlocked as you play through the game, it tells the tale of the lost voodoo doll, Skabooki. To save Skabooki, you need to clear blocks from the screen to make him fall down to the next level. Your little voodoo doll can only fall straight down, unless it lands on a block which has an arrow, in which case Skabooki walks in that direction. Also, blocks can only be cleared in sets of three or more.
The game starts out fairly easy, but once you get in to the higher levels, you need to do a lot of planning to get Skabooki where he needs to go. Currently, 100 levels are included, but the game appears to have a built in level pack downloader, and the developer’s web site says updates will be free. Speaking of the developer’s web site, you really should check it out as it features both a gameplay video and an animated Skabooki dancing on the App Store logo while you wait for the movie to load.
While there isn’t much innovation in simple block breaking puzzle games, the amount of effort that went in to both the original music and great art style really make Skabooki fun to play. With online leaderboard tracking scores (As of this writing only one person has made it to level 100?) and a variety of in-game achievements, Skabooki should have a decent amount of replay value between downloadable level packs.
App Store Link: Skabooki, $1.99
Wow, this is coming along really nicely. Definitely going to keep an eye on this one.
This makes me happy in the pants. Any idea of a release timeframe?
Ditto to all. This looks -- and sounds -- pretty good!
I am very much looking forward to giving them my money for this remake.
Wow, very interesting indeed. Nice interview too... we'll be blessed with another roguelike in a few months, and an original one at that. It'll be an instant buy for me!
Their idea of a popup context menu around the player is one I tested early on with Rogue Touch, but I dropped it in favor of the inventory-centric control scheme which makes the game much more accessible to new players. That way you only have to worry about commands that work in the context of the item you are currently looking at.
Needless to say, I'm definitely curious to see how their implementation turns out. Maybe in their game design it'll work better than it did in my trials.
Seeing this is also fuel on the fire to get working on my next roguelike game ;)
Hells Bells! This could be grand!
Bring it on!
"Rougelike"?
How THIS is a Rogue-like game that I would be happy to pay a decent amount for.
Wow this looks absolutely awesome, I'll be watching out for this one!
Yeah, Roguelike. You've never heard the term before? http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
Looks frickin' awesome. An instant buy for me. Been dying to find another good roguelike for the iPhone. It's one genre we're still lacking in. (IMHO the direct ports just haven't had the right feel.) ..I think Rogue Touch was the first one to get it right. So, CommanderData, when you going to have your next roguelike ready, eh? Need more. :D
Yes, I've heard the term "Rogue-like," but I think this article needs better proofing.
Ah, pedantry. Never seen that in a games forum before. :)
Try not to be thrown by the lack of a hyphen ..it's okay for it to mean the same thing. Oh, and get right onto correcting that wikipedia article too - they never got it right once. :p
TKO, dear (if you're allowed to be condescending I assume the same goes for me), my point is the word "Rogue" is misspelled at least twice in the article, as I misspelled it in my original comment.
I always love the argument that "oh it's just a games forum, no need for things to be accurate."
hehe.. I love they way terms like "dear" or "friend" come into play at this point in the conversation. :) The thing is, after reading "Roguelike" several times on a page, the brain is inclined to interpret "Rougelike" as being the same. Presumably that's what the author did, maybe what any proofer did (if there was one) and that's exactly what I did too, including when you wrote it.
So in that context it appeared you were objecting to the lack of a hyphen, which was just too grammar-nazi to pass by. A few words to give it some context might have made your response less terse or ambiguous. (As would more careful reading on my part.) :D {hugs}
I think the combat scene is too small, only a small portion on the iPhone. Hope the graphics is not just a port from those cheap phones.
I'm pretty sure this game has never existed in any other form and one of the hallmarks of most Roguelikes is that there ISN'T a separate combat screen from the basic map you're maneuvering about the dungeon in like most RPGs do. Combat usually consists of taking turns with your opponents bumping your guy's icon into your opponent's icon with each bump simulating a good ol' D&D like roll of the dice to see if you hit and then, if lucky, rolling more simulated dice for damage.
I'm all for rogue-likes. :D
Will keep a look out for this one!
This looks really good. Can't wait to grab it.
One question/concern, how slow is combat? Seems from the video to be rather slow. Attack then wait for big damage number, then repeat... but then again I know it's still in dev...
Anyway this game looks really promising!
(and yes, i'm playing RogueTouch right now)
I just creamed my pants.
I've played a number of Rogue-like games, and they all get old after a while (not to mention hard as hell - I've never finished one), and the benefits (random dungeons, classic dungeon crawl gameplay, lots of loot/monster variety) rarely outweigh the drawbacks (ascii/simple graphics, though this can be considered a benefit, very little documentation, very little gameplay variety). This game however looks like it could finally break that mold. Heh, of course the die-hard Rogue fanatics will probably scoff at this game. Definitely looking forward to hearing/seeing more about it.
Hmmm.. I don't think any roguelike *has* to have any of the drawbacks you mention. Mix in a few pre-made components with the randomness and you can end up with a beautifully replayable game that's got variety. I'd cite ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) as a good example, but that game is very very hard, so that would lose on another point. (A little bit of cheating can balance that out though.) ;) ADOM is also very well documented ..main problem the author and newsgroup found was that very few people would read it. So you just can't win really.
Anyway, I have high hopes for this one. Even these new fangled fancy graphics, luxuries like sound-effects, and the total decadence that is music. This is an instabuy in my book.
Buying this yesterday!
"Personality" - does this mean it crash often or doesn't do what you want? ;)
That would be a pretty USELESS personality if true! But know these guys, as the made clear in an interview over at GemSetWatch, have a very funky set of humor. There is the childlike paladin, the goth/depressed faerie, and even a very mellow and practical barbarian who has the ability to temporarily turn into a dinosaur.
Now all it needs is decent dungeon-randomization AND more classes. Two is a bit too few I think. How many classes had the classic Rogue-Games? 10?
Yeah, two classes isn't very many. I'm guessing the number of classes is going to increase as the game is further developed/expanded. Once the overall game is ready for release, and has been well tested with a couple of classes, then I think it's the best time to slowly add more classes and get feedback from people who've bought it as to how well balanced they are.
I'd rather it be approached that way, rather than us having to wait an eternity for the game to be released just because they're balancing a few new character types internally. ..that's the trouble with Roguelikes: There's so much content that can go into them. It's hard to know what's the ideal time to finally release.
Very nice, can't wait to see it in action!
No one commented on how hilarious the video was. The commentary by the developer was perfect and had me laughing the entire time. Please ditch the music, or lower the volume, and have his voice playing while I'm playing the actual game.
Cheers.