There’s a pretty common problem with shoot ’em ups on iOS. It’s about moving the ship – you either drag the ship around, or you have some sort of offset controls. Either you are covering up a very important part of the game or you’ve got a conscious disconnect from the ship. And while offsets work well, Long Hat House has an interesting idea for how to control a shmup on iOS: have your finger be the ship. That’s what Magenta Arcade is going to have you do when it releases next week. Check out the offbeat trailer below:
So, you tap and hold on the screen to start firing, and you drag your finger to try and move and dodge bullets. If you’ve played Mmm Fingers (Free), it’s basically the same thing but as a shoot ’em up. And the idea of your finger being the ship is cleverly explained in the game where you’re a god who has been stripped of their powers, your giant finger still powerful but not all-powerful from the heavens. The system has some clever uses, as you can pick up your finger and reposition it to get out of the way of danger, for example. The release date for this one is set for March 20th, pushed back from the original date of March 9th, with a price of $1.99, and it promises to at least be interesting enough for a mobile shmup. I leave you with this amazing teaser Long Hat House made for the game.
