A new iPhone developer JollyPop has publicly posted a preview for their upcoming puzzle game called BoOMle. JollyPop was formed only two months ago and is working on offering “the fun of oldskool and experimental games, well designed and fully polished for your maximum pleasure from gaming."
A video preview of their first title, BoOMle, shows they are really taking advantage of the iPhone as a gaming platform. The gamplay is described:
It’s a bit like Bejeweled or Diamond Twister, in that you line up matching colors, but instead of moving gems horizontally or vertically one square at a time, you draw the matches with your finger to remove them from the playfield. Various powerups help you along. Throw in a similar feature in Aurora Feint’s where when you tilt the screen, the critters move in that direction, adding an extra element of strategy to the mix.
While match-the-color puzzlers are commonplace amongst mobile games, what struck us about this title is the degree to which it jumps beyond the normal boundaries of what’s a typical puzzler. The use of Open GL allows for fully scalable graphics and special attention appears to have been placed on iPhone-specific features. The game appears to use the iPhone’s accelerometer as well as full advantage of the touch-screen as well.
Now, of course, the quality of a game is more than the sum of its parts, but we are certainly looking forward to games like this which are designed specifically with the iPhone in mind. BoOMle is due for release in late summer 2008.
Additional features as described by the developer:
- Game is writen in OpenGL – 3D space allows you intuitive zooming with only one touch.
- We developed special animating engine which allows us animate everything. The level in preview is runing up to 500 animations every frame.
- Every boomle interact with yours touches.
- Game has build in physical engine – that allows us better response and interaction with real world.
- Several game enviroments with special bonuses which will influence gameplay
- We expect 4 gameplay modes and up to 100 original puzzles + infinite or random levels
- Online scoring, original soundtrack
- We want to distribute the game with 7+ language translations
Lol! The video is an excellent indcation of some serious gameplay flaws; for example the elongated sigh of frustration after being sent back to the beginning of the level when the ball was inches away from the end. The level design is horribly basic. I honestly think this gives some merit to the exciting sport [at least it is now that I've seen this video] of drawing in the sand/dirt with your finger.
should be like $$$1-2
I started working on "sending back" problem.
It will be fixed in the next update if people will find it frustrating.
We are going to release a level editor if enough people will be interested.
So it is likely that you'll be able to make your own levels.
Looks like something to keep you busy for a short while, but it's certainly not a game-experience to challenge and entertain you all time. It's too basic, too random, it lacks any attractive gameplay-element.
seems kind...redundant. developer should make the ball change speeds randomly to add a sense of difficulty and remove the monotonous element of the game. also, i see from the video (the "sighhhh...") and agree with Aeroflux...being sent back to the beginning of a level and having to go through it allll over again can bring some frustration. speed the game up though...that might help out a lot in the long run.
Add some power ups and stuff to mix it up. Make other things move.
Thanks for your feedback! We'll add some powerups and we'll make the game faster! Keep writing suggestions! Thanks a lot!
Give it a first-person option and it'll be an awesome Cube Runner clone which is a very good thing!
I would also suggest adding slopes and and ramps to break up the monotony. This way speedup and slowdown will naturally make sense.
How about the ability to also influence your speed by tilting up/down?
Still 4.99 on the app store...
I don't know... To me, this game looks neither good (from a graphics standpoint), nor fun to play. Do the levels get much more challenging?
You need some kind of story mode with differnt levels, powerups, extras and so on. Now it's only a better looking version of PapiRiver and some other freeware games. $5 is a joke for such a simple game. You can take that much, after you have finished a real game and not some basic reaction game.
The graphics are good for that kind of game - just add some more stuff, daily, weekly and all-time highscores and keep the price low.
Even if you add some power ups the game won't be worth $5. If you want to aim for the $5 you have to offer different game modes, about 100 differnt levels, save option, power ups, boss battles and much more.
yes, levels get more challenging!
and the ball moves faster
Yeah, you definitely need some other way of getting me interested, because this looks like a game that I would play for a day then get bored of it. Looking forward to the updates!
Any effort to improve the game experience by a developer based on feedback is a step up from the majority of the gaming industry.
That said, what I didn't like about the level design was that the elements, while basic, discouraged interaction on a whole. You have a ball rolling in one general direction with deadly walls that do the worst possible thing to a gamer: waste precious time spent playing the game.
The walls have no organic shape, start and stop in frustrating patterns and simply create more of a claustrophobic environment than one inviting a gamer to continue playing. Interacting with the walls should have a positive element, and reflect the energy the ball has without diverting the intended direction. Leave penalties to various hazards that have a distinct look and are scattered throughout the level in such a way that presents a challenge without feeling like punishment. Oliver makes some really good suggestions in level design.
These are some of the elements I would add:
1) A certain amount of energy is required to go through a loop or over a ramp, so perhaps something from a pinball machine would do. The ball could drop into an accelerator of sorts, the energy being represented by a charging sound, a light surrounding the ball going from dim to bright and then BAM...shot through the loop or over the ramp.
Other types of accelerators: simple tile with animated arrows, a 3D swing with spring gear, a simple drop in a slot with a spring slowly compressing and releasing, a centrifugal arm that spins on a worm gear and releases the ball with great velocity.
2) Magnetic interaction. Just think about what devious level design you could have with magnetic tiles, allowing the ball to roll on the side of the room or even upside down with the help of a partially transparent view (if camera is in the default position). What about a loop with the ball on the outside instead of the inside? Rails instead of tiles at certain parts perhaps? If you really want to have fun think about having the capability for certain objects to repel the ball, objects of the same polarity for example. That could also be used as a spring device, a trampoline, etc.
3) Change the ball itself. Make the ball sticky, turn it into a highly energetic bouncing ball, magnetize it, make it phase out partially to allow travel through certain obstacle, make it heavy as lead to depress special switches that allow progress through the level or lower a drawbridge, or release a hostage or simple make a cup of coffee.
4) Unlocks...nobody wants to see "congrats, thanks for playing" on the end screen of a game they like. Longevity is a tough thing to design in a game, and MANY developers simply try to create trophies. But the secret is gameplay. Make certain parts of the level unreachable without certain upgrades that are unlocked throughout the game. Now take those parts of the level and expand them to new wild levels that really push your creativity and the possibility for the player to ENJOY the level. They don't need to be horribly difficult. Save the best levels for these sought after spots, and you will not only extend the longevity of the game but take a step past many developers out there.
I have no idea what the engine is capable of and how far along in development the title is, but there are 640+ games on the iphone right now. If you really want to be different from the majority of boring games out there, then you have to take something fun and interactive and simply amplify it in a way that doesn't get too repetitive.
For a really good example of gameplay I'd take a good look at these games:
- Marble Blast for the XBox Live Arcade
- Marble Madness, an arcade classic
- your nearest pinball machine
As a gamer I wish the developer the best of luck!
Having a "Time Trial" mode would be interesting... bumping into walls decreases the time you have left.
Add "Checkpoints" along the way... that way if you hit a wall, you only get sent back to the checkpoint instead of the very beginning.
POWERUPS! Give me a shield. Give me extra time (in a time trial mode). Give me a ghosting mode (go through walls). Give me a jump (to go OVER walls). Give me a bomb/rocket (to blast THROUGH walls).
There's so much you can do with this game! :)
Thanks everyone for feedback! We'll try to implement some of suggestions and we'll improve the game! Thanks a lot!
Okay, after playing this game for a bit longer... I think the only "walls" that should send you to the start are the fence-type walls. If you bump into the side of the canyon as it is, I think it should just bounce you right off.
One other thing: I would love to be able to speed up the ball or slow it down by tilting the iPhone forward and back. Kind of like how Super Monkey Ball works :)
I like it. Some heavy iphone tilting from level 4 on but it's kinda fun that way.
A "Start from level XY" feature would be nice
lost it after i had to restore the phone, not gonna buy it again for 4 bucks, not worth it.
@bob1 you can re-download any app you've bought for free.
arn
Got the update and appreciate the improvements. It still needs a way to save a game after each completed level so you don't have to start over from the beginning.