pabosher

iOS Gaming

Recommended Posts

So last week I was chatting with some of the guys from Chillingo, the iPhone publishing company, and their comments about the iPhone as a device were really interesting. I published a piece here, but the long and short of it was:

The iPhone is great for publishers, developers alike.

Even if the games aren't classed as 'real games' by gamers, they're just a different type of experience.

Cut the Rope's recent BAFTA win is proof that iOS is a valid thing.

The ability to see reviews and instantly being working on updates is a godsend.

Just curious to see what you guys, being infinitely more intelligent than me, think about the subject of iOS gaming!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The iThing is my primary gaming platform these days (if you count web based games as well as apps). I suspect that brands me as a casual, but I don't really mind - you can't look at things like Hector (now on other platforms courtesy of TTG) and claim iThing gaming doesn't have quality products.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

iOS gaming is purely a time killer for me, but games like CrossLogic, Doodle Fit, geoDefense (and it's sequel: geoDefense Swarm) and Symbolism have killed many, many hours.

There are undeniable advantages to the platform, vitally, the speed with which updates and extra content can be rolled out is astounding and encourages developers to support their apps post-release. Despite the casual game stigma there are some excellent experimental titles, One Single Life is an amazing example.

S4_aRXVVvEc

As the title suggests, you only get 1 life, then you're done.

I'd say that iOS games are in a category of their own, but it's certainly not a category to be looked down upon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd like to see more "traditional," deeper experiences on my phone.

Not so much in terms of action titles (which, if you wind up having to go to an onscreen dpad generall isn't going to pan out particularly well), but adventure and turn based strategy & rpg. The device is certainly capable of it as there are decent titles of those types, but they're way outnumbered by all the physics based puzzlers.

cut the rope/angry birds type games are probably cheaper to make so if one flops, it's a smaller hit to absorb, which would make them the safer choice for a small company to develop, but personally, they start to all feel kind of samey (which is not to say that they're bad games, just not as appealing to me).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really wish Apple would put some quality control on the games that get released, I've seen games that steal artwork from popular games and blatant ripoffs.

I use it mostly as a timekiller too, but it does have lost of potential, which feels so wasted when you see another fart button app.

Sword & Sworcery is a great game, it's like a cross between Zelda and an adventure game and I'm baffled by the fact that Cave managed to pull off not one, but two bullet hell games on the iOS system and have them work flawlessly.

As for time killers, I like to play Bookworm.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I really wish Apple would put some quality control on the games that get released, I've seen games that steal artwork from popular games and blatant ripoffs.

That same thing is happening with Android also.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
That same thing is happening with Android also.

Isn't it even worse? I heard on a podcast that they were selling apps that didn't even work! I also heard that it's so easy to pirate that almost nobody buys games anyway. Is this true?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, Google has been working on getting all the copycat games kicked out more efficiently and malware also.

I think lots of people are pirating Android apps, it also doesn't help that there are artificial regional lockouts for apps in the market. Those apps work if one gets those as apk files.

I have tried to support the good developers, I already bought both Kairosoft's games and I've also bought several others applications.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are there any good asynchronous multiplayer games that you guys know of on iOS other than the "with Friends" set?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'd like to see more "traditional," deeper experiences on my phone.

Not so much in terms of action titles (which, if you wind up having to go to an onscreen dpad generall isn't going to pan out particularly well), but adventure and turn based strategy & rpg. The device is certainly capable of it as there are decent titles of those types, but they're way outnumbered by all the physics based puzzlers.

Sorry for an answer to something so old, but OH MY GOD KING OF THE DRAGON PASS. Seriously, if you like turn based strategy a la 90s you won't be disappointed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So I have been playing Hunters 2 on my phone (it's a kind of an x-com lite) thing.

I have exactly 5 guys in my squad and I have named them all after the thumbs roster so if any of y'all get mauled by a xenomorph IRL, you can maybe blame me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was always lukewarm on games on the iphone, but ipads kind of change the game entirely. I keep thinking about how well Fallout would port to it. (please oh please)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This will pop a few boners (or just get ye all emotional like me): the Baldur's Gate revamp is being developed for the ipad.

http://www.baldursgate.com/news/language/en/

I've been playing Battleheart on the pad. Its a little arena 4 man team rpg. Lots of fun. It is very simple, but the battle can get quite frantic and there is several different classes to choose from to make your own team.

Puzzle Quest 2 seems to be a nice port as well, i'm enjoying it.

The Carcasonne app looks amazing on the pad as well.

Has anyone played avadon: the dark fortress on the pad? I've played the PC demo, but i'm always worried about how the controls will map to a touchscreen.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I listened to another Three Moves Ahead episode about board games (nr. 135), and this made me immediately purchase Ascension for iPad. :tup: Really well done digital version of the board/card game.

I don't like Ascension much compared to Dominion, because it seems very similar every time, whereas Dominion is different almost every time. But even after having played one digital game I like the iPad version more than the real thing. Mostly because as someone who has never read the rules and all the cards himself, the real game is not so great with people who know the game really well (and the ones I play with do).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess there is a reason that the iOS gaming thread was hidden away, all the games i've download to my iphone so far seems shitty.

 

But stupid as i am, i keep looking and spending money in hope of finding at least one game to game. This is more than empty words, so let me list just a few of the games i've downloaded lately.

 

  1. Tiny Wings - Cute, but trying to balance a pencil on my fingertip would be more fun.
  2. Xcom - Screen is way to small and therefor it's to fucking hard to control.
  3. Warhammer Quest - Once again the screen size fails and i ran into a ton of bugs.
  4. Super Hexagon - Hyped up as hell, fun for two minutes.
  5. Superbrothers S&S - Hipster fucking bullshit.
  6. Badland - Visuals are great, but gameplay gets boring fast!
  7. Cut the Rope - ...why did i even buy it.

It's frustrating as hell, my old gameboy had way less power than my current iPhone and yet i haven't found a single game worth keeping on there. If anyone out there knows of a somewhat deeper gaming experience to be had on my phone, please let me know.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess there is a reason that the iOS gaming thread was hidden away, all the games i've download to my iphone so far seems shitty.

 

But stupid as i am, i keep looking and spending money in hope of finding at least one game to game. This is more than empty words, so let me list just a few of the games i've downloaded lately.

 

  1. Tiny Wings - Cute, but trying to balance a pencil on my fingertip would be more fun.
  2. Xcom - Screen is way to small and therefor it's to fucking hard to control.
  3. Warhammer Quest - Once again the screen size fails and i ran into a ton of bugs.
  4. Super Hexagon - Hyped up as hell, fun for two minutes.
  5. Superbrothers S&S - Hipster fucking bullshit.
  6. Badland - Visuals are great, but gameplay gets boring fast!
  7. Cut the Rope - ...why did i even buy it.

It's frustrating as hell, my old gameboy had way less power than my current iPhone and yet i haven't found a single game worth keeping on there. If anyone out there knows of a somewhat deeper gaming experience to be had on my phone, please let me know.

I have different expectations from iphone-games than I do from console-games. I know that the iphone is capable of these longer and more in-depth experiences, but expecting it will likely lead you to missing out on some neat experiences. I think of spending a dollar on the app-store like I used to think of spending 50 cents in an arcade. I don't expect a long-lasting experience, I just expect something novel that interests me for a bit. That said, let me provide some recommendations with descriptions similar to yours:

1. Bad Piggies - It's like Kerbal Space-Program in a simplistic form having Angry Birds style levels and objectives. I love this game. They just released some new levels. I really enjoy figuring out how to get 3 stars on each stage. It's free at the moment.

 

2.Le Havre - Imagine if Monopoly was actually fun. Now I can't give a full recommendation for this game because it sucks on the iphone, but I love playing it anyway. The reason it sucks is because the type is too small. So Le Havre is one of the many worker-allocation style board-games that I have been introduced to through the iphone. I don't have friends to play with, but I'm really interested in how board-games are designed, so I like the automation. The other board-games I've enjoyed playing against AI on the iphone are Wabash Cannonball, Stone Age, and Ticket To Ride. Le Havre is on sale for a dollar, you won't like it, but some lurkers might.

 

3. Backflip Madness - This game has problems, but I got REALLY into it for a while. It has a warning at the beginning that basically says "Don't try this in real life!" and I thought it was a joke, until I played it for 6 hours. I became convinced that I could TOTALLY do a backflip in real life. But then I remembered the warning. Again, this is no Skyrim. It's a little vending machine that you wander past at a carnival in a strange town, it begs you for some change and you put it in just to see what it will show you. the biggest problem with this game is that you can't see where you are supposed to land. I just started taking that as part of the challenge, that I must memorize the order of jumps, but it shouldn't be that way, it is lazy and disruptive game-design. It's qwopish, but different. Everything is in the timing of your taps. There is only one type of tap, not four; so it's kinda like QWOP without the WOP.

 

I may think of others later. Don't trust my opinion by the way. I would have put Tiny Wings on my list. Oh, maybe I should anyway since you can see how I would have described it; that way you can calibrate my how much my opinion is different from yours.

 

4. Tiny Wings - Great example of how the touch-device allows for new game mechanics. I especially like how the levels are randomly generated every day. that gives me the ability to perfect my runs through the course of the day, but on the next, it'll be a whole new circumstance to master.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestions Clyde, but non of those are games i would even consider, besides Tiny Wings that i already had in my list.

 

I guess my problem with a lot of the iOS games out there is, that they don't seem to give a damn about how their game looks. How many 3 start, cartoon, iap filled games do we need?. Why should i care about their game if they clearly don't themselves? And that's just the start of it, it's like every developer wants to invent the next super fantastic revolutionary way of using the touch controls, instead of just going with what works and supports the gameplay.

 

I do understand why a one dollar game can't deliver this and it wouldn't be fair in any way to demand. But prices are going up on some games and with that in mind, it should be about fucking time that they start to deliver some decent shit. I mean how great would a western turn based rpg be? If it's out there let me know!

 

-

 

Juv3nal it might be neat, but as i already mentioned graphics means a great deal to me and the game looks as an early alpha build at it's best.

 

-

 

Twig let me guess, your the troll on this forum?

 

-

 

Anyway, after my first post in this thread i went on yet another search of a great ios game and i actual think i found one!!

 

The game is called Junk Jack and as far as i can tell, it's made by a small two man team. I have only played it shortly but it's basically a 2d Minecraft clone, but with way better pixel art than the game it borrows from. The goals of the game are yours to make up (build stuff, craft weapons and explore) and so far i'm really liking it. Every little detail in the game seems to have been made with care and the controls work really well.

 

All in all, i think my thoughts on iOS gaming a this. The iphone is such a powerful machine and i'm really sad that more good stuff isn't coming out of it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have no idea how to respond to that...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess my problem with a lot of the iOS games out there is, that they don't seem to give a damn about how their game looks. How many 3 start, cartoon, iap filled games do we need?. Why should i care about their game if they clearly don't themselves?

 

It's a mistake to equate not giving a damn about how a game looks with not caring about the game. Operating with limited resources means that everything that you choose to care about more means something else that you care about less. Ending up with poor graphics is often just a matter of having different priorities. Having said that,

 

graphics means a great deal to me.

 

Have you had a look at Galaxy on Fire 2 HD?

 

I mean how great would a western turn based rpg be? If it's out there let me know!

 

There's Rimelands From what I remember, it's not amazing, but it's turn based and looks ok.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a mistake to equate not giving a damn about how a game looks with not caring about the game. Operating with limited resources means that everything that you choose to care about more means something else that you care about less. Ending up with poor graphics is often just a matter of having different priorities. Having said that,

 

 

Have you had a look at Galaxy on Fire 2 HD?

 

 

There's Rimelands From what I remember, it's not amazing, but it's turn based and looks ok.

 

I'm in no way asking people to feel the same way as me, what i wrote was written from my personal perspective of what a good game should be. Often when playing iOS games and other indie stuff, i almost feel like i'm beta testing rather than enjoying a final product. Some don't care, but i do. 

 

Will take a look at the games you mentioned, thanks :)  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Speaking of Terry, he linked to A Ride Into The Mountains yesterday. It is very indie with its big pixels, but actually it's a nice little archery game, well presented. It manages to vary stuff without any of it feeling tacky or bolted on.

 

8AlgeKl.png


 

Super Hexagon - Hyped up as hell, fun for two minutes.

 

You are so fucking wrong about that  :P

 
pHwxSx9.png

 

See? That's nearly three (Fnar. It's one of the deepest games I've played on iOS).

 

 

Edit: Also, Badland has really good level design and art. It may be the helicopter game, but of many variants I've had sent to me, it's the best by far.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have no idea how to respond to that...

You could tell eesaldrom that you are comedic relief.

I for one, appreciate that you acknowledge my hipster-status. This reminds me of an academic paper I found about how Jane Austen formulated social reputation in Pride and Prejudice...

Second edit: I just figured out that Twig was responding to the comment on Sword& Sorcery. How disappointing. Classic hipster mistake, thinking that someone was talking about himself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now