clyde Posted April 2, 2015 Planet Quest is a single-button rhythm-game that I'm enjoying. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/planet-quest/id922848069?mt=8 It does some unfair things to the player that make this game feel a little more playful than I am used to. So one thing I enjoy about listening to jazz-solos is that they often have an established melodic theme that each soloist riffs off of. So a very very simple example of this would be to have a drum-beat that goes xoooxoooxoooxooo and then someone plays with it a little bit by first referencing the pattern and then subverting it playfully. xoooxoooxoooxoox That slight variation of the theme reminds the listener that each beat remains a potential until hit. Of course there is infinite complexity to how this can be done. My personal hypothesis is that the biggest aspect of melodies (which are the pitches and their rhythms, think "twinkle twinkle little star") that causes me to be engaged with it is how it matches with my current conception of theme and variation. Remember, I'm mostly talking about the melody. It gets confusing, especially because I might not be using the right terminology. The way I think of dance-music is that there is an overall rhythm, a bass-line which adds pitches to the overall rhythm, and then melodies laid on top that have both pitches and rhythms of their own. So I'm talking about that top layer, but really it's all bullshit because one person's bassline might be another person's melody. I don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway my personal hypothesis is that I like things musically that are right on the edge of whether or not I can identify the repeating melodies; what I also think of as the "themes". If I can identify it easily and predict the entire song, I get bored musically (when the emotions of vocals and lyrics enter the picture things can drastically change), but if I can't identify the theme at all then I never feel engaged by the piece. My skill at identifying themes increases over listens, so my musical taste changes over time. I am attracted to things that I mostly don't understand, but which have enough familiarity that I know where to start. Planet Quest's music is not very complex, but it plays with the rhythms of the melodies in a way I find interesting. Most rhythm-games allow the player to trust that the rhythm will remain consistent with their expectations, Planet Quest does not seem to care. It wants to change the beat at the last minute to surprise you. That makes the player miss and it's "unfair" which I typically don't appreciate, but here the arbitrary changes of melodic rhythm surprise me and because of the 6 health-point system, there is enough flexibility that perfection is not necessary. Nor is perfection desired. I like making mistakes in this rhythm-game that I didn't have the knowledge to avoid. The songs trick and surprise me by skipping beats or quickly adding them in. That design-decision makes this significantly different from other rhythm-games which seem to be more interested in rote memorization of the rhythms and melodies. Planet Quest uses the surprises of variation that I enjoy while listening to music. While listening to music though, it takes visualization or audial imagination to invest in when the next note is going to hit and what pitch it will be. Here, the button-presses and the game's systems provide you feedback on how your investments do. The game requires action and grades the results. So here is a game I can show to people to demonstrate the beginnings of why I like musical theme and variation. As a bonus, the systems require flexibility In order to allow for the player to be surprised by variation. The game assumes that the player can not be perfect. I like how the game prevents the player from thinking that perfection is possible. That's super cool to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clyde Posted September 25, 2015 It used to be easier to browse apps by how recently they were added. I can't figure out how to do it anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted September 27, 2015 I cannot stop playing Twenty. It's delicious, especially because for me it feels like it hits that sweet spot where strategy definitely helps but it needs to be able to handle the randomness of the board. (It's funny that I think I like every game that derives from Threes more than Threes itself.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dinosaursssssss Posted October 3, 2015 I've been playing some Shooty Skies, which is a shmup from (I think) the Crossy Road team + a few other folks. The visual style is basically identical to Crossy Road in both in-game assets and UI, but I'm just not feeling it this time. It has a little more (and I apologize 'cause I don't know a better way to express this) 'lol random'-ness to the character designs that's kinda off putting (a hipster who shoots floppy disks out his mouth, a tv playing cat videos). It's kinda fun, but it feels a little flat to me and I think they push the monetization a little too hard. Anyway, really curious what other people (especially folks who played Pacman 256 and Crossy Road) think of this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted October 4, 2015 Heh, I checked out on Pacman 256 pretty early on. I thought it was half-baked - there were some good ideas in there that just didn't matter enough, and it only took about half an hour to get the sense that it had shown me pretty much all it had to offer. Crossy Road had a similar problem, but there at least it was saved by the character and scenery changes, which gave it a little boost of novelty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dibs Posted October 27, 2015 Moo. There is a new Lords of Waterdeep tourny forming on the GWJ website. We need 1 or 2 more people to have a good number, so if anyone is interested head on over and sign up. The last one was awesome fun, and i came third or something. https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1299039?page=1#new Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Posted October 27, 2015 Ooh, heck yeah. Been wanting to play waterdeep with people. Edit: waiting on my confirmation email for the forum. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
melmer Posted October 30, 2015 FREE. Today only: Bug Princess by CAVE CO.,LTD. https://appsto.re/gb/GwDiB.i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dibs Posted November 3, 2015 Someone had to pull out of the Waterdeep tourny. If anyone wants in, the link above is where to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Posted December 2, 2015 Monument Valley is free today if you don't already have it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apelsin Posted December 6, 2015 Is Infinity Blade any good? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted December 7, 2015 It struck me as Punch-Out with a levelling curve when I played it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Posted December 7, 2015 That's pretty much exactly what it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
melmer Posted December 15, 2015 Her story is like 66% off In the bag Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
melmer Posted December 15, 2015 And cut the rope 2 is free app of the week Why the shit not I will not play these game Don't even have enough space on my iPhone In the bag Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted December 16, 2015 I finished Alto's Adventure! Whew! I tried the last achievement forever on iPhone, then had a suggestion to try on iPad and got it on first try. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cbirdsong Posted March 2, 2016 A major bump for crazy puzzle game Blackbox: https://bnc.lt/m/Qpg17yJwlr (or, https://appsto.re/us/Q_Bz5.i, if you don't want to give me a referral) I strongly recommend everyone check it out. It's a really unique thing, even if you don't stick with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Posted March 2, 2016 I didn't realize this was out. I tried it out in beta but held off on doing too much until it was out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted March 3, 2016 Saw a tweet about Train Conductor World yesterday, which is out apparently. I haven't played it, but it looks nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clyde Posted March 8, 2016 I'm having fun with Tomb of the Mask. It's a high-speed sliding-block movement-mechanic. Dexterity is required. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clyde Posted March 14, 2016 I just beat my Tomb of the Mask highscore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
graddy Posted March 14, 2016 In continuing to plug away at Card Crawl, trying to unlock all the cards. I think I might lose steam before I'm finished. Anyone else play? Very well done solitaire card dungeon crawler thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clyde Posted March 14, 2016 Slight update. It's been a good day at job. In continuing to plug away at Card Crawl, trying to unlock all the cards. I think I might lose steam before I'm finished. Anyone else play? Very well done solitaire card dungeon crawler thing. I'm slightly interested, but I'm not willing to purchase it to find out whether or not I'll enjoy it in this particular case. I loved Fairie Solitaire and I enjoyed Deadman's Draw though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dibs Posted March 15, 2016 It is really good, but i got good enough at it that it wasn't a challenge anymore. it took me 21 starts to win 20 games to unlock the new stuff after i reinstalled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted March 15, 2016 I love Card Crawl. I'm not good at it though which might help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites