Great news for people with iThings as one of the very best indie games on PC is going to be on iOS very soon. According to developers Vlambeer, the game was submitted to Apple for review a couple days ago which means it’s out of their hands now. For Apple’s part it can take up to a couple weeks to get approved by them so no telling when we’ll see it exactly. Still, this is exciting nonetheless!
*bump* *bump*, *bump* *bump*. Can you hear that? It’s Alan “Draknek” Hazelden’s beating robotic hearts releasing over the iOS App Store and the Android Marketplace. It’s yours now for just £1.50 or $1.99, and it’s a beautiful, haunting, narrative-focused, minimalist puzzle game. Did I say it was beautiful yet? There’s a trailer up ahead, but don’t go too far into it, it’s a game best experienced first hand.
Every other week it seems like there’s some sort of hearsay, rumor or pure lie that claims that Pokemon, in one form or another, is coming to the iOS. And in fact that did actually happen in a quasi-not-really-a-game sort of way. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. Given the popularity of iOS and the Pokemon franchise, I’m not surprised the former will be getting a latter-like game called Dragon Island.
Rewind three years and I’d have told you that you were downright crazy, mad, institutionalization-worthy had you told me that one day (soon!) we’d be playing games on our phones that were as good looking, with meaningful depth, and as cheap as a basic mobile phone game. Since then I’ve seen the steady progression of games and I believe a new pinnacle has been reached with Oceanhorn , a delightful 3D game inspired by Nintendo’s legendary Zelda: Wind Waker series.
King of Dragon Pass is one of the best games you could possibly have living on your shiny Apple iDevice. Don’t just take my (extensive and detailed) word for it – just check out any other site that reviews iPhone games, and you’ll see that the sentiment is nearly universal. It’s not a new game, though – in fact, the original PC version came out 12 years ago, and that’s reason to celebrate.
Quickly hurry over to the iOS App store if you want to grab this retro style scrolling shooter for not even a penny. For the next 24 hours, Fun Infused Games are giving away Hypership Out of Control for completely free, instead of the regular price of $0.99/69p. The sale is on the 26th, so the start time of the sale confusingly depends on your time zone. The freebie promotion is live in Australia at time of writing, but it should be free in all regions at the turn of midnight (local time).
Hypership Out of Control has you flying to the top of the screen, dodging asteroids and other obstacles, whilst trying to collect coins to get loads of points. If it’s not yet free in your region, you can always try the (beta) web version here. It’s nothing hugely complicated, but it’s better than staring at a wall whilst waiting for a bus.
Here’s a trailer, to see it’s lovely 8bit pixels in motion:
Last month I gushed a bit about an upcoming iOS space trading game called Drifter, a mobile game inspired by the likes of Frontier and Privateer that was released years ago on the PC.
Anyway, the reason why I’m writing about the game again is because the developer Celcius Game Studios has released a new gameplay video which shows off some pretty damned imnpressive graphics and gameplay for a iOS title.
Check it out:
I think what I’m most impressed with isn’t so much the game itself (although that’s easy to be impressed with) but rather the user interface which allows you to hyper jump between various systems. As a long time fan of many space trading games, I can say that this method of faster than light travel seems to be much more intuitive than most other games in the genre.
Also, as an astronomy buff, I’m really digging the galactic map!
Drifter is still early in development so don’t get your hopes up too much a release anytime soon, but for those of you with iThings this should be one of the games you keep a look out for.
[UPDATE: The developer pinged me on Twitter to let me know that a PC version is being considered for release shortly after the iOS version. Great news for those of us who don't own iDoohickies!]
radiangames’ was easily one of the premeir, best of the best, Xbox Live Indie Game developers out there. He made games so slick, colorful, fun and professional for XBLIG that more often than not you could easily convince watchers that it was an XBLA game. Over the course of a year Luke Schneider released seven amazing games for Microsoft’s indie venture… and then he was done.
Unfortunately, despite the amazing-ness of the titles, XBLIG simply wasn’t a viable platform. It still isn’t for many developers. As such Luke is now bringing his expertise to another popular indie destination: iOS.
This Thursday marks the first radiangames release post-XBLIG and it’s as a continuation of one of my favorite radiangames classics: Crossfire. The appropriately titled Super Crossfire (for iPhone and iPod Touch) and Super Crossfire HD (iPad) will launch on Appl’es devices for a scant $0.99 and $2.99 respectively.
Here’s a bit about the game:
Super Crossfire is an intense shooter with a distinct twist: Players can warp between the bottom and top of the screen at any time. Combined with a massive upgrade system, intense gameplay, visuals, and audio, and a huge variety of enemy types and waves, Super Crossfire is the next evolution in the arcade shooter genre.
Personally, being a fan of radiangames and a huge Android proponent, I hope Super Crossfire also makes it’s way to the Googlier side of the smart phone spectrum. But even if it doesn’t I’m simply happy radiangames is back making fantastic games. Here’s hoping we see many more in the future.
A pleasant surprise this morning as Spilt Milk Studios has again made their excellent Snake meets Geometry Wars retro arcade title Hard Lines temporaily free on the App Store. The offer (as per the usual for iOS handouts) goes for today, and today only.
I’ve been playing the game during travel days this summer and have to say it’s one of the top titles in terms of quality and depth I’ve discovered thus far on the platform. Hard Lines provides hours of high-score topping fun through a bunch of different creative and fun modes accompanied by a slew of whitty/hilarious one-liners. Plus it just recently received a content update adding a new Daily Challenge mode and four new power ups–iPhone/iPad owners don’t miss this one if you’ve yet to take the opportunity to pick it up.
Android owners must wait for another day for a free offer on the game, but they can still pick it up at its normal price of $2.99 anytime.
It’s time for Kairosoft’s Hot Springs Story to get in on the temporary flash sale price reduction action, with an 80% off sale. It’s been temporarily reduced to just $0.99, or 69p for UK folk. Mere spare change. You grab it straight from the iOS app store here: USA/UK. There’s no word on how long this sale is going to be available for, so if you’re interested, I suggest you hurry up.
Following on success from their game-dev managing sim, Game Dev Story, Hot Springs Story is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a management sim where you’re put in charge of running a Japanese Hot Springs Inn. I’m not exactly sure what Hot Springs Inn is, or what managing one requires, but if it’s anything like Game Dev Story, I’m sure it will be pretty addictive. I’m downloading it myself now, but in the meantime, perhaps this video will help explain things:
Hot Springs Story is available on Android too, but the sale is only on the iOS version, it would seem.
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