I like the concept of Piclings from Fabrication Games. Taking real life photos to create endless amounts of platforming levels is a stress-free way for people like me who don’t want to build levels from scratch. That’s Piclings innovative mechanic. From the video, there appears to be two enemies to avoid and coins and presumably a rainbow butterfly token to collect. The character design is cute enough. However, 3 characters seems like the tip of an iceberg for any platforming game. To me, Piclings is a great idea of a game and maybe the developers need to see some support to fully flesh out the concept.

Fabrication Games, who made Piclings, is no newcomer to game development. They won an International Mobile Game Award for Innovation for Kodo Evolved and picked up other awards along their 10 years of developing at IGF, Into the Pixel, and Nokia Innovation Challenge. Yes, some developers were part of Jadestone before, but that’s just semantics.

For those who have seen or want to discover platforming levels in everyday life, Piclings is available now for $0.99 to snap photos, jump around, and share.

Piclings official website

Florian Garcia from Ant Hive Games shares candidly his company’s major lessons learned while publishing the team’s first big IP: The Line. He principally concedes that when a game is designed for a specific platform, one should not quickly change platforms simply because of the bigger market share. The following has been edited by myself and written by Florian Garcia.

It is no secret that The Line was originally designed for the iPad. So where did the decision about launching first on iPhone come from – and why only focus on the iPad now? To explain all the reasons behind our strategy, we need to step back a little and look at Ant Hive Games’s birth and the IOS market ten months ago.

Back then we were a freshly-built company with a small team of four people who had only just begun to work together. Even though we were all good developers independently, to build a sustainable business in this situation you need to use teamwork to maximize your chances of success.

We needed two things: a good quality game and a game that had to be unique so we could make a name for ourselves, as our marketing budget was nonexistent at that time. My idea of The Line fitted the bill – it was innovative, had unique gameplay, and had some interesting technical challenges with the fully interactive maze.

The concept was designed for the soon-to-be released Apple iPad tablet. The device was on everyone’s lips. Although it was exciting to think about releasing our game in the iPad’s first year, the prospect was full of risks. Nobody knew if we were talking about a million fanboy type of market or a potential social network type of glory.

All in all, it was a risky road ahead, and it wasn’t long before we started thinking about a version for the iPhone market. Apple was getting ready to announce about a hundred million iPhones shipped, and I already knew the market, having released three games on that device in the previous year – all having been featured on iTunes at some point. In the business world, there isn’t anything stronger than big numbers, so we ended up investigating what it would mean exactly to build the game on iPhone first.

We knew we would face technical constraints that once addressed would smooth the road when it came to producing the iPad version. On the game design side, two critical points justified starting with the iPhone version instead of the iPad and not the opposite. For a game with a challenge based on quick thinking and quick actions, you need space to see what is coming at your character and you need to be able to act accordingly. The iPhone screen size was a problem for both; the field of view would be smaller and, as we are working with touch screen technology, the control input zone would be shrunk.

If the iPad had been built first, we would have had to answer those questions twice – but if we somehow first made the game work for iPhone, it would remove those issues on iPad. It might not sound too bad, but remember that this was the first project of a newly formed team and in this situation, even the smallest problem can become a mountain to climb. In this case, the mountain wasn’t very high technically, but we knew from the beginning that the game would be better suited to iPad in the long run.

But what we forgot to forecast was that first impressions are critical, no matter your price.

The Line requires a larger screen in its fundamental requirements. The smaller the screen, the longer it will take for the player to get into the game, learn the controls and overall the player experience becomes more difficult. Had it been a home console or PC game, those players are used to spending time learning new controls or experiencing new art styles – but not iPhone users.

The iPhone started as a simple phone with a fancy touch screen which allowed Apple to reach just everybody who wanted to look fashionable or just call people. When Apple opened the doors of the iTunes App store, they also exposed a whole lot of new people to games which can be very addictive. Most of those people are not experienced gamers. They don’t necessarily want to spend time learning a game before playing, nor do they always have time to do so. iPhone apps became mostly a quick entertainment fix when sitting in a subway or having a drink with friends. The Line is a good game, but it doesn’t fit in the quick entertainment category. It is a game that requires the player to spend time mastering its controls, it has time-based challenges, a trial and error gameplay, and requires a good amount of thinking.

The Line for iPhone had a completely unnoticed release. The rare press reviews oscillated between the following: “Wait, I don’t know this game. Why can’t I review Angry Birds v. 1.9.0.0.1?” to: “Hey, excellent idea guys! I wish there was more screen though, and it’s very hard.”

By the time we released the iPad version, the tablet market was growing with iPad in the lead. Very excited about our all-singing, all-dancing version that would blow everybody’s mind, we started contacting the press again. However most of the reviewers who had reviewed The Line on iPhone weren’t very interested in it for iPad – even though it was, for us, the main event. Did I mentioned that the one who was more interested in reviewing the latest update of Angry Birds than giving The Line a fair try was also very interested in selling us advertisement space?

So from this point it was a challenge to explain our strategy behind releasing the iPhone version first, and the fact that The Line iPad was a better user experience – in fact, it was the headline act after the warm up. But of the reviews we got for it, the lowest was 9.3 out of 10.

When looking at the iPad market, I see a platform on which developers seem to propose deeper game experiences and players seem to also want slightly deeper gameplay that justifies the higher price point. With the experience gained over the past 10 months, we learned that even a juicy 100 million user market isn’t any good if you can’t take advantage of it – if you do not build for it in the first place. Today we are refocused on the iPad. It is the device for which The Line was crafted, and the platform that will best demonstrate the game’s quality. I have no doubt that the iPhone version will come back one day but it will be in a more suitable shape for the market.

PAX East 2011 Boston Indies selection Smuggle Truck is out for grabs across several platforms: PC, MAC, and iOS devivces. However, the game doesn’t quite look the same on the iOS anymore. That’s because Smuggle Truck from Owlchemy Labs for the iPhone and iPad has magically become Snuggle Truck! What were once immigrants fleeing to a brighter tomorrow have become plush animals escaping the wilderness for the comfort of a zoo, while seeking food, shelter, and healthcare. The premises in both are similar, and the gameplay is identical.

The below video quickly shows off a fun incorporation of the game’s controls. Players can use their iPhone as a wireless remote control to play the PC/MAC versions. This allows gamers to smuggle or snuggle with the precise tilt controls Owlchemy Labs originally built.  Check it out:

Personally, Apple’s rejection of polished product Smuggle Truck reaks of something akin to the excrement of a HUMANCENTiPAD. However, those who want the cuddlier version with the same gameplay can purchase Snuggle Truck for iPhone for $1.99 or iPad for $2.99. Those, like me, who get a kick out of seeing babies and their presumably preoccupied texting parents projected from moving vehicles (this doesn’t happen in gaming enough) can purchase the PC or MAC version of Smuggle Truck for $4.99. These users can toggle between Snuggle (for first dates) and Smuggle (for something more substantial).

Anyone play this game yet? Do you find you enjoy Smuggle Truck in addition to or despite its humor?

London based indie studio Honey Tribe Studios will release its first game on iPhone in spring and summer for iPhone/iPod/iPad and Mac. Honey Tribe: Colony Collapse has at least two distinct visual styles going on, judging from the above screenshot. I really like the oil paintings in the background, and I like the rich colors of the objects in the foreground. I am not sure how the characters will animate, nor am I sure how well the two art styles blend, but I have yet to see the game in motion.

I do appreciate the blending of teaching and entertaining. The studio has taken Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a troublesome issue for bees worldwide of which I was unaware, to heart. States Shaz Yousaf, “As you may already know honey bee populations have been declining globally. Research is ongoing as to the causes but several main factors have been identified as precursors to CCD. Pollinators account for at least 30% of the earth’s crops and bees are by far the most prominent pollinator. If honey bee populations continue to decline, that’s seriously bad news for us humans. As the story of the game progresses you find out some of the causes behind CCD and also reveal facts about honey bees and other wildlife.”

Honey Tribe doesn’t want to force feed the issue; it wants to incorporate a kind of tangential learning in Colony Collapse. As stated on the Honey Tribe blog, once ”the player is absorbed in the game world, the game designers can integrate learning experiences into the game that the player is free to explore. Or not — the key is that the player makes the choices based on their interests.”

The team hopes to be finished with the game in May. The key to tangential learning seems to be making a game players actually enjoy and invest enough time to become engrossed. Developing an engrossing game on a notoriously casual and quick devices seems especially challenging. While I am more about syrup than honey, I’m all about keeping creatures around that existed far before (and after) I did. I’m looking forward to seeing Colony Collapse in action and learning some more about bees.

Superbrothers, Jim Guthrie, and Capybara‘s Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Micro releases tomorrow for the smaller iOS devices for $2.99. The game will go universal for those that have already purchased the iPad version. This will happen via an update at sometime before April 21, 2011. The team warns that the game will not play super smooth on older generations such as iPhone 3G.

It’s been over a year since the trailer of Sword & Sworcery caught the attention of DIY, and for those who have iDevices other than the iPad finally get to play the highly praised game. Editors, gamers and IGF judges agree that this is one hot mobile game. It won the IGF Mobile ‘Achievement in Art’ award in March 2010.

IndieGames.com has followed the game extensively. The writers posted a recent interview with composer Jim Guthrie. For those who don’t know about Sword & Sworcery, the developers describe the game as follows: “It’s a mix of laid-back exploration, careful investigation & mysterious musical problem-solving occasionally punctuated by hard-hitting combat encounters. S:S&S EP is an unusual genre-bending effort with an emphasis on sound, music & audiovisual style that has been positioned as ‘a brave experiment in Input Output Cinema’.”

Check out the game in action and get ready to order it on the App Store tomorrow!

To clarify, there are two pricing structures for the game, as posted on the game’s official site:

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP will go UNIVERSAL via an update, so the existing App will suddenly be compatible with Apple’s touchtronic machinery including iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch. This update will be available shortly before Thursday, April 21st 2011 but the App itself is available right the heck now for 4.99$.

For people without an iPad & for people who aren’t planning to get an iPad anytime soon we will also offer ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Micro’ for iPhone & iPod Touch ONLY – this is the same exact same videogame only it’s restricted to the smaller touchtronic machines and it’ll be available shortly before Thursday, April 21st 2011 for 2.99$.

[This is the opinion of John Polson, not DIYGamer]

Certainly there are some gamers who aim to be the best “skirt-flipper in the world.” However, Apple rejected Upskirt from The Philippines’s Spotcat Studio, thereby denying these gamers their right to improve their perv-ism. All is not lost for Spotcat and its Upskirt game. Thanks to Jailbroken App Cydia, players can finally attempt to ”MASTER THE ART OF SKIRT FLIPPING AND SAVE THE WORLD,” or so says the team’s press release.

While the dual cause of mastering such a skill and saving the world seems entirely (almost?) noble, as a journalist and as someone part of the indie community, I have to wonder if this realm of being associated with a jailbroken iOS App is something I should support. For the record, I don’t condone any illegal behavior. However, Jailbreaking is legal but voids Apple’s device warranty. Since Jailbreaking is legal, why haven’t I seen any news about games from stores other than Apple’s? Is something like this not worthy indie news or too taboo to talk about?

Developers can choose to release a game for free and have the right to do so. As long as the IP being distributed is the developer’s own IP, in America at least that developer can distribute it as he sees fit. Once that developer attempts to make use of other official distribution channels, legality become more difficult to discern. The issue of charging for a game also brings up many issues of legality: abiding by consumer rights, payment confidentiality, tax issues, and more make free distribution seem like the best burden free way to get one’s game out into the wild.

Increasing one’s chance of exposure also increases one’s chances of criticism and rejection. Free browser-based websites and smartphone stores can be particular about the games they accept. In this case, Upskirt failed to reach a larger audience by means of Apple’s official App Store, but Spotcat hasn’t done anything illegal up to this point.

Spotcat’s devs have the right to publicize their game even though it was rejected. PopCap’s 4th & Battery rejected “Horse” game has received wild attention, maybe more even after receiving Apple’s thumbs-down. Regardless of proving Spotcat’s attempt to get this game approved through Apple, as a reporter I would still have the option to report on this. Many reporters write about games before they are officially approved, as a game can be “newsworthy” regardless of its position in the development cycle. Additionally, First Amendment rights protect me as a writer to report on anything I please.

While I am protected to talk about the Upskirt, is Spotcat protected to release Upskirt via a Jailbroken/altered device? Now, that is the tricky part for me. Jailbroken devices are one thing, but there is a lot of legal lingo involved when a developer agrees to Apple’s iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Do I have to decide as a journalist whether or not Spotcat has violated this agreement by putting its game onto the Cydia store and if this makes the game too shady to talk about? The jury’s still out on that. Maybe DIY’s readers can help me decide.

As for the other contentious subjects, is Upskirt Indie and/or newsworthy?

Newsworthiness is subjective. A game that equates skirt flipping with saving the world is probably worth a laugh with some gamers. I felt Upskirt‘s story was not about the game itself but its journey to be played by others. I’ve never received a press release stating that a game is available for iPhone via anything other than the Apple App Store. Upskirt is available thanks to Xsellize via Cydia. These new terms, to me, alone seemed newsworthy. The Bohemian in me says that when “the man” won’t let me release a game on his platform, I would go about sharing my work with the world in other ways, regardless of convention. I go so far as to thank Upskirt for bringing these newsworthy ideas to my attention.

As to the matter of indie-ism:

Is it “indie” to put a game out there for free for people to play? Of course. It is especially smart in today’s world, when people judge $1 games as harshly, or more so, as their $60 counterparts. It’s a great way to get some name/brand recognition for a team’s seminal title or a work in progress. Surely, without the use of ads or some external money generating mechanism, there is no immediate return on investment. But being indie isn’t necessarily about being profitable.

Does a game lose its indie descriptor when it steps outside the normal course of distribution or possibly breaks a contract? That’s one for the community that defines itself as indie to decide collectively.

To me, indie is about designing a dream game. If even the byproduct of a silly adolescent (most men don’t make it completely past this stage) daydream, Upskirt is an indie game beholden to no one except the developers who made the game and the people who want to be involved with playing (or not playing) it. It’s unfortunate that this dream paired with a software licensing agreement and subsequent strict store approval process such that it could not be officially realized, but I feel the Upskirt is no less indie for how it resolved to be distributed, given its circumstances.

Will I make it a habit to report on panty/skirt games? Probably not. Should I report on Cydia Store games or other Jailbroken associated games? Maybe. Possibly. If they are fun or innovative, no? You tell me. I suppose it depends on finding devoted readers on DIY who are interested in these Cydia Store games.

While the essence of a jailbroken phone to me feels “do it yourself,” Apple’s accompanying agreement with its standard developer kit attempts to force distribution limitations on what people create. This leads me to feel like talking about these creations, these games, is a bad thing.

Should gamers be chastised for admitting they can play these games? Should press, for reporting about these games? Having a jailbroken phone seems legal enough, but playing the games… I’m not so sure. Luckily, chastising falls on the indie society at large. I just put the news and occasionally my opinion out there for everyone to discuss.

Brad Johnson of Be-Rad (get it?) Entertainment was dodging bullets in the PAX East Indie Alley. He ducked in this halfway house for indies interested in producing Serious Sam offsprings. As it turns out, he was at some point inducted into a secret gang by Serious Sam publisher Devolver Digital. Each indie will create his own Sam title as a way to hype up the upcoming proper sequel to Sam.

Be-Rad Brad’s offering is Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack, a mobile “auto-run” game coming out on iPhone and Android sometime in April. The game is based on the Serious Sam universe. Gamers play as the headless kamikaze, who is normally one of the enemies. In SS:KA, players get to try to blow up Sam.

The PAX East demo had three level types: the first one was to kick missiles back at Sam, while avoiding the conventional pitfalls and obstacles. The second level was a bomb reflecting level, and the third level was a boss battle. Kamikaze Attack had two buttons: a jump and an attack. Kamikaze can double jump and, players can hold down attack to do a flying kick.

Aside from surviving the normal dangers in an auto-run, Kamikaze Attack uses a rage meter. The longer one uses the attack button, the higher the meter fills up. If one maxes it out, Kamikaze blows up and dies. The game has a limited number of lives. To extend the life of the game and ease the challenge, Brad put in an experience system to upgrade the character for more health points and to prolong the rage meter. Kamikaze can also upgrade his top speed to go faster.

The experience felt appropriately gory and frustrating given its genre and namesake. When asked if any other platforms would receive the game, Brad said he will try to do an HD iPad build and maybe do a PC/Mac build. He felt his game was 70% done at time of PAX East. He’s aiming to add powerups.

Regarding Devolver’s involvement, its goal is to excite players for Serious Sam 3 that is coming out this summer. They contacted three indie devs on various platforms to use the Serious Sam license in the devs’ native styles. Mommy’s Best Games is working on Double D, a 2D shooter for XBLIG. A third game not shown off  was what Brad believed to be a turnbased strategy RPG game in pixel art by Vlambeer, makers of Super Crate Box.

When I asked Brad why he picked the headless guy, his answer was simple. He didn’t. “When Devolver contacted me, they pitched an idea of making a game with the headless kamikaze.” And so, Brad literally ran with the idea and ended up at PAX to show Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack off.

David Casavant and others from WoodenPixel were hanging in the Indie Alley at PAX East showing off Serentripity, a new iPhone digital hitchhiking game. David described the gameplay as follows: players create avatars called Trippies, give them destinations, and they hitchhike on other people’s virtual hooves to reach their destinations.

Players can see which Trippies are waiting to be picked up and which ones are in someone’s virtual car. Players can track the progress of Trippies and can see where they started, where they are, and where’ they’re going. Serentripity makes use of Google maps to show the Trippies’ travel routes.

From the player’s car view, players can favorite Trippies, pick them up, or drop them off. The Trippies also have log books; players can update their status with real-time photos taken and overlay the avatars to illustrate where they are at that time.

David said the game has two goals. “One goal is to create cool Trippies other people want to pick up. You want to give them a good destination. If you do a lot of travelling, your other goal is to actually let some Trippies hitchhike with you. If you are at an airport or some other travel spot, you open up the App and see which are heading in your direction. You can pick up the Trippies and get them partly or completely to their destination. Players gain points from this to pimp out your Trippies.”

The App is free and will release soon for iPhone and for Android in the later half of the year. David commented that his team has future plans for Trippies to be used in other Apps but had nothing concrete at PAX East to share.

Starting over is almost a universal given in the world of interactive entertainment. Regardless of if you’re required to start from square one or two steps from where you just finished, we’ve been able to reset games for almost as long as the medium has existed. One Day to Live changed things in the formula by giving players only a single chance (without messing with the cache) to solve the problem of a virus wiping out the human race. Now, with an innovative new platform game, Fresh Tone Games are asking just how far you can make it into their new game One Single Life without ending your career forever.

Think of it as a single moment in Canabalt with perma-death.

There is no reset button in One Single Life. Once you die you have a vestigial app haunting your iOS device reminding you of your success or more likely, your failure. The only help you have for success is the practice mode in which you can test out your abilities in a controlled environment. The leaderboards will then rank players based on how many, or how few, practice runs the player took before jumping into the main game.

Gameplay is simple. You’re standing on top of one skyscraper and need to leap onto the adjacent building. Once you tap “go,” your character accelerates at a constant speed. Another tap will launch the character into the air and towards the next building. Screw up and it all ends. There are currently 20 levels to get through to finish the game.

While the ramifications haven’t all been worked out yet, Fresh Tone Games is taking a gamble on a unique product. People waste dollars and cents on things every day, so like a scratch lottery ticket, why not take a shot at their game? One Single Life will be available in the coming weeks at the price point of $2.

This space is usually used to describe the game’s story or some other kind of preamble. With Chaotic Box’s Silverfish, gamers are given a raw, unadulterated, and intense arcade experience after only seconds of reading about each mode’s particular rules. Silverfish is a fast-paced game of kill or be killed. The polished product is evident in the game trailer. The in-game music is as awesome as the trailer’s tunes, as well.

GAMEPLAY

The silverfish moves continuously in a locked arena. Players turn the character by flicking anywhere on the screen up, down, left, or right. The controls take some getting used to. To ease this, the option menu has a flick threshold meter to configure depending on how responsive the players want it. A two-finger tap uses the bomb power up. The entire sprite of the silverfish is not vulnerable; the developer thankfully shows the hit box of the silverfish in the game rules.

Silverfish offers four different modes of arcade play. In all modes, bonus lives and bombs are awarded at 100,000 points and then at 10 times the previous bonus score.  A large fiery ball called a power pod destroys enemies in its blast radius, and tiny green specs called protons scatter from blasting enemies. The protons increase the score multiplier. There are nine different enemies with different patterns and attributes to thwart the silverfish, providing a stimulating, evolving challenge. Part of its great strategy building is the inclusion of red drop spots to know where the next wave of enemies will appear, furthering the “never a dull moment” experience.

In Onslaught mode, players start with four lives and three bombs. Hitting an enemy results in a lost life, and game over results with all lives lost. In Reaper mode, players start with 1 life at 50% Pow and three time shocks (bomb substitutes to slow down enemies).  The power pod also recharges POW. Once at MAX POW, players become invulnerable and can eat enemies (Pac-Man goodness) to earn a bonus multiplier. The game ends when POW reaches 0%.

In Haste mode, players start with 1 life at full POW and 3 vigor power ups. This mode is very invigorating, as the POW empties quickly, and players must hastily rush around to recharge POW by bursting the power pod. Vigor acts as a last-ditch effort to revive the silverfish. If the POW gets too low, activating vigor releases a blast radius and gives the silverfish back some POW. In a clever mode of keep away called Scavenger, the enemies seem to avoid the player, as if knowing their protons are now the key to restoring the silverfish’s POW.

Each mode requires its own strategy, so it’s like four apps in one.  Each mode feels fresh and fun. Even without the game’s included Game Center Leaderboards, achievements, or a personal best score, the adrenaline built up from each game mode creates an addiction to keep the high going for one more round.

STYLE & SOUND

Each mode has its own bass blasting techno like beat, maintaining the adrenaline rush of the gameplay. The mode select audio creates an outer space, ominous ambiance. The sound effects are at times minor but are there. The only effect that could use some tweaking is the death of the silverfish. It doesn’t feel strong enough, given the game’s audio-visual climactic build up. That’s all I could find wrong with the sound design. Overall, it’s appropriately intense. The sprites are gorgeous and glowing, and the backgrounds are brooding and non-intrusive. This is one sleek arcade package.

EVERYTHING ELSE

The game is available for iPhone 3G and above and iPad. The newer models reportedly provide awesome Retina Display graphics. The audio, visual, and thrilling arcade gameplay package make it worth the $1.99 investment, provided players can get used to the unique flicking control. Therefore, gamers should probably try the free version for at least 5-10 minutes to fiddle with the flicking options before deciding.

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