Too many games: Roundup November 09
Published: November 23, 2009
There are simply too many games released to be able to review them all. To help you find the games you want to play we have chosen to make a roundup of 16 games. If you have questions about any of the games or want us to make a full review on any of them, then please leave a comment below.
Minima $0.99
Version 1.1
Seller: Alexandre Minard
Minima has really cool presentation with lots of flashing colour, and pounding techno music. You control a small dot at the bottom of the screen, and by touching the incoming dotted objects you change colour of your dot to match them. The object of the game is to survive by not clashing your dot into objects with the wrong colours. The four colours are yellow, pink, violet and white. Minima is controlled by touch. 10 levels and online leaderboards add gamelife. I think the game gets old quite quickly once I have seen the presentation, and tried playing for a couple of levels. There are some neat graphics, and known objects wizz by such as Space Invaders.
MinMe Free with in app purchase
Version 1.1
Seller: Chaim Gingold
MinMe is the second game by Chaim Gingold to hit the App Store, the first being Earth Dragon. MinMe is a simple puzzle game where you have to make sure all blocks are removed, and that the numbers on screen all equal zero. The game is completely controlled by touch. Apparently the game was made during a 1.5 day project, and by the limited graphics and sound I can understand that. The game comes with 15 quite easy levels, and you can buy an additional level pack at $0.99 containing 45 extra levels. Still the puzzles are quite easy, and I ran through all 60 levels in 30 minutes on my first attempts. MinMe has the kind of addictive pull that made me finish them all, and now I want more levels damnit. I’ll pay, please?
A new model of the universe $0.99
Version 1.0
Seller: Peter Worth
This is a really strange “game” where you get to tilt your iPhone to get the colour you affect to match the colour of the border. It is really hard to get the hang of, and you can also drag across the screen by touch to set gradients. A timer counts down, and you are scored based on how closely your colour matches the one of the game. There are global leaderboards for this really odd experience. I found it really hard to get into, and as you have to tilt like crazy it is not really suitable for all occasions. The sound changes depending on the hue you create, making it quite appealing as a relaxation game. I think those with an interest in finding something totally unique to play will enjoy A new model of the universe.
Math Monte $0.99
Version 1.0
Seller: Racjin Co Ltd
Math Monte is a really strange name for this game as it is not a mathematical puzzle but rather a matching slider puzzle. You create larger panels with the numbers by sliding horizontally and vertically. Once you tap one of the larger panels you gain points depending on how many large panels, and the number on them. A timer counts down, and you have to reach the target score before it runs out to progress to the next level. I did not find Math Monte to have that addictive flair needed to succeed in the casual number matching genre. The graphics are bright, and sounds are ok but nothing about Math Monte makes it stand out. And the forgettable name does not help either.
Ten Squared $0.99
Version 1.1.1
Ten Squared Lite
Seller: Dot Next snc
Some games feel like a chore to play, and sadly Ten Squared is one of them. The aim of the game is to fill a grid with numbers. There are two different ways to do this, either bridge or knight. In bridge you have to fill in a number two squares away from the last number. In knight all numbers move just like the knight in chess. I am really bad at this game, and everything about it makes me want to give up from the start. The notepad layout has been done so many times before, and there is a general lack of life to the game. Music is ok, and you can play your own playlists. The game is OpenFeint enabled letting you compete with other players. Try the lite version to see if you get just as bored as me. Or perhaps it is just me being stupid.
Blockee $2.99
Version 1.1
Blockee Lite
Seller: Rob Gibson
Blockee is a cute little puzzler where you have to match up the same coloured Blockees within a set number of moves. You swipe in the direction you want to move the blockees, and they all move at the same time. The graphics are cute, albeit a bit simple. Blockee has no music but quite good sound effects with the blockees chirping away. You can play your own music, and keep the sound effects. Blockee comes with 70 levels of increasing difficulty. Some aspects feel a bit unpolished, as for example the visible status bar, and the OS looking level selection. You get a fair amount of gamelife out of the game, but I still find it a bit expensive given the lack of polish. Try the lite version to see if you enjoy some Blockee.
Dice Pile $0.99
Version 1.0.0
Seller: Evolve.Company
One thing I can’t understand is when developers send their games out into the wild and dangerous App Store without proper translation. Dice Pile is a Japanese game, and the translation to English is really poor. It can on the other hand be quite hilarious, and I have spent some time giggling at the tutorial. Still I think it is strange to spend so much time creating a nice game just to shoddy it down by not bringing a translator to the team. Dice Pile is dice flinging game with two game modes. In score mode you get 18 dice to throw at the target area, and in chain mode you have 60 seconds to throw as many combos as you possibly can. Swiping to fling the dice controls the game, and it works really well. Presentation is minimal, and I really enjoy having a white background and a bunch of dice thrown about. I hope the developers take some time translating the game properly as it is a worthwhile game with online leaderboards to make an impact upon.
Battletaire Pro $1.99
Version 1.03
Battletaire Pro Lite
Seller: Desired Logic
Battletaire Pro is a game about blowing ships into smithereens. It is by no means an easy task as the ships and submarines are all hidden. Using clues like in Picross you have to pinpoint their location using logic. Battletaire Pro is a hard game to get into, as the tutorial is a bit weak. Once you do get into it you have got loads of content, and the setting makes it more exciting than for example suduko. Each level contains 10 enemy ships, and you can mark fire locations or water by touching the squares. The presentation is quite good with a definite war room feel to the interface. The music on the other hand tend to get on my nerves quite quickly. Try the lite version if you look for some challenging Battleships mashed with Picross gaming. OpenFeint achievements and an advanced saving system further increases the gamelife of Battletaire Pro.
Eden $2.99
Version 1.0
Seller: William Sjahrial
Eden is a puzzle game that really demands you to start using your brain for other things than just supporting your head from caving in. You are Eden, and you have to return all the lost fruit to the garden cared for by your boss. Of course your boss is God, and the garden is the legendary Garden of Eden. Sadly this doesn’t mean that you can go medieval on the puzzles or enemies but rather you have to use a pacifist approach. There is three control methods available: swipe, buttons and tilt. It is of course easier to use any of the two touch options when it comes to crowded areas, but for actually solving puzzles I much prefer to rotate my entire iPhone using tilt. Eden can only move in four directions, and any obstacle will block her path. To complete a level you have to first collect all fruit, and then exit through a portal. There are a couple of these games on the App Store already such as Mouse About for example. What Eden adds is the use of deadly traps, and enemies that terrorize your peaceful fruit. It is also highly polished with great presentation, and ok audio. You can play your own music as well. The only flaw so far is that I can’t turn off vibration that occurs when Eden picks up fruits, and enter portals. With 40 levels ranging from medium to hard as nails gamelife is vast. Hopefully a lite version comes along to let more players experience Eden. I have yet to meet the boss, hopefully he or she is cool.
EXtreme Puzzle Mania: Rock Paper Scissors $1.99
Version 1.0
Seller: EXintricity LLC
Some games really suffer from bad naming, and boy is this one of the worst examples ever. Nothing about the name stands out, and as all the words in the name are used so frequently on the App Store it is hard to find it even when knowing what I look for. EXtreme Puzzle Mania: Rock Paper Scissors is a combination of Tetris and Rock Paper Scissors. Combination of blocks fall from the top of the screen, and you can rotate them using the two buttons to the right of the game area. Swiping down on the blocks make them fall faster. What sets the game apart from Tetris is that no matter how many Scissor you group together they don’t disappear until you hit them with a Rock. This gives the game loads of possibilities to create large chains, which I really enjoy in any match 3 puzzler. EXtreme Puzzle Mania: Rock Paper Scissors is not a match 3 puzzler but it retains all the addictive flair of games such as Bejewed 2. Presentation is solid but nothing fanzy, sound effects are powerful but sparse. There is no music but you can play your own alongside the sound effects. I have not tried the two players over Blutooth yet, but as you can affect the other players game I think it sounds like a fun thing to try. You can shake your iPhone to set of Totem Bombs whenever you have earned one. The game tracks all your scores, and with 2 levels of difficulty in single player you can have fun for quite a while with EXtreme Puzzle Mania: Rock Paper Scissors. If you can only remember the name of it…
VernX $0.99
Version 1.0
Seller: Vladimir Vernacki
VernX is a obstacle course for particles, and you help them run it. The game is fully accelerometer controlled, and it feels responsive as you direct particles through mazes. Each level has 50 particles you have to guide to the end. As you progress there are obstacles, and new elements added. VernX has two game modes: sandbox and challenge. Sandbox lets you use VernX as a relaxation tool, and has no goals to it. The challenge mode forces you to complete the level bringin all level particles to the end of the level. There are 45 levels, and the developer promises even more to come. The presentation is minimal with really cool particle movement. No music, but ok sound effects. I tend to get frustrated at these types of games when a particle gets stuck, and I have to go back for it. If you enjoy labyrinth games, and don’t mind using tilt to control at all times I can really recommend VernX.
Osprey 2210 $0.99
Version 0.1
Seller: Lloyd Walker
Osprey 2210 is a 3d flight puzzle game set in a strange future. You control your yellow Osprey by tilt, and it feels quite responsive and accurate. Other than that there is not much to say about Osprey 2210 as I haven’t been able to progress past the first levels due to there being no save game or resume function. An adventure game lacking even a menu feels wrong. Each time I have started the game I get thrown right back into the tutorial at the first level. No menu also means I can’t turn off the quite commonly used vibration. I can’t recommend Osprey 2210 to anyone in it’s current state. Sad as it looks quite nice, and controls well.
Draw ‘n’ Go $0.99
Version 2.0
Draw ‘n’ Go Lite
Seller: Demis Mezirov
Cute graphics, and simple touch controls are the only things I like about this game. First time I played it I didn’t even manage to complete the first level because there is no tutorial or any indication what the game is about. An orb from outer space has to jump into barrels of goo. You draw a path, and hope that the orb bounces into the barrel at the end of the level. It is all very random as the game has space physics according to the App Store page. I rather think they botched the physics, and had to come up with another name for it. I found the game tedious, and not worth playing. It comes with loads of levels spread over five worlds. Online leaderboards for those who think this is a fun game, I don’t. If you like stale games where everything feels slightly off I can recommend Draw ‘n’ Go.
Emergency City $0.99
Version 1.0
Seller: LightFoot Games Ltd
Well this is a city with some problems, and you have to help them. You are appointed head of all emergency services in the city. Ambulances have to respond to virus outbreaks, police to shootouts, and the fire department has to put out burning buildings. You get an indication that an emergency has arisen by a circle that you have to pan to across the city. Depending on the colour of the circle you have to find, and despatch the correct emergency vehicle to the scene. The circle slowly fills, and when full you are fired. That means that there are civilian casualties, and that is not ok. Perhaps these civilians deserve it though, as they tend to create these situations themselves. The presentation is good with a high cuteness factor. Sound is ok with ambient city sounds, and sirens when needed. Music is quite annoying, and I have yet to find a menu to adjust anything at all in the game. With only one city, and having to restart from the beginning when you get game over Emergency City gets old quickly. It does not have the addictive pull of line drawing games such as Flight Control and Harbour Master. I actually got tired of it after one go, and as there is nothing to unlock or achieve I will not play it again.
Attack Force $2.99
Version 1.01
Attack Force Lite
Seller: Wretched Games
Attack Force is a cartoony retro styled gallery shooter where you have to protect your civilian friends. They walk along while eagles dive at them, soldiers shoot at them and thugs try to stab them. There are two control methods available, and I prefer the tap to shoot option. The tilt controls are always too slow in my opinion. Manual reload is a pain in the behind, and I understand that without it the game would be too easy. Often I miss the dragging motion needed to reload, and I have to see how my busty cheerleader gets stabbed to death. Once you complete a level you can upgrade your weapons, or more accurate the weapons you pick up on upcoming levels. The basic handgun is the standard weapon, and I would have liked to be able to use the sniper rifle as my standard but I can’t. It is also annoying that you can’t choose which weapon to use. If you have a machine gun, and accidentally pick up a shotgun you automatically switch to the shotgun. The game comes with two different levels of difficulty, and online scoring through OpenFeint. I found it fun to play, and really enjoyed the retro music and hilarious animations. It does get old quickly though, and after playing through it twice I feel like I am done with it. Still I think the game is worth getting if you are into gallery shooters, and love the graphics of Metal Slug. Try the lite to get a sample of the first level. A gameplay trailer can be found in Nigel’s preview here.
Kamikaze Race $0.99
Version 1.0
Seller: Orb Games Limited
Kamikaze Race is a sort of Canabalt but on the road. You have to go for as far as possible without crashing, and once you do you get a score. With only two buttons you control your ever-increasing speeding car across lanes to avoid ramming cars in the same direction. Your car can take some beating when you touch another car, but ramming into a car or bus will stop you right away. The game feels really unpolished with murky dark graphics, and at times not the best flow when the screen is covered in traffic. It is still easy to see other cars, and only the black cars are really hard to distinguish. At times you go under other roads, and have to plan ahead not to get caught between cars. There is no brake in Kamikaze Race. The music is ok techno music that adds to the frantic pace of the gameplay. The engine sounds are ok, albeit I would like to have them both louder and more powerful. Local and global high scores, achievements and unlockable cars all cater for good gamelife. I am having quite a lot of fun with Kamikaze Race, and can recommend it to anyone in for a quick game of reckless driving.
Let me know what you think of these kind of roundups as well.
Review disclosure: Any games reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note: the resulting review score is never impeded by this fact, all opinions are that of the TouchGen reviewer and not the developer. This is in keeping with our O.A.T.S oath. Read more about O.A.T.S here
2 Comments on "Too many games: Roundup November 09"
Daniel Wood on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 7:46 pm
“Some aspects feel a bit unpolished, as for example the visible status bar”
I thought your comment about the Blockee status bar was a bit daft. I’d prefer if more games kept the status bar visible. That way I can tell how long I’ve been playing games on the toilet and when I should be heading back to work.
legend.inc on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 8:17 am
i like it better if the status bar is only shown in the pause screen.