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iPhone developer para9′s muBlip ($1.99) was a standout title in this year’s IGF Mobile competition, earning a finalist spot in the Audio Achievement category. The finished product is now available for download from the App Store.

muBlip is a rhythm-based puzzler in which players must match touch-based cues to the beat of a background music track. muBlip demonstrates a series of taps, drags, and holds at the beginning of each segment, and players must duplicate the cues in sequence, all while maintaining a steady rhythm.

muBlip’s excellent ambient music complements the simple geometric visuals, and the result is a unique and enthralling experience. Give it a shot, why don’t you? A brief gameplay video is below.

Tags: igf mobile, mublip, Music, Puzzle, rhythm

[Continuing a series of interviews with 2010 IGF Mobile finalists, FingerGaming speaks to Jetro Lauha and Jani Kahrama of developer Secret Exit, whose iPhone game Stair Dismount is competing in the Best Mobile game category, having won the IGF Mobile award for Technical Achievement.]

Before they released Zen Bound, the nearly indescribable puzzle game which remains one of the iPhone’s killer apps, Finnish studio Secret Exit worked on a series of physics centric, stair tumbling computer freeware games in Porrasturvat, or Stair Dismount (“the ultimate stairflight simulator”), and sequel Truck Dismount.

Seeing the player push a hapless Kubrick-alike, Mr. Dismount, down a flight of stairs in order to “inflict massive damage to every weak point!”, the game has more in common with their aforementioned iPhone debut than meets the eye, most noticeably being another technical marvel, the recent iPhone version earning the IGF Mobile Technical Achievement award.

Taking time out from working on their sequel to Zen Bound (“… we’ve been totally tunnel-visioned with getting Zen Bound 2 ready”) Stair Dismount mastermind Jetro Lauha and cohort Jani Kahrama took time out of their busy schedule to speak to FingerGaming about the development of their IGF Mobile finalist sequel, a whole eight years after it first saw release on the PC.

What is Secret Exit’s background in game development?

Jetro Lauha: We have strong background with practically all flavors of mobile games development, from previous companies our people have worked in. Still, all of our coders share interest for various platforms so we do have some insight about desktop and console platforms as well.

Can you tell us what development tools your team used to create Stair Dismount?

JL: We leveraged many open source libraries such as Irrlicht and ODE. The levels are authored with irrEdit accompanied by our own custom-developed plugin and postprocessing tools. The workflow could always be better, but in the end the choices we made have still saved us a huge amount of time. Without getting OpenGL ES port of Irrlicht from the community it could be that we’d never even have made the iPhone version.

How long was the iPhone version in development?

JL: About 3 months in full production leading to first release version. But before that there was many shorter periods of pre-production work which is harder to quantify, especially because the iPhone version codebase was directly based on earlier prototype running on desktop.

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Tags: igf mobile, secret exit, star dismount, zen bound

[In the second in a series of Road to the IGF Mobile interviews with 2010 Independent Games Festival Mobile finalists, FingerGaming speaks to lilt line developer Gordon Midwood, whose game is currently competing in the Best Mobile game category, having won the IGF Mobile award for Audio Achievement.]

Gordon Midwood, developer of “retro rhythm racing beat ‘em up action game with a dubstep flavour” lilt line, has come a long way since FingerGaming spoke to him nearly a year ago. Initially quite cynical about how his rather unique game would perform buried under a storefront filled with tower defense games and… iPhone butts, lilt line has recently seen great success, winning the IGF Mobile Audio Achievement.

Heading into the festival, FingerGaming had the chance to speak to a cheeky Midwood about the evolution of lilt line and his recent good fortunes.

What is your background in game development?

I have more of a background in web games than in traditional development. Online is definitely where I cut my teeth initially. As soon as I stopped trying to eat the cables that soon cleared up though.

I did once have a short stint at Electronic Arts doing the frontend for a well-known racing franchise. The working conditions were a little too crazy for my liking, although to be fair to EA they did tell me in the interview that I would be getting the full Burnout experience.

Independent game development definitely suits me best though, freed from commercial reality and the oppressive opinions of co-workers!

Can you tell us what development tools you used to create lilt line?

Sure, well the iPhone SDK for all the coding obviously, and a level editor in Flash to make things easier there. Marking off beat points in the audio was done using a bit of Mac software called Amadeus. Oh, and I did a fair bit of the coding on a little Dell Mini9 hackintosh on the train on the way to work.

How long was the game in development?

About 5 months in total. To be honest I was unfamiliar with Objective-C and all the iPhone stuff beforehand and it was all done in evenings and weekends. So it would have been a lot quicker if I was on it full time and actually knew what I was doing.

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Tags: different cloth, gordon midwood, igf mobile, interview, lilt line

[In the first in a series of  Road to the IGF Mobile interviews with 2010 Independent Games Festival Mobile finalists, FingerGaming speaks to Powerhead Games CEO Jason Schreiber, whose DSiWare game Glow Artisan is a finalist in the Best Mobile Game category after having won the award for Best Mobile Game Design.]

Described as another “secretly rad” DSiWare game by GameSetWatch’s Eric Caoili, Glow Artisan could have remained just that, a footnote on Nintendo’s weekly “downloadables” PR sheet, seeing only a single, admittedly fantastic review in its first week of release.

However, a few months on and developer Powerhead Games’ debut original title has won the IGF’s Best Mobile Game Design award, being the only game on a traditional gaming handheld up for the grand prize in the catergory of Best Mobile Game.

FingerGaming had the chance talk with Powerhead Games head Jason Schreiber leading up to the IGF about his company’s first non-licensed game, the development of such a unique and feature-rich puzzle game and the indie scene in general.

What is Powerhead Games’ background in game development?

We recently celebrated Powerhead Games’ tenth anniversary as an independent game developer. Our first game was for the original Nintendo Game Boy. We’ve pretty much been a Nintendo handheld developer ever since, working on many different types of “for hire” (other company’s IP) games. Glow Artisan is Powerhead’s first original IP and our first self-published game.

Can you tell us what development tools your team used to create Glow Artisan?

We use 3D Studio, Photoshop MediaWiki, SVN, Lua, Bugzilla and Notepad. We also use a bunch of internal tools and technology which we take great pride in. For example, our Font Text Writer tool is not just a means to get text into the Nintendo DS, but it’s also an indication of our love of silly acronyms. The most important tool though, is the Glow Puzzle Maker, which is included in the game!

How long was the game in development?

The first prototype of Glow Artisan was built about two years ago.  Several of the core features in the finished game were in place at week one: using one screen as a blueprint and the other as a canvas, drawing from the edges (“emitters”), and erasing/cutting lines.

That first prototype showed potential, but it was a far cry from where we wound up. Glow Artisan became a labor of love at Powerhead — nearly everyone here had a hand, at least some part, to move development forward. When the Nintendo DSi was announced, everything fell into place. We knew two of the DSi’s features, the camera and the shop, would be perfect for Glow Artisan.

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Tags: dsiware, glow artisan, igf mobile, powerhead games

The 2010 Independent Games Festival Mobile, an event that celebrates excellence in games for Apple’s iPhone, other cellphone and smartphone operating systems (OS), Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable, and other handheld devices, has named the finalists for its third annual competition, with a host of outstanding portable titles showcased this year.

This year’s IGF Mobile marks a record number of entries with 170 titles submitted for the competition, up nearly 65 percent from last year’s total, which itself was double over the previous year. The finalists for IGF Mobile will compete for $5,000 in prizes, including specialized awards for art, design, audio, technical prowess, and iPhone game creation, as well as the IGF Mobile Best Game award.

Some of the notable titles nominated for this year’s IGF Mobile Awards include iPhone games such as double nominee, Tiger Style’s Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor, downloadable games for Nintendo’s DSi including Powerhead Games’ Glow Artisan, and promising titles from a host of worldwide indie developers, from England’s Studio FungFung through Finland’s Secret Exit and beyond.

This year, overall winners in each category will be announced on Feb. 8, 2010, with the category winners receiving $500 in prizes, a place as an overall IGF Mobile Best Game finalist, and the opportunity to showcase their mobile game at the IGF Pavilion during Game Developers Conference 2010 in San Francisco this March.

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Tags: game developers conference, gdc 2010, igf mobile, independent games festival mobile, Industry News

IGF Mobile organizers have revealed record entries for the third annual handheld indie game contest, with 172 games entered in total, a 65% increase on last year’s competition.

This follows a similarly all-time high number of submissions for IGF’s Main and Student competitions, and means over 650 entries in total for the leading independent game competition.

This year’s competition — the sister event to the main Independent Games Festival — is showcasing independently-developed handheld games for all mobile devices including Apple’s iPhone, other cellphone and smartphone OSes, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and other handheld devices.

The full list of 172 entries for 2010′s IGF Mobile, including a number of interesting and previously unannounced titles, is now available to view on the competition’s official website.

Previous successes for IGF games include Apple’s App Store creating a special Store section just to highlight the IGF-nominated iPhone games from 2009′s IGF Mobile competition, which included acclaimed titles such as Fieldrunners, Real Racing, Zen Bound and Galcon. In addition, last year’s IGF Mobile ‘Next Great Mobile Game’ winner Reflection has been signed by Konami for Nintendo DSi.

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Tags: game developers conference, igf, igf mobile

Following record entries for IGF’s Main and Student competition, IGF Mobile organizers are reminding of a December 1st deadline for the third annual festival honoring handheld indie games.

This year’s competition — the sister event to the main Independent Games Festival — will again feature independently-developed handheld games for all mobile devices including Apple’s iPhone, other cellphone and smartphone OSes, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and other handheld devices.

Now in its third year, IGF Mobile (part of Think Services, as is this website) has blossomed into a major showcase of the handheld form. Apple’s App Store created a special Store section just to highlight the IGF-nominated iPhone games from 2009′s IGF Mobile competition, which included acclaimed titles such as Fieldrunners, Real Racing, Zen Bound and Galcon.

In addition, last year’s IGF Mobile ‘Next Great Mobile Game’ winner Reflection has been signed by Konami for Nintendo DSi.

The overall IGF Mobile winner will be revealed at the IGF Awards Ceremony, which precedes the Game Developers Choice Awards on March 11th, 2010. (Both the IGF Awards Ceremony and the Game Developers Choice Awards are part of the 2010 Game Developers Conference, which takes place in San Francisco’s Moscone Center in March.)

IGF Mobile submissions are still being accepted at the competition’s official website through December 1, 2009; finalists will be announced in January 2010, and will each receive one pass to attend the 2010 Game Developers Conference. Finalists will compete for $5,000 in prizes, including notable awards for design, art, and technology innovation in mobile game development.

This year, winners in each category (with the exception of ‘Best Game’) will be announced before the show, on February 8th, 2010. Each category winner will receive $500 in spending money to come to the 2010 Game Developers Conference in March 2010 and showcase their mobile game, alongside their GDC pass.

The five category winners will exhibit their games in a special area of the main IGF Pavilion, the winners will then compete for the coveted IGF Mobile Best Game award, worth $2,500. The prize is presented on stage during the main Independent Games Festival Awards, preceding the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony on March 11th, 2010.

For a complete list of IGF Mobile 2010 information and to enter before the end of Tuesday, December 1st, please visit IGFMobile.com.

Tags: igf mobile, independent games festival mobile, Industry News, iPhone

[In this feature reprinted from FingerGaming sister site Gamasutra, Leigh Alexander reports the winners of the second annual Independent Games Festival Mobile, held yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California.]

The second annual Independent Games Festival mobile announced its winners yesterday, and Subatomic Studios’ tower defense title Fieldrunners took home the prize for best game.

iPhone and iPod Touch platforms dominated across all categories, although the festival invited entries for platforms including Nintendo DS, PSP and mobile handsets as well.

The winners share $30,000 in prizes across 7 categories, including Innovation in Mobile Game Design, Achievement in Art, Technical Achievement, Audio Achievement and Best Game overall. This year, two new categories were added: Best iPhone game and Next Great Mobile Game.

The Audio Achievement award was given to Secret Exit’s Zen Bound, which uses music and sound effects to build an aural atmosphere. “Traditionally mobile audio means that you have to work with a myriad of craptastic mini handsets,” said the designer as he received his prize. “All I had to do was make it work on headphones — so iPhone is kind of changing that.”

Firemint’s Real Racing, launching next month, took home the Technical Achievement award, while Subatomic Studios’ Fieldrunners took home a second prize with the Achievement in Art award. “It’s amazing to be at this forefront where gaming technology and hardware allows us to create these wonderful things that were only possible on high-end console systems,” said Subatomic Studios as they accepted their award.

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Tags: fieldrunners, firemint real racing, galcon, igf mobile, iPhone, winners, zen bound

The 2009 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Mobile has announced the finalists in its “Next Great Mobile Game” category. The finalist titles span multiple portable platforms, including mobile phones, the Nintendo DS, Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

The “Next Great Mobile Game” category highlights prototyped titles that offer truly unique and groundbreaking mobile gaming concepts. Finalists will present and demonstrate their concept and game during the IGF Mobile ceremony, to be held during the Game Developers Conference Mobile conference on March 24th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

This year’s “Next Great Mobile Game” finalists are:

- Depict (VillaVanilla) – iPhone
- FastFoot Challenge (Urban Team) – J2ME
- Picopoke (Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab) – Photo/Internet-capable Mobile Handsets
- Rhythm of War (SME Dynamic Systems Ltd) – Sony PSP
- Reflection (Team Reflection – University of Southern California) – Nintendo DS

The winning title will be chosen by audience vote during the IGF Mobile’s ceremony. Along with receiving $2,000 from IGF Mobile’s $30,000 prize pool, the “Next Great Mobile Game” will be given floor space in the IGF Mobile pavilion, in which its developers will showcase a playable demonstration of their title alongside finalists in the main IGF Mobile competition.

The “Next Great Mobile Game” prize will be presented by IGF Mobile Platinum and Founding Sponsor NVIDIA. The Game Developers conference is produced by Think Services, the organization behind Gamasutra and its affiliated websites.

Tags: gdc mobile 2009, igf mobile, Industry News, iPhone

The Independent Games Festival Mobile (IGF Mobile), an event that celebrates innovation in games for handheld devices, including mobile phones, DS, PSP, iPhone and iPod touch, has named the finalists for the second annual competition.

The number of entries more than doubled – to over 100 – compared to last year’s inaugural competition, bolstered by a strong showing from the emergent iPhone and iPod touch platform – so much so that a special ‘Best iPhone Game’ category has been designated for the titles which best use the unique possibilities of the device.

Winners of the 2009 IGF Mobile competition, who will get a share of $30,000 in prize money, will be announced at a special ceremony during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Mobile conference on March 24, and additionally honored during the main Independent Games Festival Awards on March 25, 2009.

Some of the leading finalists for this year’s competition include stylish iPhone cube movement puzzler Edge (3 nominations), the technologically cunning Wardive on Nintendo DS, which uses local WiFi hotspots to generate enemies (3 nominations), and elegant iPhone ‘tower defense’-style title Fieldrunners (3 nominations).

Games also nominated multiple times include Secret Exit’s touch-controlled iPhone rope wrapping game Zen Bound and iconic tilt-controlled iPhone puzzler Dizzy Bee, with a number of Flash Lite and Java cellphone games, including the innovative Cubic Republic, also finalists.

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Tags: igf mobile, Industry News