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3
Dec
08

Apple Releases Top Ten Lists, Promo Codes


With 2008 soon coming to a close, Apple has released top ten lists for the App Store’s most downloaded games and applications, free and paid, since the iPhone and iPod Touch store launched in July.

The most downloaded paid games from the App Store, in no particular order, follow:

Most downloaded free games from the App Store:

In news released alongside this announcement, Apple now allows developers to distribute up to 50 free copies of their iPhone applications and games with promotional codes. Presumably, studios will offer the codes to game reviewers and consumer sites/publications for previews. The 50 code limit will be reset after the release of a new version for an application or game.


11
Sep
08

Battle of the Wood Labyrinth Puzzle


This is a comparison of the classic puzzle game that involves a wooden maze, a steel ball, holes in the floor, and the destination you must reach without having the ball fall into a hole. These games test your patience and coordination.

We’ll be looking at three games, to see which is the best one to buy and play. All three games utilize the accelerometer within the iPhone and iPod Touch to allow you to tilt and guide the ball around.

The three games are:

Read the rest of this entry »


10
Sep
08

Skate on iPhone with Touchgrind


Illusion Labs, the developers of Labyrinth (read our review), showed off their new upcoming skating game, Touchgrind, where you perform tricks and flips using multitouch. More information from Illusion Labs:

Illusion Labs brings you the world’s first true multi-touch game for the iPhone. The board is controlled by using finger gestures similar to the legs and feet of a real skater.

The dynamic and innovative controls together with the game being built on a high quality physics engine gives the players a high degree of freedom to come up with their own tricks.

Watch the game in action below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nNz8qVFz-I


6
Sep
08

Labyrinth Updated, Bug Fixes


Short on the heels of a previous update that added sound to the game, is this new update at version 1.3.1 for Labyrinth ($6.99) that improves on a few things:

  • Sound bug fixes
  • Improved stability
  • Graphics performance optimization

Our review on Labyrinth can be found here.


30
Aug
08

Labyrinth Updated, Adds Sound


Illusion Labs has updated Labyrinth ($6.99) to version 1.3 to include new features, including the most requested one – sound effects. With the ability to download level packs quickly and easily, Labyrinth has stayed one of our favorite games on the iPhone; see our review on Labyrinth, which has been updated to reflect this update.

List of what this update brings:

  • Added sounds
  • Experimental vibration feature for when the ball falls in a hole
  • New icon
  • Bug fixes
  • All current level packs included, no download required

A gameplay video showing off the new updates is below:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbA60Cn_3Q


25
Aug
08

Labyrinth Update Sent to Apple


Swedish developer, Carl Loodberg of Illusion Labs, let me know that they have submitted an update for Labyrinth ($6.99) to Apple, and that it should show up soon in the App Store. The main attraction of the update is the added and improved sound, making the game sound more realistic. With the update, you can also delete level packs and calibrate the device for easier control of Labyrinth. See the video below for the new features, and to hear the sound:

You can find our review of Labyrinth here.


21
Aug
08

BloXoR


Watch gameplay video
Rating: ★★★½☆

BloXoR is a new kind of puzzle game that has you tilting your iPhone/iPod Touch to get the OXO blocks to line up exactly in that order, whether horizontal or vertical. It requires solid hand-eye coordination on your part, as it combines Labyrinth with a puzzle element on a 7×11 grid. As you tilt the device, every block on the board moves, so you have to use your surroundings and other puzzle pieces to help you complete each level.

As you start each level, of which there are 72 in total, you’ll be provided instructions necessary to advance past that level to the next. It’s easy to pick up the game and play; the learning curve is just right. However, the later stages can be very difficult, and depending on your mood, can either be delightfully frustrating or angrily frustrating. There are special “blox” to help you; there’s the bomb blox which blows up weak walls, the bridge blox which makes a bridge in any hole it falls in. There are junk blox which just gets in your way and challenges you to get around them, or you can get rid of them by letting them fall in holes. Holes also provide an additional hazard. If any essential blox falls in there, you have to start over. There will be levels will you’ll be doing this a lot.

The options provided are the ability to turn on and off sound, reset high score, and to select a level provided you already played it before. The score board tracks your total score overall, your score for each level, number of levels available to play, number of levels needing to be unlocked, total time played, and total amount of times you’ve played the game. There’s also an instruction page going over the basics of BloXoR.

Unfortunately, if you play a level again to beat your previous score, there’s no way of knowing if you beat your score or not unless you memorized beforehand the original score. This makes it nearly pointless to have individual level scores. A congratulatory message when beating a previous score would help.The developer corrected me, when you do beat a previous score, the text is dull blue, instead of the usual bright white. Definitely a better way should be made to make it clear that a previous score has been beaten.

Before each level starts, you have to align the device flat and hold it over a dot to get the level to start. This is a way to orient you before a level starts. You tilt the device up and down, left and right to move the pieces on the board. The control feels just right, not too sensitive but not too slow either. It does take a bit to get accustomed to working with squares, instead of a round ball like you would in Labyrinth.

The visuals are nice and polished, each blox are distinctive in appearance, and everything works well together. The animation is smooth as the pieces move around the board.

The sound is minimal, only taking place right when you complete a level and the 3 blox, OXO are aligned. That’s it. There’s no music, although the game encourages you to use your own music library while playing. If you are playing your own music library when starting the game, it will not fade it off.

BloXoR is an original puzzle game that is definitely challenging as you get further in the game. Some levels can just be boring, or just too difficult. The puzzle gamer that really enjoys a challenge will certainly enjoy BloXoR, especially considering it has 72 levels.


17
Aug
08

Tilt Me


Watch gameplay video
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Tilt Me is a simple version of Labyrinth, but with a twist. Instead of dodging holes to get to the end, you navigate the maze by tilting the balls around looking for the exit point. Then you have to get all the balls to sit on that exit for a couple of seconds to advance to the next round. This may sound simple, but it’s quite the challenge. You have to use the maze to position all the balls properly on all the exit points. For example, if you have 3 balls and find 3 exit points at various positions on the board, then you have to have 1 ball sit on each exit point and sit there for a couple of seconds to advance to the next level.

There’s no menu or anything in the game once you start playing; you just go directly to the game once you start it up. The settings are located in the Settings panel of your device, instead of in-game. In the settings, you have the option to allow holes in certain levels, choose from 1 to 3 balls, revert the original colors (the 1.1 update added new colors), turn on and off sound effects and landscape orientation, and the ability to skip levels. Unfortunately there’s no ability to pause, and with this kind of game, a pause is a must. There are no instructions, so those diving straight in might be too confused to want to continue.

I encountered a couple of bugs where the accelerometer was not detected and I had to restart the game. The other one was where the ball would get stuck on the wall and it’d only get unstuck with a vigorous shake. Another complaint is that when a ball does fall down a hole, there’s no way to advance to the next level, you have to quit the game and start it back up and hope you don’t fall in the hole again. This is a major oversight, and until it gets fixed, I don’t see too many people enjoying the game once they get to levels with the holes in them.

Control of the game is simple, you tilt your iPhone/iPod Touch to guide the balls through the maze. Originally you start with one ball, then two balls, and finally three balls. This way the learning curve is smoother and not as overwhelming getting you into the game with just three balls. Eventually you’ll reach levels where there are holes in the levels that you must avoid. This game really tests your hand-eye coordination skills.

Graphically it has a retro feel, but it’s crisp and smooth. There are different shapes on the floor of the maze, and as your balls roll over these shapes, they light up. When you do roll over an exit point, it’ll light up to let you know, but if you roll off of it, it’ll disappear. The use of a large variety of colors is a nice touch. The shadows around the wall, just like in Labyrinth, changes position based on how your device is tilted. Other than that, there’s not much to the game to really touch upon.

The sound is done in an interesting manner. As mentioned with the shapes on the floor above, in addition to lighting up they also emit a sound. To some people this may be annoying, which is why the settings to turn it off is a good idea. Personally I found it to be nice and complemented the gameplay nicely. When you roll over an exit, they emit a palpable sound so you don’t miss it. Another neat twist is the sound shifts based on the positions of your balls. There’s no music, and if you’re playing any from your own library, it’ll fade off as Tilt Me loads up. As simple as this game is, there’s no reason why it should fade off your music.

Tilt Me is a simple, easy to pick up game with a lot of challenge to it. There’s some frustration involved when you try to get 3 balls to stay on an exit point long enough to advance to the next level. However, there’s a sense of accomplishment when you do complete a level. Tilt Me needs a bit more polish and bug fixes before it really hits the nail on the head as a maze puzzle game to get.


31
Jul
08

Labyrinth


Watch gameplay video
Rating: ★★★★★

Version 1.3 Update: With the new features in this update, Labyrinth’s rating has changed from 4.5 to 5 stars to reflect the improvement. Labyrinth is a truly fantastic game on the iPhone that has a very solid feel, great graphics, and now realistic sound effects that completes the picture.

After trying the free demo version, which includes 10 easy levels, I was instantly sold on Labyrinth. Especially when I discovered that the full version can download level packs, and already has well over 500 different levels to play on. With more being added, Labyrinth will easily be a steady mainstay on my iPhone.

What makes this game so great is it’s responsive and intuitive controls. There’s very little learning curve, anyone can pick up the game and instantly know how to play it. While in a room waiting for the doctor to show up, I decided to fire this game up. When he walked in, he instantly wanted to try it out. Before he knew it, he had played through 7 levels and had a big grin on his face. He was on his 60′s and had no problem getting into the game. This is the appeal of Labyrinth, it’s the game to show off to family and friends to show them what iPhone and iPod Touch gaming is all about.

The graphics, while nothing spectacular, are crisp and convey a wooden maze, complete with shadows around the walls. The steel ball feels, looks, and acts like a steel ball would. With a recent update, animation was added for when the ball falls in a hole with an upcoming patch adding the related sound. There’s no music in-game, but you can use your own music library while playing the game.

Labyrinth, at this point, is in my top 5 most played games. It’s completely accessible, loads up quick, plays great, polished, and is a great game to show off with people around. Go ahead and try out the free version and see for yourself if you haven’t yet.