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Daily iPhone App: Wizardlings doesn't quite live up to its reputation
Wizardlings has quite the pedigree: Not only was it published by Square Enix (who are of course legendary for their JRPGs), but it was created by Liv Games, the great indie company behind the iOS hits Legendary Wars and Monster Wars. Unfortunately, Wizardlings is a pretty simple app designed for a very casual audience. You start off as a young wizard and make your way around a grid-based world, trying to complete quests and collect items as you go. And... that's pretty much it. There is some combat, as you'll find various creatures on the way, and there is a very light crafting mechanic requiring you to pick up elements and put them together into spells and treasure sets, but all of this is basically governed by just tapping on squares as you go. The whole affair isn't very deep, and as a result it's not very interesting. Still, Liv Games knows how to make a colorful title, and despite the game's simplicity, it can be addictive to tap square after square to see what you can find. As you can see in the video below, I can't help tapping even as I'm saying how boring it can be to just tap and tap again. But Wizardlings is a free download, so if you want to head out for a little mindless exploration, give it a try.
Daily iPad App: Monster Wars is a great addition to Legendary Wars series
I first saw Monster Wars a little while ago at Macworld as Liv Games was just publishing it, but the title has been out for a little while now and I've had a little longer to play with it. Monster Wars is not only another huge content pack for Legendary Wars, with tons of new stages, modes and units to play with, but it is a nice iteration on the series as a whole, with a lot of subtle but solid improvements to the gameplay. Unit animations are generally better across the board, and the controls work basically the same. I still sometimes have trouble keeping track of which heroes I'm controlling and which lanes they are supposed to be in. The UI is much improved. The pacing of the game shows that Liv Games has learned quite a bit about how to move players from level to level. The new modes add quite a bit to the game, which was likely a tough task considering how much variety was already there. If you loved Legendary Wars, you've probably already grabbed this one. But even if you've never heard of Legendary Wars, Monster Wars is a steal at 99 cents. New players might be slightly overwhelmed by what's going on in the new title, but Liv Games has made two really spectacular titles here.They really shouldn't be missed, especially on the iPad.
Liv Games releases Monster Wars on iOS at Macworld | iWorld 2012
I first met Liv Games' Orian Livnat at last year's Macworld, where he showed me a wild game called Legendary Wars that mashed up a number of different genres and ideas in a mix created by Livnat and his family and friends. At the time I thought the game was a really interesting idea, but even I didn't expect the kind of success Liv Games has seen. A year later, the company had multiple booths in the mobile app showcase section at Macworld | iWorld 2012. Even while also running the show during the day, the team was hard at work on releasing the followup to Legendary Wars, Monster Wars. That game is out now, and as you might imagine from the title, it follows the other side of the story, that of the monsters from the original game. Just like Legendary Wars, the graphics are colorful and the animations are very well done. Livnat and his crew have really blown what was already a very broad idea out even further, adding more unit types, more abilities, more game modes to play around with, and lots more upgrades and add-ons to earn throughout the longer campaign. Fans will really love spotting all of the updates here; there are lots more "pets" running around during batle, for one thing, which Livnat says players really enjoyed in the first game. The option to actually control creatures like trolls, liches, and undead knights is intriging as well. Fans of the first game should definitely pick up Monster Wars, and at the launch price of just 99 cents, this much content is hard for anyone to turn down. While Monster Wars is only Liv Games' second title, Livnat himself has quite a few projects underway, both as partnerships with other companies and as projects he's working on with friends. It sounds like he and his team are pretty run off their feet (he happily showed me pictures of the crew working late during Macworld to submit Monster Wars to the App Store), but he also says he's not interested in giving up the company to an acquisition. Legendary Wars did bring offers, says Livnat, but for now, it sounds like he's more interested in making games that people are really enjoying. Monster Wars has only been on the App Store for a little while, and already the reviews are filling up with lots of satisfied players. Liv Games seems to be doing quite well on all of its development so far, and it'll be interesting to see what Livnat and his burgeoning studio comes up with next.
TUAW's Daily App: Legendary Wars
I got to see Legendary Wars at Macworld last week, and it's a fun title. It has a good mix of many different game genres and a lot of solid game content to explore. At its core, Legendary Wars is a fantasy-based real-time strategy game, but there's a Plants vs. Zombies feel to it as you summon various fantasy creatures and send them off to fight against the bad guys. That's the core gameplay, but there are lots and lots of different variants on it, from a tower defense spin-off to some more action-based levels, and even a Canabalt-style running level. This is developer Orian Livnat's first game; he and his family and friends are responsible for the Liv Games company. Legendary Wars shows that he and his fellow developers took a lot of pride in what they did, because the title is bursting with polish and care. With no shortage of things to do and a lot of fun to be had through a few different game modes (and an update with Game Center integration on the way), Legendary Wars is an excellent title on the iPhone for US$2.99.
