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Daily iPad App: Trenches 2
Thunder Game Works' Trenches was quite the hit on the iPhone last year, combining a cartoony World War 2 setting with some solid real-time strategy combat and quite a few innovative game features. The game also spawned a few spinoffs, and was popular enough for EA to publish the sequel. There are some new features here. There are new unit types such as Cavalry and Snipers to hire and deploy for your armies, and the single-player campaign is significantly more fleshed-out, with an actual campaign to run, complete with choices to make about where and when to attack. But more or less, the action is pretty much the same as the first title, with you recruiting troops by earning points and then moving them around the battlefield in real-time. If you liked Trenches, you'll probably like this, and if you didn't like Trenches for whatever reason (the troops can sometimes be a little hard to control, and the strategy isn't always super deep), this probably won't win you over. In fact, the differences might send you back to the original game. EA has implemented a "perk points" system that works like a freemium title, where you can buy more for convenience, or sign up on EA's Origin game login service for extra points. Some players might not appreciate that. The iTunes reviews also say there are some issues with crashing, though I never had any on my iPad 2. That might be more of an issue on older devices. All in all, Trenches 2 is more iterative than innovative. It features much of the same gameplay of the old game, though there is some new wrapping around that fun. If you liked the old title, you'll probably enjoy this one a lot, and at a price of 99 cents on both the iPhone and the iPad right now, Trenches 2 is worth a try if the idea of a real-time strategy battle appeals.
TUAW's Daily App: Stenches
We talked to Thunder Game Works way back at this year's WWDC, and they mentioned that they were working on a zombie version of their popular Trenches war strategy game for the iPhone. And it's now out on the App Store. Stenches is much like Trenches in that you guide a group of World War I soldiers through the trenches, but it's unlike Trenches in that it's fully focused on killing zombies. There are over 200 different levels to fight through, special zombie bosses made just for the game, an unlimited mode to fight on through, and everything else you may have played in Trenches. If you didn't play Trenches, you might want to give it a try anyway -- it's a unique little twist on real-time strategy that features some real depth in the action gameplay as well as a grim sense of humor and style. Stenches is only US$1.99, and for that price, you get both the game and future updates, which will include more game modes, co-op and competitive play, and some more zombie bosses to tangle with. The current game also has Game Center integration, so your friends can check your progress on achievements as well. Great game -- definitely check it out.
WWDC 2010: In the Trenches with Thunder Game Works
Thunder Game Works kindly came by to meet up with us this week at WWDC, and Michael Taylor and Kris Jones of the company behind the popular Trenches iPhone game. They shared some insight about what they saw this week, offered us a chance to see concepts of the iPad version and check out a brand new title they're working on. What we saw was pretty impressive -- Trenches is a well-polished take on the castle assault genre, combining fun WWII-style troops and weapons with real-time line-drawing strategy. And Thunder is not only learning as they go, but seems very committed to taking their successful title and turning it into a full-fledged franchise on Apple's iDevices. The main game is on sale right now for 99 cents, and there's a free version (with some "training" features) also available. Between the two versions, the company has seen over 1.5 million installs of the game. Still, when the iPad came along, they had to think hard about whether or not they wanted to bring the game over. "We were very cagey about whether or not we wanted to go to the iPad," Taylor told me.
