dont look back
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If you haven't played Don't Look Back, today's the day to change that
Don't Look Back is a very brief, very challenging game made by Terry Cavanagh, who is better known for popular titles Super Hexagon and VVVVVV. The game is free on the App Store, and it can be beaten in a lunch break. It also happens to be one of the most thought-provoking experiences you can have on your iPhone or iPad. The game starts out with you, a nameless, faceless character standing before a grave. Nothing about the story is explained for the entirety of the game, but you're immediately able to move forward and explore. You soon find a gun, as well as a variety of fast-moving enemies. You'll shoot the various living threats -- which include snakes, bats, and spiders -- and avoid traps to survive as you push forward for seemingly no reason. The entire adventure is so short that I really don't want to spoil the mid-game twist for you, but suffice it to say that the reason for the game's name becomes immediately apparent once you've crossed the halfway point. The game ends sooner than you expect, which ends up leaving you with more questions than answers, and you're left to draw your own conclusions about who you are, and who it was that lies below that mysterious gravestone. Don't Look Back has been available on the App Store for over a year, but it's never really received the recognition that it deserves. It's totally free, there's no in-app purchases, no achievements, and only the hollow shell of a plot, but it remains one of finest examples of experimental game design on the App Store. Play it.
Cavanagh's Don't Look Back now on iOS & Android, VVVVVV may follow
Terry Cavanagh is considering bringing VVVVVV to iOS and Android, after releasing his short 2009 game Don't Look Back for free on the App Store and Google Play today. The Super Hexagon creator posted on his blog revealing he saw the Don't Look Back port as a "trial run" for VVVVVV. While Cavanagh isn't promising an iOS and Android port, it's certainly a distinct possibility. Although Cavanagh tells Joystiq "it may not happen this year." So don't go pinning all your hopes on finding the iPad version of VVVVVV under your Christmas tree (especially since it'll be digital and your tree's probably physical).Cavanagh's chiptune-stuffed 2D platformer arrived on PC back in 2010, and then made the jump to 3DS last year. It didn't, however, use the console's touch screen controls. This may explain why Cavanagh wanted to try porting Don't Look Back first, a 2D platformer which he gave on-screen buttons to on iOS. As Cavanagh puts it, it's a "pretty simple port" of a game which is a bit rough around the edges. It's unlikely to be indicative of how VVVVVV would run on iOS, especially given how sado-nefariously intricate Super Hexagon is.
Terry Cavanagh's latest game rejected from App Store for making fun of in-app purchases
Game developer Terry Cavanagh has released a few really great games over the years -- in addition to the popular PC title VVVVVV, he's also the man behind iOS' recent (and terribly difficult) hit Super Hexagon. Right now, he's in the process of trying to release an old experimental game he made called Don't Look Back (which you can play online in Flash right now) on iOS, but he's hit a speedbump. Apple rejected the app, unfortunately, though not because of anything in the app itself. Nope -- Cavanagh, in the app's description, happened to point out that Don't Look Back didn't have "in-app purchases or any of that nonsense," and Apple sent him back a message saying that he should probably "remove or revise" that line. Cavanagh has since resubmitted the app, and it's actually available on the App Store right now (with the jokey line removed from the description). Now, Don't Look Back is a great, emotional game experience, and it's good to know this could all be figured out. But should Apple really be judging app developers' descriptions for content like this? Checking over descriptions for fraudulent information or obscenity seems fine. But should developers be required to watch their tone when criticizing certain money-making features on the App Store? Apple apparently thinks so.
