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Enigmo Explore manages to be challenging and relaxing at the same time
If you're an old-school App Store gamer, there's a good chance you've run across an Enigmo title in the past. The physics puzzle franchise has been making waves on iDevices almost as long as Angry Birds, and its initial release on PC dates back over a decade. Now a partnership with iOS developers Team Chaos has produced Enigmo Explore -- which is arguably the best title in the series to date. As in past Enigmo titles, your task is to manage a seemingly endless stream of dripping liquid, directing it to a vessel located somewhere else in the level. You are given various tools with which to accomplish your goal -- like platforms that can bounce or redirect the flow and sponges that soak up liquid from all directions and cause it to drip downward. Manipulating these tools in 3D space makes up the bulk of the gameplay, and the variety of their effects on the liquid means that there are a virtually endless number of ways to solve each puzzle. You can make things needlessly complex if you really wanted to, but doing so kind of defeats the point. The levels range from stupidly simple to mind-bogglingly complex, with every degree in between well represented. A timer begin at the start of each challenge and slowly ticks away. Besting a stage quickly will earn you more points, but you're not really punished for taking your time, which helps add to the zen vibe of the game. Enigmo has always been about relaxation, and Enigmo Explore is no different. Soft music and pleasant sound effects turn even the toughest levels into pleasant challenges, and frustration is always kept to a minimum. At US$1.99 for over 100 fantastic levels with endless replayability (and no in-app purchases), it's a great way to chill.
Beatshapers Indie Bundle drums up attention on PSN
The Beatshapers Indie Bundle is part of the PSN drop this week, including five games "from famous independent game makers" for $6.99 in the US store and €5.99 in the EU store. The bundle features Wizorb from Tribute Games, Canabalt from Adam Atomic, Enigmo from Brian Greenstone, Galcon Labs from Phil Hassey and BreakQuest from Felix Casablancas.While you're checking out the high-profile finds from Tuesday's PSN lineup, don't forget about the big little guys in the Beatshapers Indie Bundle.
More iPad games revealed
It looks like the crafty folks over at MacRumors have figured out how to snake their way into the not-yet-public listing for top revenue iPad apps. Now, we've got a flood of information coming out about software for the device that's not coming out for another week or so. As you can see above, quite a few rumored and revealed games are already charting on the iPad store, and it looks like prices are running from $3.99 to $9.99. "HD" appeared to be the preferred nomenclature for iPad games yesterday, but "for iPad" is in there as well. It also looks like Enigmo for the iPhone will be Enigmo Deluxe on the iPad. MacRumors says that some of the "released" dates on this listing go back as far as March 19th, which is presumably when Apple started approving iPad apps. We've spoken to some of the developers whose games were revealed, and they are not very happy with the leaks. A few other details are showing up, presumably from App Store descriptions linked off of this top revenue list, but we've confirmed with at least one developer above that all of those details are still pending and not yet confirmed. It's no surprise that Apple wanted to be on top of getting apps out on the iPad store before the device's launch, but they've inadvertently revealed some of their developers' hands prematurely. Update: 9 to 5 Mac has a full list of the App Store chart. It's not yet clear where all of these shots are coming from, but it seems like they're being taken in the dev kit's iPad simulator, which is supposedly still under developer NDA.
In-app purchases not so hot for some developers
PocketGamer.biz has an interesting interview up with Pangea, makers of the iPhone physics puzzle game Enigmo, and they say that so far, their experience with in-app purchases has been pretty lukewarm. The software itself has sold over a million copies, but only a very small number of those customers are going for the in-app purchases -- about 25 per day, according to Pangea's Brian Greenstone. 25 per day may not be bad for a smaller developer, but Greenstone says he "was expecting hundreds."Why aren't the microtransactions doing so hot? It's going to take time, first of all -- customers need to learn the value of picking up content piece by piece, and developers need to learn exactly how to price and plan the stuff out. On an established download service like Xbox Live, add-ons and content packs have become de rigueur, though some of those battles are still being fought. But on the App Store, not only are prices still up in the air, but in-app purchases are hard to find, and they're all over the map in terms of value versus investment.Greenstone seems to believe what I'd tend to agree with: that after all of the dust has settled, customers will pay for content that's worth paying for -- he's just given up on worrying about pricing, and is focused on delivering content that's worth whatever he wants to charge. Eventually, both devs and customers will settle on a fair price, and when that happens, I'm sure we'll see some major in-app purchase sales.
Pangea updates Enigmo for iPhone to 1.1.1, adds downloadable content
Over the past day, Pangea Software has issued two updates for their Enigmo physics game for the iPhone/iPod touch. The updates in question (1.1 and 1.1.1) allow you to download custom levels from Pangea's website via the application.Be sure to sync your iPhone and complete the backup process before updating Engimo, as the saved game deletion issues continue to be a concern. Pangea has officially acknowledged the issue, and offers backups as a solution. You can download/buy Enigmo from the App Store (iTunes link).%Gallery-29190%
Last day to buy MacHeist Bundle
Today is the last day to buy the much coveted MacHeist application bundle. MacHeist has decided to sweeten the deal by unlocking SoundStudio early and offering $5 off any Insanely Great Tee. If you are a registered member of the MacHeist site you can also get early access to Headline (an RSS reader).The MacHeist Bundle currently includes the following Mac apps: VectorDesigner DEVONthink XSlimmer CoverSutra Awaken iClip Overflow Cha-Ching WriteRoom Enigmo Bugdom 2 Nanosaur 2 TextExpander SoundStudio The MacHeist Bundle costs $49 and 25% of your purchase will be donated to your choice of charity. Currently, MacHeist has sold over 4,000 bundles and raised over $50,000 for charity. You can purchase a bundle at the MacHeist website.
Pangea demos Enigmo, Cro-Mag Rally for iPhone at Apple Keynote
Following Sega's Super Monkey Ball iPhone demo during today's WWDC Apple keynote, Pangea Software's Brian Greenstone took the stage to show two games they have been working on, Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally, both games that date back to at least 2003 for the developer. Said Grenstone, both games took "three days to get each game up and running -- totally playable." No other news is available. Monkey Ball notwithstanding, it's kind of disappointing we haven't seen anything from known iPhone devs Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, id Software or Gameloft. Pictures of Cro-Mag Rally for iPhone after the break.
Entire Pangea catalogue free for K-12 schools
Kudos to our buddies over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog for spotting this one: Pangea Software, the creators of Mac gaming classic like Nanosaur (I wasted my sister wasted so much time playing this) has enacted a free serial number policy for public schools to go alongside their free school site license policy. Now any public school in the U.S. can simply send off a letter to Pangea requesting free serial numbers for any of their games. It's even possible for an entire school district to apply for the free serial numbers.The motivation? Apparently Pangea receives quite a few inquiries about site licenses from schools so that kids can play during recess or as rewards for good work (in other words, we like your style Mr. Bored System Admin). Apparently Pangea doesn't "believe that schools should be spending education dollars on video games" so they decided to give 'em away! Now, EA, about those free Battlefield 2 licenses for Universities...[Via TUAW]
Enigmo 2 trailer, demo released
For those unfamiliar, Enigmo is a really slick, unique puzzle game from Pangea Software that's been around for a few years now. The game's description at Apple's download site is a good summary of what you're up against: "A 3D puzzle game where you construct mechanisms to direct lasers, plasma, and water to toggle switches, deactivate force-fields, and eventually get them to their final destination."Pangea Software has released what looks like a great sequel, Enigmo 2 - and I'm downloading a demo as I write this. The new version "takes the concept to a whole new dimension with much more complex environments and all-new devices," and from the screenshots at Pangea Software's site, I don't think they're kidding around. To get an idea of how the game works, check out the trailer Apple has posted.While the first Enigmo ran on both Mac OS 9 and X, Enigmo 2 is a universal binary and exclusive to OS X. I don't know how long the demo is good for, but a full license will run you $29.95.[via IMG]
