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Tilt to Live getting a sequel and it's Redonkulous
One Man Left Studios is most recently known for its great social Outwitters title, but of course the two-man developer team (made up of Alex Okafor and Adam Stewart) is best known for the popular Tilt to Live, a relatively early iOS hit. And now the team is going back to its history, and starting work on Tilt to Live 2, according to the company's official blog. The new game is called Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous, and is due out later on this year. Like the first title (which had you tilting a triangle around to try and avoid all sorts of incoming enemy shapes), there will undoubtedly be plenty of tilting action to go around. One Man Left promises new weapons, updated graphics and an all-new scoring system for the sequel, and we're sure they'll bring some of that Outwitters multiplayer experience to the game, too, as they also "plan on rubbing your friends' highscores in your face a little harder." Well the game sounded like fun, right up until that last bit. At any rate, we'll look forward to Tilt to Live 2 -- if we see One Man Left around GDC next week, maybe they'll let us in on any other new plans.
Daily iPhone App: Outwitters is the new app from Tilt to Live creators
Tilt to Live was a fairly early hit on the iOS App Store. It used the iPhone's accelerometer to make a frantic but fun and addictive shooter. Now, developer One Man Left has released a very different game called Outwitters. We first saw the title at GDC earlier this year, and the final release version is just as nice as the one that was in development. The game offers up asynchronous turn-based strategy combat, in the same vein as Robot Entertainment's great Hero Academy. But there are a few big differences, the first being that the board is much bigger, and allows for a few new moves and turns. The backend is also built out a lot more. In addition to the usual games with friends and random players, there's a whole matchmaking league system, so the best players have a huge, well-run ladder to climb. There are three different races (one is free, and the others you'll need to buy), each with its own units and resources to deal with. In short, the game is gorgeous, perfectly designed and offers much turn-based action for players (like me, ahem) who really enjoy moving units around a board like this. Outwitters is a free, universal download, and everything in the in-game store is on sale right now for a limited time.
Daily iPhone App: Sky Defenders
There's two big things I really don't like about Sky Defenders. First, the game is basically a reskinned clone of the much better Tilt to Live, so if for some strange reason you still haven't played that one yet, go ahead and download the original and see how this "reactive shooter" genre is done. The second issue I have with Sky Defenders is that the game depends heavily on Facebook integration, so much so that when it first starts up, you're asked to log into Facebook right away, though you can still get into the game by hitting a small, gray "Play Offline" button. I really dislike being so pressured to be social -- maybe that's a reality for the developers, but if I was just coming along to this game without knowing what it was, I probably wouldn't have gotten any farther than the Facebook login before I gave up. All of that said, there is fun to be had here, especially today, as the game is currently available for free. You play as a superhero, and just like the aforementioned Tilt to Live, you use the tilt controls to slide around the screen, grabbing and using powerups against waves and waves of invading robots and trying to score points inside a time limit. The graphics are definitely colorful and polished, and there are quite a few different powers to try and a nice bit of depth to gameplay. There are freemium powerups to explore as well, but they come across as very spammy. Fortunately, the app just had an update that upped the amount of credits you earn just by playing, which makes the powerups a little more useful. Of course, most of that is sadly "borrowed" from Tilt to Live. But if you really love Tilt to Live and could use a little different spin on things, Sky Defenders is a free download right now.
Tilt to Live devs return to iOS with accessible turn-based strategy in Outwitters
One Man Left is the two-person studio behind the very popular 2010 iOS release Tilt to Live -- and that's all the two developers have ever released so far. Alex Okafor and Adam Stewart are finally ready, however, to show off their brand new title, and I got to play with it briefly last week at GDC. The game is called Outwitters, and it's a strong right turn from the arcade frenzy action of Tilt to Live. Instead of bullets flying everywhere, Outwitters is turn-based strategy that takes place on a board of hexagons, with three different factions battling it out over time. Players can play as the Scallywags, the Feedback, or the Adorables, and each faction has a number of different units (including one faction-only unit each -- the Feedback, for example, have a floating brain that can turn units against their team) to pit up against each other on the game's various battlefields. Turn-based strategy is often overly complex, but Outwitters smartly keeps things quick and relatively easy. You're given a number of resource points per turn, and you can use those points to move around, attack, or summon new units to the board every time your turn comes around. Those points can be saved up over time (so you can save up for a special unit), and there are also special spots on the board which will grant you more points as you hold them, so conquering parts of the map will help out a lot. The gameplay itself is sort of similar to Robot Entertainment's recent release Hero Academy, and yes, One Man Left did do a little bit of forehead-slapping when Hero Academy arrived right in the middle of development on Outwitters. But the game is definitely different enough: The boards are bigger, and there's a fog of war, which means there's no "undo" option. In Hero Academy, you can try as many turns as you like before registering your moves, but in Outwitters, it's think first and then move for good. I played a little bit of the pass and play mode, but there is an extensive online component, with unranked and fully ranked play across a number of different leagues. One Man Left has really gone the extra mile for online play, so there will likely be no shortage of competitors to match yourself up against. Just like Starcraft 2's league system, you can start in the Fluffy League, and rank your way all the way up to the Super Titan League, so if you're into the game, you can play Outwitters for a long, long time. The title will be free to download, and then (similar again to Hero Academy) players will be able to pick up packs of maps and extra teams for an extra fee, or be able to just buy the whole shebang in one go. Outwitters seems excellent, and of course we'd expect nothing less than the makers of Tilt to Live. Turn-based strategy probably wouldn't have been my first guess when thinking about a followup from these guys, but nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the game's release in a few months.
Mechanized joystick built to control iPhone tilt sensor, rack up high score
What do you do when you just can't get that high score you're looking for in Tilt to Live? You build a computer that's better at playing the game than you are. For Shane Wighton, that turned out to be a mechanized joystick for tilt-controlled iPhone games. When Shane couldn't achieve the score wanted on Tilt to Live, he asked himself, "[Can] I program a computer to detect patterns in the enemies, be strategic, and make the best moves using its superior reaction time and raw processing power?" As part of answering that question Shane's made the above illustration a reality by building a mechanized joystick with an Arduino, some servo motors and metal. The next phase is for Shane to mount the webcam, write the code that will actually play the game for him and, hopefully, rack in some damage on the score board. Check out the video after the break to see the beast in action. Shane, we're looking forward to seeing how this works out for you. From all of us here at TUAW, we wish you the best of luck. Go get 'em! [Via Joystiq, TouchArcade]
TUAW's Daily App: Tilt to Live HD
The quirky and fun Tilt to Live is one of the most-loved iPhone games out there, according to its fans, and now, lucky iPad owners get their very own version of the title with Tilt to Live HD. Rather than just a port, the big-screen version updates the graphics and brings a new model into the mix. It's a free download, which means you can try out the tilt-controlled chaos at no charge, then pay a US$3.99 in-app purchase for three new modes, plus a few new powerups and weapons to try. If you're going to make your app iPad compatible, let's be honest: the best way to do it is to just go universal, since no one likes re-buying the same software for a new device. But if you want to make a completely new experience, Tilt to Live HD does it exactly right, offering up the same thrills as the popular iPhone version, with the option for more. If you somehow missed the game on the smaller screen, check it out on your iPad right now.
