Daily iPhone App: Early Bird
Booyah is a company, originally founded by ex-Blizzard guys, that made some big steps in the relatively early days of the App Store with its social game MyTown. Since then, it looks like the development over there has taken a turn for the more traditional. Early Bird is the studio's latest product, and it's a physics-based puzzle platformer that's actually more similar to golf than anything else.
The idea is that you control a bird by swiping across the screen (Did I mention that Booyah has gone a little more traditional? At least it's not angry), trying to make your way across a level to a target where a worm has taken up residence. Get there in fewer swipes than the game offers for each level, and you'll be the early bird, with a star rating to match. Run out of swipes, and you've got to start the level over.
This one checks pretty much all the marks -- the graphics and sound are cute, the gameplay is solid (though the swiping mechanic is a little simple), and there are plenty of rewards to go after, from that aforementioned rating to bonuses for landing right on the target and so on. Both Game Center and OpenFeint integration are included, and there's apparently more content coming soon. The game is just US 99 cents for iPhone, or there's a $1.99 HD version out for iPad as well. Early Bird's not quite as risky or groundbreaking as Booyah's other titles, but it's a solid game for sure, and shows that when Booyah wants to focus strictly on hitting the right market with a well-made game, they can do just that.
