Daily iPhone App: Ozgood is a lovable piece of puppet tech
Ozgood is an interesting little iPhone game from a few developers who've worked for bigger game companies, and have recently gone independent. Most iPhone games deal with the platform's hardware by either just going with 2D graphics or trying relatively simple 3D -- it's usually only bigger developers like Epic Games that can really use an engine like Unreal to wring really colorful graphics out of the iPhone. But RunWilder, the developers of Ozgood, took an entirely different tack: They took video of a real life puppet, and then put it together with 2D backgrounds and 3D items to make this virtual pet game.
The result is a very unique kind of wonderful. Ozgood is a crazy little guy full of personality, and the app (which is free right now) is full of content. There's a "story" you can play through by feeding Ozgood certain things and interacting with him in certain ways, there's a "studio mode" where you can use him to make messages to send along to friends, and there's an ongoing metagame as well, where you can feed Ozgood a fake soda called Chugg and even share six packs of it with your friends online.
The app is silly -- it's very kid friendly, and Ozgood can sometimes be crass with his burps and various bodily functions. But even for adults, it's wild to see how these developers used a puppet to make this app, and there's clearly a lot of skill in how it's all put together. Ozgood is a free universal download that's definitely worth checking out.
