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Daily iPhone App: Polara switches up the endless runner genre
Endless runners are one of the most-used genres on the App Store lately -- from the original Canabalt to later hits such as Jetpack Joyride and one of my current favorites, God of Blades. There are plenty of them out there, and the best ones have some innovation or a new twist. Polara, one of the latest entries to the genre, has both. Not only does it feature a color-changing twist, but the way the game is structured (in a series of checkpointed, story-based missions) puts a fairly new spin on the way these games work. Polara is an endless 2D runner, in that you play a character that runs along in 2D space, leaping over and through various obstacles. The twist here is that while touching the right side of the screen makes your character jump, hitting the left side makes you switch between red and blue. Then, there are red and blue obstacles to either hit or avoid, and only switching to the right color will let you survive and move on (similar to the treasure shooter Ikaruga). At first, the game is simple -- just asking you to flip back and forth every so often. But very quickly, it requires you to switch between moving targets and sometimes asks you to match up with alternately-colored platforms. Things can get fiendishly difficult right away. Fortunately, in the core story mode (decorated with some excellent art and atmospheric music), the game uses checkpoints wisely, so sections are nice and short, letting you easily replay any tough parts. In the other modes, the game is endless, so you've got to be really fast to keep going. Polara offers up some nice new elements to this well-traveled genre. It's not quite perfect, and it doesn't have the polish of a game like Jetpack Joyride, but it does pull off some really new and interesting things. At the current launch price of 99 cents, it's well worth a download.
Daily iPhone App: One Epic Knight keeps a Tiny Hero running
David Whatley has been making games on the App Store for a while now -- after an early hit with GeoDefense, he and his team released an antihero tower defense title called Tiny Heroes, and now they are taking on the Temple Run-style 3D endless runner genre with a recent game called One Epic Knight. One Epic Knight takes one of the Tiny Heroes and places him in an endless dungeon, running past obstacles, jumping over and sliding under gaps and challenges, and killing bad guys to collect as many coins as possible. You could argue that this is a pretty straightforward Temple Run ripoff, but Whatley has worked with Temple Run's developer Imangi in the past (his Critical Thought Games put together the Android port for the title), so really this is more of an "inspired by" title than what you might call "stolen from." And it does innovate on the genre a little bit: You can pick up weapons and shields as you run, and those items are then used to either attack or defend your knight as you play. The coins you pick up can be used to buy upgrades and spells, or even cosmetic costumes for your knight as he runs. Honestly, it's all fairly tame -- if you like Temple Run, you'll know how to play this, and if you think the endless runner genre is boring already, there's not a lot here to convince you otherwise. But the graphics are well done, the gameplay is solid, and oh yeah -- the app is free to download. At that price, it's worth a download and a play through to see what you think.
Daily iPhone App: Off the Leash provides chaotic canine fun
Off the Leash is a game that arrived a little while ago on the iPhone, but it's gotten a few updates since I first played it, and it just so happens to be free on May 10. It's an endless runner, but instead of a side-scroller, it runs from the top down, and it's got a few new elements to this genre. First, it's time-based, so not only do you need to run for as far as possible, but your goal is to hit the next checkpoint within a certain time limit. Second, as your little dog runs along, you can "recruit" other dogs to run with you, which up your speed but also make it harder to maneuver around. Eventually, you hit a boundary (the cops catch your little dog that's been running amuck), and then you start over again from the beginning. Off the Leash is great fun. The graphics are colorful and funny, the game's tilt-to-steer challenge is tough but not overwhelming at all, and especially at the low price, it's a great game to have on your iPhone. Definitely give it a download.
Ayopa Games to publish Escape from Age of Monsters, Patchwork Battles, more
Ayopa Games is a mobile games publisher that actually has its roots in Chillingo. Founder Johnny Coghlan was a former head of publishing there until Chillingo was acquired by EA. Coghlan has brought his mobile game-finding expertise to Ayopa, and this company's slate is almost as enticing as Chillingo's usual offerings. First up was an update to Dungeon Crawlers, a turn-based RPG developed by Drowning Monkeys. Version 1.1 of the title will add in-app purchases, a feature that was always planned but that the devs "knew wouldn't be in there for launch." The update basically adds a store to the game where players can spend gold either earned from inside the game or purchased with real-world money to pick up extra loot or other helpful items. Version 1.2 is due in another month or so, and that will add multiplayer functionality to the title, bringing in leaderboards and an Arena Mode. Players have also asked for a bestiary of the game's enemies, so that's coming too. Dungeon Crawlers is already a fairly popular title -- though like all turn-based strategy RPGs, it can be a little tough -- so it's good to see the team is supporting it with some sizable updates. Escape from the Age of Monsters is another title from Ayopa. Developed by Massive Joe and made by the same team that made Age of Monsters (plus comic artist Jeff Matsuda), that rock/paper/scissors style fighting game from a ways back. Escape is a endless running game, but while there are walls to punch through and pits to jump over, the big twist is you're running along with a few small children. The game's gag is that you only need to run faster than the children from the monster that's following you. If the monster eats three of them, it's just you left, so you then need to run as long as possible without getting caught. As with Age of Monsters, Matsuda's work brings the whole thing a great graphical look. While gameplay seems somewhat superficial, we'll have to play the title when it arrives in April to see how deep it goes. There were two more games that I thought worth mentioning, and Patchwork Battles is the first one. It's another turn-based battle game, a tactical RPG, but the heroes of the game are made completely out of found materials: things like cloth, foil, and other crafted items. You can combine any five body pieces to customize your characters (or "mimics," as the game's lore calls them). Put a healing arm on a rogue's body, for example, and you'll have a healing damage dealer. The story sounds expansive, and the RPG system seems very deep, so Patchwork Battles could be really amazing. The game should be out sometime this summer, with multiplayer and other features expected post-launch. Pocket Heroes is the last title Ayopa showed off. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see too much of it in action, as it's an online-only title and the Internet wasn't playing nice that day. But it sounds good: a multiplayer, co-op only RPG in which you explore a 16-bit 2D fantasy world with your friends asynchronously. We'll have to wait until the end of the month to see how it actually plays online. Ayopa is a relatively young company, but Johnny Coghlan's talent for picking great iOS games at Chillingo appears to have transferred well. I have no doubt we'll see a few of these games topping the charts in the future and quite a few more quality titles getting published by this company very soon.
