kumobius
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Daily iPhone App: Time Surfer adds time-shifting to Tiny Wings
Kumobius previously appeared on the App Store with the retro platformer Bean's Quest, but the company's latest, Time Surfer, is a very different project. It's a new take on the very popular Tiny Wings' endless jumping gameplay, with one very significant twist: You can rewind time as you move along. That one mechanic turns the very casual into the extremely complex, as you can theoretically play and replay your jumps over and over again until you time them just right. The time reversal in Time Surfer is governed by the collection of gems, which fill up a meter of limited power, so you can't just rewind the game indefinitely. But there are quite a few gems to collect (especially if you make your run as perfect as possible), so Time Surfer provides a lot of options for re-dos. In fact, it's a perfectionist's nightmare, really -- if you're anything like me, you'll probably overuse the time rewind function, trying to make your jumps exactly right. There's also a cake-based currency to earn (that fits right in with the game's strange neon '80s aesthetic), as well as Jetpack Joyride-like missions to complete as you play. And there's a pet system, with each pet providing a consumable boost to a certain part of your gameplay. Time Surfer is a weird one, but worth a try -- it's on the App Store right now for just US$0.99.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Bean's Quest
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Australian development team Kumobius adds a little Latin flavor to its gaming experience with Bean's Quest. What's your game called and what's it about?Bean's Quest: It's a retro platformer for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC. In the game you play a man who's been cursed and transformed into a magical jumping bean.So in the game you're constantly jumping and you just control the left and right movement. This allows for some surprisingly tricky level designs when you need to dodge enemies, spikes and other stuff. The controls also mean it's easy to pick up and learn, but it has some really hardcore achievements layered into it.Graphically it is reminiscent of 16-bit platform games. Imagine SNES mixed with Sega Master System but with a modern physics engine. Lastly, it has a killer soundtrack by Flashygoodness.Were you wary of the possible racial repercussions of making a game about a latino man being turned into a bean? Has anyone felt offense or hesitancy to play Bean's Quest because of that?South American culture was just a point of positive inspiration for us and we genuinely meant no offense with it. This concern was only recently brought to our attention.We've found the majority of customers don't interpret anything beyond the concept of the Mexican jumping bean. They see it as a light-hearted story and fun game, which is what we were going for – Emilio is without a doubt the hero of the story!
