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Minimalist iOS game Hundreds sells 100,000 copies
Hundreds, the minimalist mobile game from Canabalt's Adam Saltsman and Gasketball's Greg Wohlwend, sold its 100,000th copy on Sunday, sending Saltsman into fits of sentimental, blog-based joy."I don't want to downplay, for us, the financial importance of this success; we basically went broke making Hundreds so it's a pretty big deal that it didn't flop," Saltsman writes. "That said, even if it was the kind of money where we could go buy sports cars or whatever (and it's not!), there is this other, at least for me, way more important thing going on, which is less about finances and more about, 'Holy crap, 100,000 people have played Hundreds.'"Hundreds has a simple premise and interface: Players tap various circles, turning them red and increasing their size and numerical value, in an attempt to accrue 100 points on-screen. If a red circle hits another object, it's game over. Hundreds is $5 on the iTunes App Store, optimized for iPhone 5, and for iPad and iPod Touch in iOS 5.0 or later."Folks who haven't played a game since Tetris are trying out Hundreds and liking it," Saltsman writes. "And we're getting this response for a minimalist game that we made utterly without compromise. Every value we had going into this project we carried all the way through to the end, and in spite of that, or, I am tempted to think, because of that, Hundreds is resonating with more people than we ever allowed ourselves to imagine."So that feels really good. Thank you, everybody, for trying out our game and diving into our puzzles and giving us your time. Thank you so much!"
Count down the days until Hundreds hits on Jan. 3
Hundreds, the minimal action-puzzle game of inflating circles until the numbers within add up to 100, will be released for iOS on January 3. The release date is revealed in a new trailer, which also reveals some really nice background music.Hundreds is the work of Adam Saltsman (Canabalt), Greg Wohlwend (Solipskier) and composer Scott Morgan. While you wait for the new year (and the new game), we recommend a trip through Hundreds' beautifully designed website.
Try Semi Secret's 'Hundreds' in Austin this Sunday
Hundreds, the new iOS game from Semi Secret Software (Canabalt) and Greg Wohlwend (Solipskier), will be on display for the public this weekend in Austin, TX, at Juegos Rancheros, the monthly Austin indie game get-together.Hundreds is a game in which you hold numbered bubbles to grow them (both in size and number) in an effort to add up to 100, without letting any bubbles touch while you're growing them. It seems much easier to understand in motion than to explain, so watch the video. And go see it!
Canabalt's Semi Secret Software brings 'Hundreds' to iOS
Semi Secret Software, the studio behind Canabalt (the game that defined iOS games forever) has teamed up with Greg Wohlwend (Solipskier, Puzzlejuice) and musician loscil for Hundreds, an iOS game about, well, adding up to 100."It's simple," the website explains. "To win: tap & grow floating bubbles until they equal 100." The catch is that bubbles turn red when you tap them, and making two red bubbles touch (by, say, growing them) ends the game. Hundreds will be on display at Indiecade this weekend. There's no official release date, but it's "nearly done." Expect development to reach 100% very soon.
Canabalt iOS update might add local multiplayer, hardcore modes
Outside of workshopping "challenge maps" for Canabalt, creator Adam Saltsman has been pretty mum on any kind of updates or changes for the free-runner ... until now. Rather than do a sequel, Saltsman is considering a free update that would add local multiplayer for up to two people, eight new hardcore game modes with corresponding leaderboards, and achievements for Game Center.Saltsman also kinda joked about Canabalt without rooftops, as seen in the image above – sounds great to us because maybe then we'd stop jumping into walls. This was more of a hypothetical than anything, though Saltsman hasn't officially ruled it out. Maybe it'll be the most hardcore mode of them all: You spawn and then immediately fall to your death.
Indie iPhone sale raises $25K as Canabalt goes open source
The generosity of indie developer Semi Secret apparently knows no bounds. Not only did the studio lend its runaway (geddit?) hit Canabalt to the Indie iPhone sale, which has already raised over $25,000 for the Child's Play Charity with its ongoing $0.99 offers on iPhone hits such as Osmos, Drop7, and Solipskier, but the two-man team behind the grayscale game has opened up the Canabalt source code for everyone's perusal. You can download and learn more about the Canabalt source on Semi Secret's official site -- all that we ask is that, should you go poking around in the game's brain, you finally program in whatever the agile protagonist is running from. We've spun off a number of theories involving the Illuminati, but it's entirely possible that we're way, way off base.
TUAW's Daily App: Gravity Hook HD
Semi Secret Software (the same folks behind the amazing Canabalt game for the iPhone) has released its second game for the iOS platform, Gravity Hook HD. I actually heard about this one way back in March, and it was made even before Canabalt was. But this iPhone and iPad release has been updated for HD, and it's kind of fun. To play, you tap on various hook points in order to send your little guy skyward; you do this while fighting gravity and trying to keep from falling off the bottom of the screen. I can't say it's as fun or as simple as Canabalt, but it is colorful and addictive for sure. You don't believe me? Go play the free Flash version on the website. If it hooks you (get it? Hooks?), you can pick up the universal app for iPhone or iPad for US $2.99.
Learn typing, flee invading robots with Canabalt: Typing Tutor Edition
For those of you who are entirely too good at Canabalt (and we see you there on the leaderboards, you smug jerks), Adam Atomic has introduced a more difficult version under the guise of "education." Canabalt: Typing Tutor Edition is the same game you're familiar with, but with the jump command mapped to a letter key that changes after every few uses, displayed in the corner of the screen. In order to successfully navigate the endless rooftop path, you have to be able to access the right key immediately. It also includes optional spacebar or double-click-based control options. You can play the game in a browser window here. We don't expect to see this one on iPhone -- or, at least, we hope we never have to use the iPhone's virtual keyboard for this. [Via GameSetWatch]
iPhone It In: Canabalt
Canabalt is a 2D side-scroller where you control a gentleman continuously running across rooftops and cranes, gradually building up speed while avoiding various objects which will either slow down or kill him. Rather than "score" or "points," developer Semi Secret Software measures your success by the distance you manage to cross, even allowing for instant bragging via Twitter in-game. It's a simple premise with a surprising amount of depth. And it's exactly the kind of game I want to pick up and play on my iPhone. Canabalt is perfect for the device: the gameplay comes in short, addictive bursts, it loads up quickly, and it employs the touchscreen in an intuitive way. Though a vast wealth of quick and addictive games now reside on my phone, I find myself constantly returning to Canabalt's rooftops and blaring techno music whenever I have a spare moment. %Gallery-77883%
