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TUAW's Daily App: Great Little War Game
Just the other day I was talking about more in-depth strategy games for iOS, and here's one: Great Little War Game is a pretty deep tactical warfare game built specifically for Apple's platform. It's based on what's essentially a hexagonal system and is very similar to Advance Wars for the DS, with cartoony little troops fighting little tactical battles. There are a few different types of units and goals to play with, and while the game's technically a little off, the gameplay is extremely solid, with clean and clear controls and lots of strategies to use and learn. The game's model is interesting as well -- there is a core campaign (and a lite version to check it out for free if you'd like), but there are also add-on packs with extra missions to play or voices to use for the characters if you'd rather have those. There's no Game Center integration or multiplayer, unfortunately, but the core single-player strategy gameplay is what most fans of this type of game are looking for anyway. Great Little War Game definitely lives up to its name. It's available on the App Store for an introductory price of US$0.99 for the standard iPhone version or $2.99 for the HD universal version for iPad and iPhone.
TUAW's Daily App: ClubWorld
ClubWorld may not exactly be your kind of game. It's sort of a mashup of popular freemium gameplay elements. ClubWorld includes Farmville-style time sinks as you build your club up, social environments to customize and share with friends, and even some music-based mini-games. The look and the aesthetic are more tuned towards younger players than the average gamer, and most people old enough to buy an iPhone for themselves probably won't be too interested. But that's not really what's interesting about ClubWorld. What is interesting is that it's from Tapulous, the company that's had so much success on the App Store that it was bought by Disney last year. While Tapulous has been moving towards the freemium model with its Tap Tap Revenge series, ClubWorld is a complete embrace of that model. This looks like a Facebook game more than anything else. There are even in-app purchases for "energy items" (called sugar here) and iTunes referral links to music. Looking at this game, I'd almost call Tapulous a social gaming company rather than an iPhone developer. ClubWorld does take full advantage of Tapulous' music expertise, using lots of fully-licensed tracks in the various clubs you can create and play with, but this is much more a stab in the direction of We Rule and even Booyah's Nightclub City. It's a very interesting turn for the company; we'll have to see how it works out. Meanwhile, if you want to give it a try, ClubWorld is a free download right now.
TUAW's Daily App: Knights vs. Aliens
Knights vs. Aliens is a brand new title to the App Store that serves as an interesting update to one of my early App Store favorites, Galcon. Instead of sending triangles around between planets, though, you're pointing squads of knights around the world, trying to take over castles from aliens, of all things. There are a few updates to the gameplay, mostly in the 30 various maps that offer strange combinations of routes and castles to fight through. There's also a fun sense of humor throughout, and that always makes for a good time. There's no Game Center or OpenFeint integration, and there's no multiplayer either, so those will have to wait for any updates. The game is out right now in a universal version for US$2.99, and if you're a big Galcon fan, it's definitely worth checking out. If you've never played this kind of game, Galcon does have a lite version, and the great Galcon Labs (featuring a few other twists on the standard gameplay) is only 99 cents. I'd love to see some even deeper strategy games on the App Store; if you know of any more solid strategy titles (real-time or turn-based), feel free to share in the comments.
TUAW's Daily App: Plectrum
Miso Music's Plectrum isn't a game -- it's a full-fledged guitar playing and learning tool, now available on the App Store. Plectrum has already picked up some accolades from our brethren at TechCrunch. It just recently became available to the public, and for US$2.99, you can check it out for yourself. The big selling point for Plectrum is that it uses some pretty incredible polyphonic note detection software that will provide real feedback on real instruments. In other words, by listening in through the iPad's microphone, it'll tell you if you're playing the right notes on a real guitar. That's tough for software to do anywhere, but on the iPad, it's downright miraculous. You can also play right on the iPad's touchscreen if you want. There are some classical pieces to check out, or you can purchase real pop songs from the likes of The Beatles and others via in-app purchase. If you're good at writing tabs, you can even put some of your own versions in, and if they're chosen to be sold in the in-app store, you can earn a little money from them. There are some concerns in the iTunes reviews about the interface, and as you can see above, it isn't exactly user friendly. Those who know a little more about guitar music and tuning will probably get more out of it than a pure beginner. But the software is very powerful, and with a few updates, hopefully Miso will get together an interface that matches Plectrum's potential. For those intrigued by the idea of getting some feedback from a tuner while playing, it's definitely worth a look.
TUAW's Daily App: Van Pershing
As the App Store has matured, so have the apps on it -- many iOS games today are complicated, deep affairs that require strategy and finesse. But sometimes you just want to kill zombies, and that's what Van Pershing is all about. The title is a straight-up side-scrolling shooter. All you have to do in the game is move along, shoot a variety of weapons forward or backwards at different monsters and collect the loot that drops without dying. That's it. The action's simple, but the graphics are well-done, and there's enough variety and upgrades to the weapons to keep it interesting as a simple arcade game. There is one major issue: later in the game, the upgrades don't quite come fast enough to stay alive, and unfortunately, there's no default weapon or attack to use; once you're out of ammo with your various guns, you basically have to run for it and hope to survive. It'd be nice to introduce a little more skill to the game with some basic attack that you could use to get by enemies, even when you're in trouble. But until that point, the game's fun and well-designed, with 40 different levels and a nice cartoony style. It also has full Game Center integration. There's a free version to try out if you're so inclined, but the full game is just a buck anyway. Give it a look if you just want a little straightforward shooting action.
TUAW's Daily App: Forget-Me-Not
Forget-Me-Not is an impressive retro game. It's like Pac-Man, but that's just a way of characterizing the mechanics rather than the actual gameplay. Essentially, you run a little guy around a random Pac-Man style map, but instead of just eating pellets, you're also shooting and trying to collect a key that will eventually lead you out of each level. There are "ghosts" chasing you, but you can shoot them down or "grind" on the walls to build up some power and take them out. Charged up "ghosts" can also explode, which can actually change the shape and layout of the little map. The little retro bleeps and bloops and simple graphics make the experience enjoyable and simple, at least until you get to the really big maps and things get chaotic. There are three different modes, Game Center integration and a "multiplayer" mode where two people can play the same game on the same screen. Forget-Me-Not is currently US$1.99 for a universal version. It's definitely a must-see title, especially for fans of retro-styled games.
TUAW's Daily App: Trainz Simulator
I got to see the Trainz Simulator in action at GDC this year. The Trainz series of software is extremely popular on the PC, and the company released an iPad version a little while ago to pretty high acclaim. I will admit to knowing nearly nothing about trains, either the real or the miniature kind (though I did have a small set as a kid), but I have to say I was impressed by the variety of the options available on the iPad version -- you can create a full virtual train set, from locomotive to caboose and even the buildings and scenery around it, completely within the touch interface of the iPad. It's pretty impressive. If you're not already schooled in the way of the model train, you might even be a little overwhelmed with all of the options available. But it is a fun way to play around with model trains without spending a ton of money on actual train items, and since the new version is coming out soon on the PC (Trainz 12 is due out in mid-April), the iPad version is on sale this weekend for just US$0.99. At that price, it's cheap enough to just download and see what you think of all the tools available for building up your own train set.
TUAW's Daily App: 8-bit Pocket Camera
The iPhone's camera has only gotten better over the years, with higher resolutions, better ways to deal with low lighting and brighter colors than ever. But here's an app that passes on all of that technology for a much more retro feel. The 8-bit Pocket Camera app is designed to take pictures the old-fashioned way: as low-res black-and-white 200x200 pixel .tiff files, just like the old Game Boy Camera and other early digital cameras did. Why would you want to take pictures that way? Well, you might not. But it's more of a nostalgia thing; just as apps like Hipstamatic are great at making iPhone pictures look like old film or old instant cameras, these pictures might take you right back, if you happen to have taken some shots in the right time period. There's a real raw quality to these, and I don't mean .RAW files. These are straight up black-and-white shots, full of digital noise and pixelated lines. They may not look great, but they certainly have a feel to them, and with 8-bit Pocket Camera, you can take these pictures, put any number of old-school effects on them and send them out via Facebook or Twitter. The app's currently on sale for a launch price of just US$0.99.
TUAW's Daily App: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
Along with the console versions released recently, EA has also dropped an iOS version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, featuring the latest and greatest in golf simulation for the iPhone and iPad. As much as other developers may rail against EA on the App Store, there's almost never a question of quality, and this app is no exception. This is a quality golf game that does a great job of replicating a lot of the features of the popular console series, like the controls (yes, you can spin the ball in the air, which may turn some hardcore golfers off, but you don't have to). There's a checklist of pro golfers to play as and against, and eight official courses like the classic St. Andrews and TPC Sawgrass. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 has four different modes to play through, from straightforward solo games to a full PGA Tour mode; mini-games and a "Closest to the Pin" social challenge mix things up quite a bit as well. The one real glaring omission in terms of features is Game Center integration, but EA's eschewed Game Center lately -- hopefully that's not a growing trend. At any rate, if you like golf and iOS gaming, you'll enjoy this one. It's currently US$6.99 on the iPhone and $9.99 on the iPad, but there is a free version to try out on the iPhone. If you think the prices on this or any other EA app are too high, just wait until EA has yet another sale.
TUAW's Daily App: Ring Blade
Ring Blade is an interesting take on the top-down shooter genre (sometimes called "bullet hell," though that specific genre is a little tougher than Ring Blade actually is). Games of this ilk on the iPhone have struggled a little bit with control schemes, and Ring Blade tries something original -- rather than dragging your ship around the screen or blocking the action with a finger, you can flick your ship back and forth on the bottom of your iPhone's screen. You charge shots with a touch, and then you can flick shots up off the "walls" on-screen; they'll bounce back and forth and hit enemies as they go. It's a weird little twist on the controls for the iPhone, and it works pretty well. Of course, as you can see above, Ring Blade's other selling point is the graphics -- they're all based on tribal tattoos, making for some interesting enemies and bosses. The game also features 30 levels and OpenFeint integration as well (no Game Center, sadly). It's available on the iPhone right now for just US$0.99.
TUAW's Daily App: Byline
We last covered the iOS RSS reader Byline back in May of last year, when it had just hit version 3. Now the app's been updated to version 4, and it's still an excellent RSS reader for both the iPhone and the iPad. Version 4 brought universal capability to the free version of the app (it has ads, though you can get rid of them for just a few bucks). The new version also adds an easy way to "Mark All as Read" (just slide the "Edit" button), and the 4.0 release (as well as the minor releases after it) fix all kinds of bugs and add in some performance improvements. Byline still hooks up directly with your Google Reader account, integrates with Instapaper and Twitter very easily and has an offline reading mode that lets you browse your RSS feeds even when you're not connected to the internet. In other words, Byline is a quality app that's only getting better. If you still haven't settled on a good RSS reader for your iPhone or iPad, it's definitely worth a look.
TUAW's Daily App: Max and the Magic Marker
Max and the Magic Marker is a really incredible game. It's won awards everywhere, and now it's available from EA on iOS for iPhone and iPad. Essentially, the game is a platformer with Max having to navigate the weird game world by moving and jumping around. But the twist is he also has a magic marker that can be used to draw real-world objects that he can physically interact with. When you combine Max's platforming with the physics-based items created by the Magic Marker, things can get pretty wild. It's a lot of fun, and the puzzles included in the game are limited only by your creativity. Max and the Magic Marker originally came out on Nintendo's WiiWare platform, but it's available on iOS now with full Retina Display support across all 58 levels. There's no Game Center integration, which is a disappointment, especially from EA, but considering that it's basically a solo affair, it's not a deal breaker. Max and the Magic Marker is US$1.99 on the iPhone (and note that it only works with the 3GS and up) or $4.99 on the iPad.
TUAW's Daily App: Superbrothers' Sword and Sworcery EP
We've been following Sword & Sworcery for a while, with previews at last year's GDC and then again at Indiecade last fall. The app itself is now finally available for your iPad, and the post-release hype is off the charts. The gaming press loves this one, and last night, Twitter was full of the "#sworcery" hashtag as players got into the game and tweeted directly from it. As I said in our previews, the title is more of an experience than a game. It's got musical elements, lots of action and exploration, and a superbly crafted feeling thanks to the art and music of Craig "Superbrothers" Adams, and Capy's own incredible game design talent. There's only one mode, no Game Center integration, and some of the game's mysteries might leave more casual players perplexed, but honestly, none of that matters. This is a must-see experience on the iPad or the iPad 2. This kind of intimate, personal, indie, touchscreen experience is exactly what makes Apple's tablet so amazing. Yes, there's a lot of hype, and some Angry Birds fans will look at this game and wonder what everyone is getting out of it. But Sword & Sworcery is a milestone in the maturity of the iPad gaming platform, and for that, US$4.99 is just plain cheap.
TUAW's Daily App: Halcyon
Halcyon is a game for the iPad by Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg that's part music game and part puzzler. You've got little triangles coming down either side of the screen on various strings, and your goal as the player is to match those up by drawing lines across the strings in the right places. As you play across the strings, the game creates a sort of arrhythmic, atmospheric music that's pretty fascinating, and the triangles show up faster, making things get pretty complicated. The game makes excellent use of the iPad's touchscreen, and there's a lot of game to enjoy; there are 36 different levels along with 2 different Endless Modes to play. There's no actual multiplayer, but the game is integrated with both OpenFeint and Game Center for leaderboards. The game was a finalist at the Independent Games Festival this past year, so at just US$1.99 (during the current sale), you know it's a quality experience.
TUAW's Daily App: Buddy Rush
Buddy Rush is an interesting entry to the App Store that's done very well on the Top Paid charts with its microtransaction-based business model. Basically, it's a Diablo-style dungeon crawler, though it's much cuter and more kid-friendly than most hack-and-slash games. It's also a full action RPG, with loot, experience, classes and everything else. The twist here is that it's social. You log in to Facebook when you start off, and you "play" with your friends. They're represented in game by NPCs, but they get rewards when you play with their characters and vice versa. It's a very interesting concept, and considering that even the text in the game is super kid-friendly, it's a weird genre mix that really appeals to an audience that's hooked right into online social networks. As I said, you must log in to Facebook to play the game, which may be a problem if you're careful about your online identity -- the app requires permission to access your friends and wall online. But for players who are already connected and aren't worried about a few extra wall posts promoting a game they like, it won't be an issue. The model's also out of the ordinary. You can buy in-game currency with in-app purchases to open up things, like extra character slots and extra items. None of it's really required, which is the right way to do it for a game like this, but since Buddy Rush is sitting on the Top Paid list on the App Store, somebody's definitely putting some money into this one. In short, Buddy Rush is an interesting experiment that appears to be working. The game is free on the App Store, and it was recently updated for the iPad as well. This is far from the last we'll see of this game and its kind -- my feeling is that social, connected, casual games like this across many genres are only going to get more popular.
TUAW's Daily App: Land-a Panda
Land-a Panda has been tearing up the App Store charts lately, and for good reason. It's a fun mix of platformer and physics puzzler that has you catapulting a panda through a series of levels in order to try and get him to his beloved mate. There's even a little Cut the Rope influence here. Your panda gets launched from a seesaw to start the level, and from there, he is fired from cannon to cannon to the other side of the map. Sometimes you have to time your launch just right, other times you can rotate the cannons around to line up your shot, and there are lots of other obstacles and mechanics that pop up later in the game. Land-a Panda is a lot of fun, and there's a ton of content to go through as well. There are 80 levels across a few worlds in the game already, and more content is on the way. It works with the Retina Display on the iPhone, there's full integration with OpenFeint and Game Center, and the whole experience is well-polished and works great. The app's not universal, but at US$0.99 for the iPhone and just a buck more for the iPad (and lite versions for both devices with 16 levels unlocked), it's a great deal that's easily recommended.
TUAW's Daily App: Lane Splitter
You may never have actually experienced this, but here in Los Angeles, every time we head out on the freeways, we face a dreaded threat: the motorcyclist. Not that I actually have anything against these guys (I'm sure they're very nice), but in LA, I've found that they tend to have a set of rules outside of the normal traffic -- even when you're parked on the 405 at a standstill thanks to a traffic jam, the guys on motorcycles are somehow able to split lanes, flying down the dotted line in between two long backups of cars. And that's what Lane Splitter is all about -- you play a motorcyclist rushing down a freeway, cutting in between various cars as you speed on. It's generally a Canabalt-style running game, but using the accelerometer to steer provides a fun driving twist to the game, and pulling a wheelie on your motorcycle can add up some extra points as well. Unfortunately, there's no Game Center integration, though there are global leaderboards, and an update is promised in the future (though it hasn't shown up since December). But Lane Splitter has another bonus going for it on this Friday: it's currently completely free for both iPad and iPhone. If you're down to do some traffic weaving this weekend, give it a look.
TUAW's Daily App: Egg vs. Chicken
Egg vs. Chicken is another interesting title that I heard about at GDC the other week. It's a game created by PlayFirst, which is another one of those companies with a huge PC back library of casual games. This one's different, though, as it's an original title for the iPhone and is designed to attract a little more experienced audience than the "Dash" time management games that PlayFirst has become known for. The game's kind of a combination of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled -- you have to match up eggs on the bottom half of the screen in a match-3 style game, and then you toss those matched eggs up to the top of the screen where chickens are invading. It gets chaotic quickly -- there are quite a few levels to play, and eventually you move along to fighting powered-up chickens with powered-up eggs to match. It's not bad at all, and it's definitely a diversion from what PlayFirst has been working on in the past. They told me at GDC that they are not only interested in bringing their PC games over to the iPhone, but in building a solid library of original titles as well. Egg vs. Chicken is a nice addition to that library, and it's on sale for US$0.99 right now.
TUAW's Daily App: VelaClock
Yes, before you ask, we are choosing to spotlight a clock app for the iPhone. And yes, we know that every iPhone already has the time right there on the lock screen. But take a look at the interface on this thing -- it's been thought through so well that just that first page, with the bars and flags, is packed with more information than you'd ever need to know at any one time. Not only do you get the date and time, but you also get day length, countdown to sunrise and sunset and even the timing for dusk and dawn for all of those locations, all relayed in a visually simple and intuitive way. Pretty impressive. Here's another example of the thought that went into this app: When the creators switched up the UI and their users cried foul, they decided to simply release both the old and the new UI as two different apps, so people could choose what they wanted to use (and for users who wanted the new UI and owned the old app, they're asking to be contacted so they can resolve the situation). I don't care of it's a clock app or a financial planning app -- I like a developer who acts that directly on customer feedback. So VelaClock is available in two flavors, classic and brand new, and it's US$3.99 for either version. You may argue that that's too much for a simple clock app, and that's fine -- there are plenty of apps on sale this weekend if you'd like one of those.
TUAW's Daily App: Float
The iPhone is known for casual games, but Float might be a little too simple even for most casual gamers. That said, children and those just looking for a super simple experience may find it interesting. It's a game we've all played before -- you get a balloon and try to keep it in the air for as long as possible. In Float, you get a few balloons that fall down the screen towards a row of spikes at the bottom, and it's your job to tap them up and away from the danger below. It does get a little more frenzied, and there's a bonus area to play with on the lower half, so there is a little strategy in how far you let them drop before batting them back up. But what's really intriguing about this one isn't in the gameplay, it's more in the presentation. The balloons are colorfully rendered, and the UI is very clean and well-designed. There are quite a few game modes, which originally needed to be unlocked via in-app purchase, but are now available for free. There's no Game Center, unfortunately, but OpenFeint is included, as well as a connection to Facebook if you want to share some scores. Float is available as a universal app for US$0.99, and there's a free version of the app to check out as well. Again, if you're looking for more complicated fare look elsewhere, but who doesn't love batting around balloons anyway?
