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iOS Gaming February 2016 | Crashlands Bandicoot

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Each month, the iOS GAF community hosts a thread for new game releases, rumors and discussion that define the fast-moving world of iOS gaming.

The OP will contain recommended games that released during the previous month. All the games listed will have been highlighted by the GAF community in one way or another. This way you can keep tabs on the best games and at the same time curate an excellent resource to look back on to find games you may have missed.

If you're a developer who wishes to have your game featured, please talk about your game in the thread and if the GAF community at large likes the game then your wish just might be granted. Please note that there's a difference between posting about a game you made and just advertising your game with no further interaction with the community, this thread is not for the latter and such advertising behavior is frowned upon.

Directory
1) Introduction & Recommended Games
2) Recommended Games continued
3) Upcoming Releases, Past Threads & Other Links


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Site | App Store
Craft, battle, and quest your way through Crashlands, an outlandish, story-driven Crafting RPG overflowing with sass!
Become Flux Dabes, a galactic trucker whose latest shipment gets derailed by a chin-strapped alien menace named Hewgodooko, leaving you stranded on an alien planet. As you hustle to retrieve your packages you’ll become enmeshed in a nefarious plot of world domination, which will require all of your wits and both of your glutes to overcome. Learn recipes from the local sentient life, make new friends, uncover ancient secrets and deadly bosses, tame everything and build yourself a home-away-from-home as you learn to thrive on planet Woanope.

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This is a pretty amazing game... don't compare it to don't starve.. this isn't a survival game really.. it's an action RPG.

Plays remarkably well on a phone to boot. Play this!
Picked it up on my ipad. Absolutely loving it. Maybe the best game I've played on my tablet.
Think Don't Starve, but not as brutally hard, sci-fi, more arcade-y, and with the humor you'd expect from Butterscotch Shenanigans. It has a lot of little touches that help alleviate some of the frustrations of the genre, like a limitless inventory and being able to teleport back to your base from anywhere on the map

That last one definitely helps to promote exploration when you don't have to trudge back home
Really loving Crashlands so far. I typically am not into crafting / survival type games, but this is an utter joy to play. It streamlines a lot of the monotaneous parts of the genre, even with simple things like auto equipping the tools you need, easy tracking of resources, teleportation, etc. The story and trademark Butterscotch Shenanigans humor and overall whimsical sci-fi atmosphere just is fantastic.
Hopping in to show my support! Bought this yesterday and ended up playing nonstop til 1am and I was planning on playing Dragon's Dogma!

...if you like crafting things and/or action RPGs, you have found your next addiction. By far my favorite IOS game in recent memory and at 5 bucks it's just a steal. 11/10
I don't really have experience with games like this...but man is this REALLY a fantastic experience across iOS! Such a great looking game on the iPad Pro. Also, very addictive!
Where have the last 2 hours of my life gone?

Wtf, this game. I did not expect this. Wow.

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Site | App Store
From the creator of rymdkapsel comes a puzzler you've never seen before.
twofold inc. is a humble puzzle game with stunning looks and mesmerizing mechanics.
Scroll the playfield to unravel the tiles, then make a path to clear them away.

The minimalist visuals hide a depth that will keep challenging and surprising as you master it.

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Okay, yeah, Twofold is fantastic. You guys are going to love it. It has that one-more-go appeal that the best arcade-y mobile games have - simple controls, simple gameplay, colorful vibrant aesthetic - with surprising depth. You have a limited number of moves and lives, so there's always that pressure of making the most efficient and highest-scoring chains you can
Twofold, Inc. is legit. Nearly missed my stop just now. It's so, so good.
Twofold Inc. is legit, swiping those tiles is a great puzzling mechanic and the music and art just bring it home. Only the introduction could be better as you can easily miss the tutorial text when you try to play.
Twofold is just great. It has that level of polish and simplicity that I look for in puzzle games. The recipe mechanic makes it feel like progress in each run, and each of the additional mechanics (rotating, square substitution) give you just enough options to feel like you could have saved a run.

I should have know I would love it. Rymdkapsel was great, but this is even better.

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Site | App Store
Circa Infinity is a brain-melting circular platformer by Kenny Sun, with a pulse-pounding soundtrack by Jack + Jim Fay.
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The other gem that released last night is Circa Infinity. It's a PC port; I had seen it before and thought it was just an auto-runner/endless runner, but it's not

It's a slick arcadey-puzzle platformer where you jump through circular levels, deftly evading enemies. The aesthetic is so stylish and the level design is really clever. An easy recommendation

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Site | App Store
Get immersed in a deep Neo-Noir story driven sniper adventure game.
You step into the role of a mysterious assassin. His motives - a secret. You did what had to be done to enter the 'Assembly', a criminal organization.
The mesmerizing atmosphere and thrilling story will glue you to your device.
While you work for the 'Assembly' you'll get your hands on various weapons. Sniper Rifles, Assault rifles, Pistols, Bombs and even your bare hands.

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Wanted to recommend Lonewolf. It's probably the most fun I've had with a sniper game on mobile. May not have the fancy graphics, but it's better and more diverse than Hitman Sniper IMO.

$1.99 to change it completely from F2P to premium is a bargain.
Dont usually play the genre, but I have to agree. Tight controls and good mission variety. And most sniper games seem to have stick figures or mediocre 3D visuals; the aesthetic here is way more stylish and appealing IMO

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Site | App Store
TIS-100 is an open-ended programming game by Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem and Infinifactory, in which you rewrite corrupted code segments to repair the TIS-100 and unlock its secrets. It’s the assembly language programming game you never asked for!
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So yeah, January just got a lot more interesting. The new game from Zachtronics (SpaceChem) got a mobile version a few days ago

Yes, it's good. It's very very good. It takes the psequdo-programming assembly line formula of SpaceChem and distills it to pure programming puzzles
There's a lot to love about this game, but especially the sound effects. They remind me so much of the old school terminals in Alien: Isolation on Sevastopol station.
Picked this up just from my prior experience with SpaceChem. I am loving it. I've spent the better half of my morning trying to solve some of these puzzles, and the other half of the morning optimizing some of my code. As you've gathered, I'm not being very productive at work today :)

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Site | App Store
Control Momoka as she hops and flies across her solar system in this 2.5D platforming adventure game.

Gameplay switches seamlessly from a platforming shooter within and between each of the planets, to exploration of the large planetary system using her spaceship. You will meet many characters, collect upgrades, and battle fearsome enemies as you explore Haruto to find out why its sun is dying, and how you will fix it.

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Early impressions, it's a really solid platformer. The music is nice and the levels are challenging enough to keep my interest. The design of the map when traveling through space is incredibly unique.

So far it's one of my favorite platformers this year and would easily recommend it if you have the money.

Really loving this so far. Incredibly disappointed in Apple with no feature for this outstanding game. Hope it still finds its way into the hands of many iOS gamers.

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Site | App Store
Dive into a fantastic musical odyssey, brought by an immersive soundtrack imagined by famous composers, including Wyclef Jean.
Go beyond by creating and sharing your own levels on ANY SONG with the included level editor.

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Hoiy crap is this good! Love the story and mix of gameplay. Music is phenomenal. Buy this!!!
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Still have to sing praises for Lost in Harmony. No, it's not perfect. There could be better transitions between the music tapping sections and the more runner obstacle based sections,but I still adore this game. The music alone is worth it. Add in some gorgeous artwork and a heart tugging story and it's a fantastic experience, even with its flaws
Oh man, Lost in Harmony is the best rhythm game I've played since Ouendan and EBA.
I'm torn, on first impression. The visual concepts are beautiful, but the gameplay and timing still feel a little loose. It feels like sightreading is pretty much out the window, since you can't really see any oncoming obstacles in time.

It feels like a game that Harmonix would make. Let's just hope it does better than their recent work.

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App Store
Join Ricks throughout the multiverse as they get swept up in the latest craze: Morty training! There are over 70 bizarre Mortys to recruit and train out there, including Mustache Morty, Wizard Morty, Cronenberg Morty and more. Assemble a dream team, then challenge rival Ricks by forcing your grandsons to battle each other. Command, combine and level up your Mortys to prove that you're the greatest Morty trainer of all space and time!
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I'm enjoying it a lot. Fan of the show, fan of Pokemon, win win.
It makes a great first impression and then it completely falls off and becomes a slog through uninteresting and simplistic battles. I expected more out of Adult Swim Games.
The game looks great, is easy to pick up and play (especially for people who played a Pokémon before). It is quite a fun and addicting game.

Not a fan of the pricing of the in app purchases. Would have liked to throw some small amount of money at the game as an appreciation, but for where I am in the game the in app purchases seem way overpriced (in euro). But like others already mentioned, these in app purchases are really optional and not needed at all.
 
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Site | App Store
Dungelot: Shattered Lands takes you on an epic roguelike dungeon-crawler adventure to defeat zombie cows, splat giant evil mushrooms, and generally get back home in one piece. Deceptively simple, ever so addictive.
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It's really good. Much better than the steaming pile that was the second one. Very polished and haven't hit any big bugs.But admittedly, I haven't sunk a lot of time into it due to Crashlands and tons of other stuff. Need to set aside more time with it.
I echo awp's impressions, though I've played a bit more and still adore it. Requires a hit of a grind as things are quite expensive and progress can be slow, but it's awesome.

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Site | App Store
Venture Kid is a lovingly crafted 8-bit retro action platformer that goes beyond just pixels and chiptunes. It shines with excellent level design, highly entertaining action levels, responsive controls and a great variety of bosses.
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Venture Kid is a pure joy. The controls are perfect on my 6s+, and it's just the right amount of difficulty for me. It's a lovely tribute to Mega Man, but in that it doesn't have much originality. It's fairly straight forward and not anything flashy, but it's the best Mega Man-like we've received on iOS yet.
I'm personally finding that game disappointingly dull to be honest. It does control well, I will give it credit for that. But the level design is very pedestrian and the bosses encounters are very boring due largely in part of the mountain of health they have but with very limited movesets.

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Site | App Store
Punch Club is a boxing tycoon management game with multiple branching story lines. Your goal is clear, but how you get there depends on whether you want to legitimately climb the rankings, or take the more ridiculous, shady route.
Along the way you'll want to focus your talents. Will you take the Way of the Tiger, the Way of the Turtle, or the Way of the [other one?]? Your strength, accuracy and agility all depends on whichever Way enlightens your path. Do you have stripes, or flippers?

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I can recommend this if you like sports-management games and/or Kairosoft games!
Very good management game with great and permanent references to eighties movies.

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Site | App Store
The rules are simple: tap an arrow to move it in the direction it faces. Make a row of 3 tiles of the same color and the tiles disappear.
If that sounds too easy, don't worry - you'll find yourself in situations that require clever manipulation of the game board. There's an assortment of objectives to keep you on your toes: tiles that chase you, tiles that must be matched within a few moves, tiles that must be protected, and lots more.

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Swapperoo is a lot of fun.
New puzzler from the devs of Quell:

Been playing it on Steam the past week or so, and it's a really interesting take on the Match-3. You can only move the triangular tiles and can only move in the direction they're pointing, so that alone makes matches a strategic affair of moving pieces around the grid

But then the devs throw all manner of tricky elements, from tiles that explode and end the game if you don't match them in a certain number of turns, to sawblade tiles that destroy the tiles that touch, and more.

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Site | App Store
A game about Censorship, Corruption and Newspapers
The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator taking place in a post-war country, governed by the recently elected Loyalist Party. As the editor of one of the last independent newspapers in the country, your job is to remove and edit the content of your paper, affecting the people’s opinion of both the rebels and the Loyalist government. With an increase of rebel activity and an ever watching government breathing down your neck, whose truth will you print?

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I actually did quite enjoy it, and I would disagree with some reviews that say it doesn't provoke empathy as Papers Please did. It doesn't to the same degree, cos there is a smaller cast of characters, it's just your office and your writers after all. But it does match PP in that it still has that oppressive atmosphere that has you want to achieve a greater task against a bigger power holding you down, and the stories give the world a sense of place, with many running stories across each week.

The major concern though is that it is much more limited than PP
It took me an hour to finish, and from what I can see endings aren't as varied as PP either; more variables that are affected in binary, depending on area allegiance or writer stress.

If you can get it really cheap it's worth a look, it's not bad but it is limited, a lesser Papers Please in almost every regard

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Site | App Store
Knotmania is a 3D physics puzzle arcade game where you embark on an exploration journey of an alien structure of rooms inhabited by the "Strings", half-like living creatures.
The Strings energy runs the structure, in order for the exploration to go on, one needs to stop the energy by unravelling the knots.

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Site | App Store
Captain Cowboy is a puzzle adventure set in a giant asteroid space maze.
Explore a huge handcrafted world and get lost in your quests for diamonds

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Site | App Store
I Have no Mouth, And I Must Scream is a classic point-and-click adventure game originally released in 1995 on PC. Based on a short story of the same title by Harlan Ellison, one of the most-acclaimed American science-fiction writers, I Have no Mouth, And I Must Scream immerses the player in a frightening post-apocalyptic atmosphere 109 years after a supercomputer named AM has wiped out humanity. Created during the War, AM hates all humans and has decided to make the last five survivors pay for what they’ve done. These survivors are now immortal, so AM can torture them forever for its own sadistic pleasure.
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A friend of mine has a blog and does regular roundups of iOS releases. http://pixelatedparadise.wordpress.com/

Adventures of Mana - February 4th
Ys Chronicles II - February 10th
Prism - February 18th
Talisman: The Horus Heresy
Dark Sword
Power Hover update
Love You To Bits - Maybe, was delayed to February in December
More releases to be added soon
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iOS Gaming January 2016 | Should old applications be forgot?

Visit the January 2016 thread for links to all 2015 iOS Gaming threads
Visit the January 2014 thread for links to December 2013 through November 2012 threads!

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This website keeps track of all the controller enabled games. It gets updated regularly.

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Genuine thanks to our iOS Gaming community for keeping these monthly threads alive!
Special thanks to Tunesmith for his fantastic thread format and month after month of hard work in maintaining these threads
Also thanks to gingerbeardman for the great thread title this month
 

awp69

Member
Okay never mind then, thought I saw some people on the TA forums talking about a delay but I guess they were misinformed.

It was delayed because it was originally supposed to launch simultaneously with the PC version in January. Maybe that's what they were talking about.

Actually even that was not a delay, but a misunderstanding in the media.
 

Oynox

Member
Uwe Rosenberg's 2-Player game Patchwork is coming to mobile via Digidiced (they also ported Le Havre The Inland Port) supposedly in February.

Damn, got me excited. Thought you meant Bulkypix's Lone Wolf

That would be a steep discount. I would pick it up immediately as well.
 

Pachimari

Member
Hmm, apparently there might be a chance of Final Fantasy IX releasing on Steam by tomorrow, so maybe we're close to an iOS release as well. The touch controls look good.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Quoting from Jan thread:

What are you guys playing these days? Aren't we gonna do some game nights? I have found myself spending time on games just before sleeping, and that's a nice feeling, and oh so comfy.

Marvel's Contest of Champions
I have always had this game on my frontpage, and always wanted to get into it. These past few days, I have tried doing a few more story quests, and I did my first online versus battles, and have won 2 out of 2 fights. It's honestly just one of the best games, and if not, the best fighter on a phone right now, even though I still have to understand every single item and its uses. Unlocking fighters and opening crystals is addicting.
I've been playing this one daily for over a year. My top iOS game currently despite its F2Pness.

If you're on a new account I recommend getting into 3v3 Arenas as soon as you can to get 3* and 4* champions. You're in a beginners bracket for 1 month at the start which nets you much less opposition and lower point milestones to reach for ranked prizes.

By the sound of things you're early on, if you have an old account I recommend simply starting over with a new one to make the most of the beginner bracket.


Speaking of other F2P titles, anyone playing Pirate Power! ? It's the new game from the Happy Street devs, which I seem to recall a few GAFers liked.
 

Pachimari

Member
Oh. My account is old and I'm just doing 1v1 fights. Should I really start all over with a new account? Lower point milestones sounds neat though. Yeah, might start over. I don't think I have any 3* or 4* heroes.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Oh. My account is old and I'm just doing 1v1 fights. Should I really start all over with a new account? Lower point milestones sounds neat though. Yeah, might start over. I don't think I have any 3* or 4* heroes.

I would recommend it if you plan on playing the game for any extended period of time. You can gain a significant head start so to speak by taking advantage of the beginner bracket time you're given. By having a new account you also get bonuses daily, the 4 hour free crystals are replaced with crystals that give 2-4 star shards instead (basically the ones that are on sale temporarily at the moment for units, but for free every 4 hours) and a few other things I forget.

It goes like this: Beginner bracket lasts 1 month, then you're moved to Intermediate and then after another month of that into Veteran (which contains everyone over 2 months of account age). With each successive move both the competition for ranked rewards and the set points milestones increase.

Another tip, never spend Units on premium crystals, outside of the forced one during the tutorial phase. Their % of getting anything other than a 2 star champ is negligible and units are better spent on Masteries or saving them over time (via Arenas and Quests) for the 3* (400 units) crystal offers. The offer pops up every 10 2* champs you get.
 
Two updates:
1) No current plans for Darkest Dungeon on mobile, but Red Hook will be looking into it after the Linux version and PS4/Vita ports are done
2) Devs of Warbits are hoping to have the game out in about 3 months, but it might be longer due some unforeseen issues that recently popped up.
 
Two updates:
1) No current plans for Darkest Dungeon on mobile, but Red Hook will be looking into it after the Linux version and PS4/Vita ports are done
2) Devs of Warbits are hoping to have the game out in about 3 months, but it might be longer due some unforeseen issues that recently popped up.
3 months? Aww, this game seems pretty much complete, I honestly wonder how much they still have left to do.

In other updates though I can pretty much guarantee that Binding of Isaac on iOS is happening, Tyrone Rodriguez can't stop hinting about it on his Twitter.
 
3 months? Aww, this game seems pretty much complete, I honestly wonder how much they still have left to do.

In other updates though I can pretty much guarantee that Binding of Isaac on iOS is happening, Tyrone Rodriguez can't stop hinting about it on his Twitter.
Hm...
What's your preferred bluetooth controller for iOS?
Hmmmm....
iOS game developers, have you encountered bluetooth controller lag in your game during dev? Known causes? Solutions? #indiedev

Yeah, it's happening
 

awp69

Member
Two updates:
1) No current plans for Darkest Dungeon on mobile, but Red Hook will be looking into it after the Linux version and PS4/Vita ports are done
2) Devs of Warbits are hoping to have the game out in about 3 months, but it might be longer due some unforeseen issues that recently popped up.

Wow. Three months? Was kind of hoping from the comments made that it was closer.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Hey, I was quoted for the OP (and pretty much said the same as okno, lol).

Still on the verge of buying Punch Club. The game sounds like it is made for me but I am a bit wary because some people criticized the grind.
The game goes off the deep end about two thirds through the story and becomes a literal grind ontop of a grind. Made me uninstall the game, liked it a lot up until that point.
 

Pachimari

Member
I would recommend it if you plan on playing the game for any extended period of time. You can gain a significant head start so to speak by taking advantage of the beginner bracket time you're given. By having a new account you also get bonuses daily, the 4 hour free crystals are replaced with crystals that give 2-4 star shards instead (basically the ones that are on sale temporarily at the moment for units, but for free every 4 hours) and a few other things I forget.

It goes like this: Beginner bracket lasts 1 month, then you're moved to Intermediate and then after another month of that into Veteran (which contains everyone over 2 months of account age). With each successive move both the competition for ranked rewards and the set points milestones increase.

Another tip, never spend Units on premium crystals, outside of the forced one during the tutorial phase. Their % of getting anything other than a 2 star champ is negligible and units are better spent on Masteries or saving them over time (via Arenas and Quests) for the 3* (400 units) crystal offers. The offer pops up every 10 2* champs you get.
How do I even log out of my current account to create a new one? I can't seem to find anything when I click my profile or settings. I have logged out of the Kabam account but not my Contest of Champions account.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
How do I even log out of my current account to create a new one? I can't seem to find anything when I click my profile or settings. I have logged out of the Kabam account but not my Contest of Champions account.

Ah, if you've linked a Game Center account to Kabam's account you're going to have to contact Kabam Support to unlink the account before you can re-do it.That or use a different Game Center account.

One can have two accounts at once if you don't link GC to Kabam (can change which one is logged in in the settings).
 

awp69

Member
Forsaken Media has a sci-fi runner coming out this week that looks pretty cool. F2P with only an IAP to remove ads.

Edit: opps, had a You Tube link. Deleted to keep the OP page running smooth.
 
Forsaken Media has a sci-fi runner coming out this week that looks pretty cool. F2P with only an IAP to remove ads.
Idk, seems kind of simple. After Bug Heroes and Block Fortress and Phantom Rift, a runner doesn't exactly get me excited. Hopefully their next game is more interesting
 
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