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The Official iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming Thread

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whatdidyousay said:
There isn't a specific day for app releases, right? Not like how music comes out on Tuesdays...
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A company can set a specific release date I believe but app releases can happen anytime over the course of a week although supposedly no new game approvals take place over the weekend.
 
The Match 3 genre (or really match 3 or greater) revolve around the mechanic of creating a three-in-a-row line of identical pieces to score points or solve puzzles.

Arguably the most popular genre on the iphone due to the controls being very well suited to the platform this is not an exhaustive list but merely a listing of the most popular or well regarded games of the genre on the platform.




Bejeweled 2. Probably the most popular matching game on the planet currently.
Itunes Link
Review
Video


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Trism. One of the early iphone games that received critical praise and put matching games on the map for the iphone.
Itunes Link
Review
Video


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PuzzleQuest Chapter 1 and 2. Originally considered a weak port Transgaming put a lot of efforts into updates and has turned PuzzleQuest into one of the top games on the platform. Easily 40 hours and above of gameplay. Lite Demo available
Itunes Link
Lite Link
Review
Video


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Smiles are a family of matching games on the platform but they all have been well received and well reviewed. Lite version is available.
Itunes Link
Smiles Family of Games
Lite Version
Review
Video


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Critter Crunch. Well reviewed unique take on the match game. Lite Version available.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video


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Aurora Feint 2: The Beginning. Originally a free game Aurora Feint now costs but it's not an unreasonable price. Aurora Feint is actually a series of games with one edition, The Arena, being an online multiplayer extension. It's a battle match game with leveling similar to puzzle quest or Pokemon Puzzle League in some aspects.
Itunes Link
Aurora Feint series of games
Review
Video


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Samurai Puzzle Battle. Match gaming focusing on combat and strategy with a more hardcore appeal than is usual for the genre. Lite Version is available.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
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Jewel Quest 2. Similar to Bejeweled but with its own twist. Sometimes copying the market leader isn't a bad thing.
Itunes Link
Review
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Gem Spinner. One of the more popular match games over at the Touch Arcade Forums. Well reviewed. Lite Version is available
Itunes Link
Lite Version


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Chop Sushi. Unique is an understatement. Definitely an original matching game.
Itunes Link
Review
Video


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Kraut. One of the more popular match games over at the Touch Arcade Forums. Lite Version is available.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Video


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Gaia. One of the more popular match games over at the Touch Arcade Forums. Well reviewed. Lite Version is available
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video


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Gemmed. One of the more popular match games over at the Touch Arcade Forums. Well reviewed. Lite Version is available. Well supported title from devs.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video


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Orbitsu. One of the more popular match games over at the Touch Arcade Forums. Extremely well reviewed on the app store. Lite Version is available.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Video


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Dapple. Really pretty match 3 style title that is based on the interesting concept of combing colors to create new colors to create the matching chains. Lite version is available.
Itunes Link
Lite Version
Review
Video


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Interesting Puzzler called Ancient Frog. Probably not for everybody but it looks like something different and the touch arcade forums and the early reviews seem to like it.

Itunes Link $4.99
Video

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We've really never seen or played anything quite like Ancient Frog before on any platform, not just the iPhone. It takes special artistic gifts to make something like this--a game that is so playable, so beautiful, and so stunningly out of left field that even jaded critics like us can't help but rave about it. Don't let Ancient Frog's strange concept put you off: this is a living, breathing masterpiece of a puzzle game, and it easily rates among App Store royalty.
The closest analogy to Ancient Frog we can come up with is the well-loved party game Twister, but there's so much more going on here that the comparison fails almost immediately. The game's main mechanic is superficially similar. You control a frog resting on a leaf, eyeing a tasty fly on the other side of the screen, but you can only traverse the leaf by attaching your hands and feet to special sticky spots. However, frogs aren't endlessly flexible, and you can only move one limb at a time; the others must remain anchored to the leaf. Meanwhile, the spots are laid out in such a way that the necessary stepping stones are just out of reach, requiring you to plan alternate routes and flex and contort your froggy limbs across their full range of motion to move carefully forward.

So close, and yet so far away...
Making it to the ending position--where the frog is crouched right in front of the fly and ready for dinner--takes a lot of experimentation and non-linear thinking. You might have to painstakingly turn around and execute a backwards approach to get some levels right, because the frog's hind legs are both longer and more flexible than its "hands." Sometimes sticky spots that appear irrelevant or inaccessible are the key to nailing a level at the par number of moves. It actually feels a bit like scaling a sheer surface in a rock-climbing gym, only without the taxing physicality, and taken at your own pace. There's no time or moves limit, and every level you beat opens up several more, so you can skip around to other levels if you get stuck. The game offers a simple swipe maneuver to undo (or redo) any number of moves, although we found that it didn't always recognize our swipes on the first try. We also ran into an odd bug (not the edible kind) that replayed the tutorial in the middle of the game once or twice during our review. We hope it will be addressed in an update.
As fantastic as Ancient Frog's gameplay is (and it is fantastic), the game's graphics and sound are even better. The six frog species appearing in the game are rendered with an uncanny clarity that borders on photo-realistic, and their fully articulated movement and lifelike animations are nothing short of astounding. We love the game's interface, which is filled with leaves, flowers, and other natural motifs, and the twitters, chirps and buzzes that accompany play sound like they're straight out of the habitat. It's like carrying a little rain forest around in your phone.
Ancient Frog is a real achievement from top to bottom, and it might just be our new favorite iPhone game; it's even more staggering when you consider that the whole thing was put together by one guy! It's another example of the immense pool of creative and technical talent tapped by the App Store, as well as another step along the iPhone's path to ownership of the indie development scene.
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http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/ancient-frog-review
 
I would love an official response as to why the Wordjong dictionary is so limited. "shit" is a word but "sturm" isn't? And yes, it does take a few foreign words as I've had Spanish versions of words accepted.
 
bune duggy said:
I would love an official response as to why the Wordjong dictionary is so limited. "shit" is a word but "sturm" isn't? And yes, it does take a few foreign words as I've had Spanish versions of words accepted.
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Haha, yeah - the game accepts "sex" but not "sexual" which just confused me.
 
Stoney your past few posts have been fantastic, thanks from me too.

I bought iDracula and Sway tonight and tried Katamari Lite. First things first, everyone needs to buy iDracula right now. It's fantastic and it's only a dollar, my God. Sway seems awesome too but the controls escaped me for most of my time with it, but I'm definitely excited to play more. Katamari seems awesome--there was definitely some slowdown but it was mostly minor and the gameplay and presentation were both still great.
 
I just got an iPhone and until now was totally oblivious to the gaming possibilities. I've got ScummVM and I'm digging through old boxes to harvest ROMs.

I was trying to think what sort of games work well with the simplistic iPhone interface beyond the old point and click adventures, and one really stood out: Defender of the Crown (one of the jewels in the Amiga crown). It's available for free as a Flash game:
http://www.cinemaware.com/browser/dotc/final.asp

Does anyone know if it (or something similar) is available for the iPhone? It's fun, it's fairly quick, and the interface is well suited to the iPhone. Seems like a good money making opportunity for somebody...
 
Random thought of the day: I would KILL for Diablo II getting iPhone'd

Edit: Either Diablo itself, or a competent enough clone. For emphasis: I would do unspeakable, unforgivable things for this.
 
R Squared said:
Random thought of the day: I would KILL for Diablo II getting iPhone'd

Edit: Either Diablo itself, or a competent enough clone. For emphasis: I would do unspeakable, unforgivable things for this.
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Tapping the screen furiously for hours at a stretch?
 
Alright update on Sentinel. Boring. Pretty but boring. Only 4 types of enemies. Just the same thing over and over for 60+ waves. The towers are unoriginal and upgrades aren't visually most of the time. While the tower might change a tiny tiny bit (adding a single light) the projectile only changes at the machine guns final level.

Unlike Geodefense each game takes a long time. The first map was 30 minutes and I just played the second for the first time and it took me more than an hour. In between waves there is an nearly unbearable wait between them. The game displays the score, your bonus and the next enemy over a span of like 10 seconds. While absolutely nothing happens.

Just went back to Geodefense and I think I will continue to play it. Until more is added to Sentinel. They need some variety and make the towers more diverse.
 
Stoney Mason said:
http://www.windowsgames.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1853&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

iPhoneSlay.png
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I totally recommend this game to anyone who's looking for a quality strategy game. Its obviously a port, but it plays well and there's absolutely a ton of replay value. I think I've encountered a bug where when you make a baron, you can't move them. But I've emailed the dev and am awaiting feedback. At $3, I think its a total steal. (Oh and its so easy on your battery too).

edit// That bug is worse than I thought. I'd hold off until its fixed. I've played through 3 matches now and its getting apparent that you'll be wanting those barons to be able to move so you can kill the knights on the map. Sounds like he knows about the bug and will be working on it.

Slay on iTunes
 
DevelopmentArrested said:
sway or zen bound
choose one so broke
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Zen Bound.

But really, depends on what kind of experience you want the games really aren't similar, watch ZB's gameplay videos.
 
This is going to sound kinda crazy but the iPhone is becoming my primary platform. I mean, I have my phone with me where ever I go, the games are cheap, some are extremely addictive. And besides all the puzzle and tower defense games, I actually have a pretty diverse line-up on my phone with old school JRPG Vay, action-adventure game Hero of Sparta, platformers like Toy Bot and Super Monkey Ball, and strategy games like Galcon, and racing games like Days of Thunder. I love my iPhone!
 
I don't think it's crazy at all. While my 360 gets played for and hour or two at a time, if I added all the 15-20 minute iPhone sessions together I probably doubled my 360 play for this past month.
 
Stoney Mason said:
Itunes Link
Video



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Yay! I've been waiting for this! I had 'Tap Tap Revenge' on my search terms and have been checking throughout the day :lol .

Thanks for the heads up!:D
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Flunkie said:
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Btw, TouchArcade is no longer credible to me. Every game they feature and praise is because the developer shuffled some cash their way. The people at the forums are retards.
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I disagree I think they do a pretty good job and despite whatever goes on behind the scenes they generally do posts on good games or call them out when a game is poor. Alpine Racer.

As far as the forums, it depends on whom you listen to. Just like GAF you have people who are clueless and some who provide good insight and spotlight some games that don't receive a lot of hype. I've ended up with some good games based on their forums.
 
Stoney Mason said:
I disagree I think they do a pretty good job and despite whatever goes on behind the scenes they generally do posts on good games or call them out when a game is poor. Alpine Racer.

As far as the forums, it depends on whom you listen to. Just like GAF you have people who are clueless and some who provide good insight and spotlight some games that don't receive a lot of hype. I've ended up with some good games based on their forums.
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I'm fine with you disagreeing, but I think I've had enough. Alpine Racer is the first instance in a long while that I've seen them openly bash a game. While I agree that not everyone on the forums is bad, the percentage of stupid people is far above that of GAF's. :P

One note about the forums: The developer posting that was at an all-time high when promo codes were made possible seemed to have died down significantly. Understandable, but..
 
Tap Tap 2 is so awesome. I love holding down one column while tapping the others. Does anyone else think it's laggy though? It could just be me sucking at the game, but it seems like there's some slowdown.

EDIT: Seems to be stabilizing aside from random crashes. This fuzz is good.
 
Flunkie said:
I'm fine with you disagreeing, but I think I've had enough. Alpine Racer is the first instance in a long while that I've seen them openly bash a game. While I agree that not everyone on the forums is bad, the percentage of stupid people is far above that of GAF's. :P.
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Well, which of their games that they didn't bash were horrible? Maybe they just tend to choose to talk about the games that look like they'll be good, and end up right most of the time.
 
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