iPhone Game Friday: New Releases

We’re waving goodbye to another month, and since school and other such commitments are beginning to loom, we’d like to take this opportunity to give you plenty of ways to keep yourself distracted — with games, of course.

Click through to see this week’s picks for best fresh App Store titles!

iBlast Moki 2

iBlast Moki 2

Although it’s been some time since its release, the original iBlast Moki remains one of the most popular games ever released for the iPhone, so it’s no surprise that its brand new sequel is getting people excited.

As with the first, iBlast Moki 2 is a fiendish puzzle game that follows the misadventures of little creatures called Mokis. After rescuing them in the first game, you’ll find yourself helping them find their way back home now. Each level requires you to plant bombs and various other contraptions near them in an effort to blast them into the portal that will take them to their village.

It’s a simple setup, polished to perfection, with much improved graphics and music. iBlast Moki’s strength has always been its incredible ability to keep you playing, and with 90+ levels you’ve got a lot to see in this excellent sequel.

Price: $0.99 (Introductory Price)
Developer: Godzilab
Download: App Store

Rogue Sky

Rogue Sky

If flying is your thing, you’ll want to have a close look at Rogue Sky. Who would have thought hot air balloons could be so exciting? In Rogue Sky you’ll be playing as one in an arcade-style challenge.

Each level will require you to navigate the skies with care and precision as you blast enemies, avoid danger and keep collecting coins. It’s worth highlighting how superbly responsive and fluid the controls are. Sometimes touch-based controls can feel contrived, but here they’ve been fine-tuned to interact perfectly with the animations and respond exactly as you want them to.

The animations themselves are silky smooth and beautiful to look at, with environments sporting an artistic combination of hand-drawn, high-contrast art and live 3D models. Rogue Sky is without a doubt one of the finest flying games on the App Store and should keep you busy with its variety of gameplay modes and unlockable content.

Price: $0.99
Developer: PebbleBug Studios
Download: App Store

Air Penguin

Air Penguin

If you’re not into flying, like everyone’s favourite flightless birds, then Air Penguin may be more up your alley with its bouncing, tilt-controlled madness. Produced by the experts at Gamevil (known for the Zenonia series, among others), Air Penguin is a deceptively simple action game with just the right balance of challenge and addictiveness.

As you hop and skate from platform to platform, you’ll have to be careful with the controls to avoid going for an unintentional swim. The controls are tilt-only and are not in any way frustrating or inconsistent. The game can be tough, but it’s a legitimate skill challenge rather than the product of bad design, which makes it a title that you’ll find yourself returning to for just one more level.

The inclusion of a survival mode also ensures endless replay value as you hone your skills on the ice. As you keep playing and collecting fish, you’ll be able to unlock all sorts of items and achievements, or, if you’re lazy, you can also purchase fish via in-app purchases and grab the upgrades immediately. Either way, Air Penguin is an entertaining and worthy time passer.

Price: $0.99
Developer: GAMEVIL Inc.
Download: App Store

Cave Mice

Cave Mice

It’s easy to see Cave Mice as a sort of Doodle Jump in reverse, but to its credit, it brings more than just a reversal of direction to the table, resulting in a solid, engaging, and well designed survival game.

As you descend down the hole to retrieve the fallen cheese, you’ll be confronted with a series of obstacles, from basic rocky outcroppings to moving boulders, falling rocks and vicious enemies. Though you’re able to defend yourself by throwing cheese pieces that you’ve collected at these fiends, the object of the game is not only to descend as deep as possible, but also to collect as much cheese as possible, so you’ll have to conserve ammo.

It ends up being a rewarding added layer of complexity and when taken with the charming presentation and solid gameplay mechanics, you may find yourself liking Cave Mice more than similar games that have you climbing instead!

Price: $0.99
Developer: Appicus
Download: App Store

Phoenix HD

Phoenix HD

It’s always nice to close with a freebie, and this week we’re ending with an HD update to one of the App Store’s favourite shoot ‘em up games: Phoenix HD.

Perhaps the best way to describe Phoenix HD is simply: it’s a beautiful and incredibly flexible entry into the genre that not only boasts procedurally generated environments and enemies, but also an adaptive AI system that tailors the difficulty to your ability to make sure that you’re always being perfectly challenged. It’s not only effective in theory, as the systems both work finely in practice too.

Somewhere in between realizing how cool it is to have an endless, personalized shoot ‘em up and marvelling at the silky smooth graphics, you’ll come to the conclusion that it’s quite a deal for a free game. You’ll be able to pay for other ships if you want, but with the variety of power-ups and the endless variations in enemies and difficulty, you’re unlikely to ever feel that you’re not getting a full experience without in Phoenix HD.

Price: Free
Developer: Firi Games
Download: App Store

What Have You Been Playing?

We hope you’ll have fun with these, but don’t hesitate to mention others in the comments. Your feedback and suggestions are always appreciated!

Jim Toomey: Learning from Sherman the Shark


Just because you missed that awesome conference, doesn’t mean that you can’t still watch the lectures! This weekend we’re sharing an inspiring talk by, Jim Toomey, creator of Sherman the Shark. During this talk you will see Jim sketch some of his favorite sea creatures live onstage, while he shares his love of the ocean and the stories it can tell.

Continue reading “Jim Toomey: Learning from Sherman the Shark”

Interview With Martin Perhiniak: Getting an Adobe Certification

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Psdtuts author, Martin Perhiniak. Martin is the author of our Photoshop Basix and Digital Art for Beginners Series, and is an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor. I frequently introduce Martin as an Adobe Certified Expert so in this interview I decided to ask him exactly what that means.

In our interview we discussed several topics including; how a person can become a certified expert, how you can prepare for the exam, and what you could gain by getting your certification. Martin also had some fun quizzing me with some questions that could be found on the exam. So please take a moment to watch this roughly 40 minute interview and see if I passed the test.



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