It has been raining here for the past week, which is good for two things: the plants and my game time. I’ve had lots of it, and consequently this week’s line-up has been extensively tested for fun, value, and boredom killing powers.
Hop in and have a look; you’re guaranteed to find something worth playing. And while you’re at it, let us know what you’ve been occupying your game time with!
Storm in a Teacup
Storm in a Teacup
Let’s start with a Chillingo offering; one can’t go too far wrong with these. Developed by Cobra Mobile, Storm in a Teacup is a platforming adventure with a great deal of visual flair that helps offset its lack of innovative gameplay mechanics.
Rendered in beautiful Retina-ready graphics that resemble a cross between the recent Zelda games’ cel-shaded style and LittleBigPlanet, Storm in a Teacup is certainly pretty to look at. Gameplay is simplistic but satisfying. You play as Storm, exploring a series of levels created by his brother cloud. There are things to collect, enemies to defeat, and secrets to uncover…so pretty much the usual for the genre. And that’s not a bad thing.
Sometimes it’s nice to keep it simple and present the basics in an attractive new guise, and Storm in a Teacup manages this very well. It’s also universal, so you can play it on your iPad too!
Price: $0.99
Developer: Cobra Mobile
Download: App Store
Zenonia 3
Zenonia 3
The Zenonia series has been a mainstay of the iOS RPG world, and this latest instalment takes many steps forward to outshine its predecessors. Unfortunately, it also takes a step back in the form of a “Zen Points” system that translates to you having to pay more money to buy basic items in game. Not cool, GAMEVIL.
Beyond that though (a flaw that the fans have been quick to criticize the developers for), the game itself is magnificent. If it wasn’t true before, it certainly is now the case that Zenonia could have easily been a Nintendo DS game. The world of Midgard continues to evolve and become deeper, more fascinating, more richly developed. It’s an adventure well worth taking, for fans of the series and newcomers alike.
The presentation is also as polished as ever, with vibrant sprite designs and a superb retro-RPG audio. The translation, on the other hand, still provides some unintentional amusement (“enimate dead!”) so hopefully they’ll work more on that for the next update. Altogether though, these are small quibbles compared to the game’s grand quality.
Price: $4.99
Developer: GAMEVIL Inc.
Download: App Store
Mooniz
Mooniz
Mooniz is a thoroughly engrossing and refreshing take on the match-up style of gameplay pioneered by Bejeweled and copied by…well, nearly everyone. Unlike many of its competitors, Mooniz offers a departure from the typical gameplay not by adding powerups, but by reoving the rigidity inherent in the genre.
Rather than have all the little critters conform to a strict grid-based layout on the screen, in Mooniz, they just sort of tumble haphazardly around and squish into each other. The result is a feeling of liberation and joyful abandon as you pop the little suckers by tapping clumps of them to rack up points. As expected, the more you take out the better, and there are several power-ups/special items that you can select before each round to help you out as you play.
Nailing the classic addictive+cute formula, Mooniz succeeds on many levels and is well worth a look.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Adrenaline Monki / Mooniz Interactive Ltd.
Download: App Store
Prince Penny
Prince Penny
Prince Penny, our next game, is a unique one. You control a prince riding his chariot, and your goal is to collect coins for the kingdom treasury. Simple enough premise, but what sells it is the Sonic-like perspective and responsive tilt controls that allow you to steer the good prince away from obstacles.
Said obstacles include mundane trees and logs, but also reach to mad cows and other interesting impediments as you progress. The levels are procedurally generated, which means you’ll never play the same one twice, and the pacing is patient enough that you don’t get frustrated while learning to manoeuvre the prince’s cart.
A hand-drawn aesthetic keeps the game looking bright and cheery, and along with combos, you can also activate your helpful coin-collecting pig companion to help shake things up. If you’re looking for something a little different in an iOS game, then Prince Penny should be on your list.
Arno the Hunter
Arno the Hunter
Speaking of unique, our last entry for this week is Arno the Hunter. This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful games to come out in the last little while. The spectacular artwork looks nothing like the cutesy icon, and has far more in common with Machinarium’s look than anything else.
In the game, you play as Arno, a rolling archer creature. The game features a combination of tilt and touch controls: you tilt to roll Arno back and forth across the level, and tap to shoot his bow at the various nasty enemies that come flying or crawling at you from above. String together multiple hits for deadly combos that catapult your score up high, and beware of huge bosses that take patience and good aim to eliminate.
Various special attacks are also available to help you when the going gets tough, but I found myself reaching for them even during normal gameplay so I could buy myself more time to look at the gorgeous backdrops. This is a truly artistic game and it features strong gameplay to boot, so grab it while it’s hot!
Price: $0.99
Developer: Jonathan Kreuzer
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
There’s no shortage of great play to be had in those titles, but you have no doubt found other great games that we missed, so pop into the comments and mention them so we can all enjoy!