Happy October, friends!
This week, we’re taking a look at some impressive new games that will have you uncovering a mystery, seeking lost panties, revisiting the world of Angry Birds from a different perspective, and more! Click through and enjoy another roundup of App Store gaming goodness…
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Wimp: Who Stole My Panties
To start us off today, we’ve selected one of the easiest examples of a “must own” game we’ve seen in a long time. Wimp: Who Stole My Panties is a physics platformer that’s so incredibly polished and confident that it’s hard to believe it runs on your phone.
Similar to Mutant Blob and even Sound Shapes, Wimp is a cute character surrounded by a blob whose panties were stolen. Life is tough sometimes. To get them back, you’ll venture through 50 levels making use of an incredible diversity of abilities and encountering a similar panoply of hazards, environmental and otherwise. The game encourages exploration and trains you to play skillfully, patiently giving you new abilities and leading you through the world in an effortlessly engaging manner.
Superb animations are the stand-out visual treat here — they’re organic and numerous and help make the game world feel truly alive. Strong character design and overall production values help establish Wimp as a magnificent and fun addition to the App Store that you won’t want to miss.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Flexile Studio
Download: App Store
Bad Piggies
You’ve probably already bought this, purely by reflex, but in case you weren’t already aware: Rovio, makers of Angry Birds, has released a new game called Bad Piggies!
As you might imagine, it stars the antagonists of the previous games in the series, this time as the protagonists. What makes Bad Piggies special is that it is in fact a fresh gameplay mechanic underpinning the title, which asks you to make use of the given components to construct vehicles for the piggies in an effort to get them through the game’s 60 standard levels. This is a very open-ended request, but as it turns out there aren’t actually that many possible solutions to each level — a pity, given the concept’s potential.
Nevertheless, Bad Piggies is hugely entertaining and features the same familiar Rovio level of quality. If you’re getting stuck on a level, a quick IAP will buy you some “mechanic” piggies who can automatically build the correct craft for you, leaving you to simply pilot it to safety. It remains to be seen if this can compete with its predecessor, but even if it doesn’t, Bad Piggies is a solid game and a fun title to put in your pocket.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Rovio Entertainment Ltd
Download: App Store
Amerzone — The Explorer’s Legacy HD
Years ago, in the era of PC gaming, the name Microids might have been more recognizable. Those of you in your twenties might remember Microids as the company that published the fantastic adventure games of Benoit Sokal, the fantastic French game designer who brought us Syberia and its sequel. Now, his first game Amerzone — The Explorer’s Legacy, is brought to the iPhone.
Originally an episodic tale, Amerzone follows the story of a young journalist following the trail of an eccentric explorer called Emile Valembois, whose final expedition was to a place called Amerzone in search of a mythical white bird and its eggs. The mystery of the white birds is richly developed as you venture through various landscapes and solve puzzles. If you’re familiar with the Myst series, then the gameplay will be very familiar to you.
The game’s HD graphics have been especially reworked for this iOS version, making it more than a simple port of the PC original. Superb vistas and detailed artwork draw you into the game’s bewitching story. For patient gamers looking for both style and substance, Amerzone — The Explorer’s Legacy is a game worth spending time with.
Super Monsters Ate My Condo!
The hysterical arcade match-three game from [adult swim], the original Monsters Ate My Condo! is finally followed up by this Super sequel. Eschewing the endless game mode of the former for a tight two minute timed mode, the sequel is deeper but more focused.
Besides sporting a two-minute main game mode, the sequel is otherwise fairly similar to its predecessor when it comes to core gameplay. What is new is a fantastic new mission system that builds on the goals from the original. The new mission system helps you level up and unlock rewards including new floor types, and the fact that there are always clear achievements to strive for as you’re playing help boost the replay value.
Another addition is less encouraging: the booster system can offer you sweet point bonuses, but it’s entirely based on a new in-game currency system tied to — you guessed it — in-app purchases. This means that it will be possible for players with deeper pockets to buy their way to higher leaderboard positions without skill. This is an unfortunate side effect of an otherwise fun power-up scheme, and does little to detract from the overall experience of the game, which remains excellent.
Price: $0.99
Developer: [adult swim]
Download: App Store
Electric Tentacle
Electric Tentacle is technically a sequel to Nano Panda, but the gameplay is totally new thanks to a fresh mechanic, and the folks at Unit9 have done a wonderful job of making this feel totally unique.
You and your fellow animal pals have been shrunken down to mini size by an alien assailant, and now you’re on the run. The one-touch gameplay revolves around using your finger to place the pivot point of an electric bolt that automatically drags you toward it — along with any of the animal buddies you’ve saved so far. This swiftly leads to tricky situations where you’re swinging a bundle of cute animals through each level, collecting stars and dealing with the nasty aliens along the way.
Addictive, challenging and vividly presented, Electric Tentacle is a great game for zapping away some extra moments of free time.
What Have You Been Playing?
That’s all for this week’s haul, folks — see you again next week with some fresh titles to keep your fingers busy!