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Android or iPhone Games...

Started by small_world, October 17, 2010, 10:15:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

small_world

Yeah, I'm aware that there exists a "Cunty apps for iPhones" thread elsewhere, however this one here's for gamers.
I recently got an HTC desire. And it's awesome, although I'm concered that it's having a huge impact on my concentration span. But fuck that, I want to smash some more birds into green faces and that... So here it is.

Angry Birds - Android
Yup, everyone's seen this one, but I only had the free trial version until a friend mentioned that it was currently up on the market as a free download.[nb]This is one of the main reasons I thought I'd get this thread up, if it's free tell EVERYONE![/nb]
I'm currently stuck (somewhere dissapointingly early on) but i'll go back to it later, fucking birds....


Air Control - Android
I don't have the full version.. Yet... But it's only a matter of time.
Similar to other flight control games, starts pretty easy and very swiftly ramps up the difficulty. So far my favourite game, It's very addictive and in that way that means when you leave the game and go about your normal life in the real world you find your brain contemplating situations using the rules of the game. That fork can't go in that slot, it's gonna block the knives!!!
Anyway, my top score is around 280, and I'm gonna keep going until I get my name up on one of the highscore boards.


Battleflood - Android
Again, I really am going to start paying money... But so far I'm still with the free version. It's a great tactical, turn based game. The idea is that you need to take control of the board. You choose from one of 6 colours (4-7 in the full version) and turn a coloured block that's touching your coloured block the same colour (it's simple really). Playing against the computer (phone) you can choose several difficulty levels, and to make things tougher change the turn speed...


Unblock Me - Android
Even with the free version this game comes packed full of puzzles. The idea is simple, slide the blocks, get the object block out of the box. With hundreds of levels tis game will take an age to finish. But the puzzles vary in difficulty, and soe you can get stuck on for ages.


Speed Anatomy - Android
A 'point at stuff' medical quiz game. From main organs to very specific medical thingies. Ifyou get more than 50% on a level you progress to the next level... Simples? Go on then, point at the Cricothyroid Ligament....


So what have you been playing?[nb]A friend of mine has TopGun for the iPhone and it looks the muts nuts. [/nb]

Penfold

I spent most of the week on Trainyard Express

Recently bought the full version on sale.

The rest of my time is spent playing Bejeweled Blitz, I got over 450,000 points once and smiled for a week, until the scoreboard reset.

Famous Mortimer

Homerun Battle 3D

Android, about $5

It's as simple as a game can get, but you can be a zombie in it!

Rolf Harris

I'm also on the HTC Desire, games are a great way to while away the commute. I'e also just started playing Angry Birds, before that mainly Solitaire (the 'Ken Magic' version, top rated on the market and works well), as well as Totemo, a deceptively simple little puzzler. I'm stuck somewhere around level 40 on that one.

EDIT: Oh, and Alchemy as well. Basically you start with the four elements - earth, water, fire, wind (I think wind was the fourth one) - and you have to combine items to make new things. More addictive than it sounds.

MojoJojo

Just found Pirates and Traders, (Android, Free/Ads). A turn based version of Pirates! It needs some work still (ships need balancing some, with my current Pirate I had one difficult fight at the begginning, then nicked thier ship and been almost untouchable since then), but definitely good for a few hours, and can be played in short bursts.

Also, Slitherlink is a pretty good implementation of Slitherlink [nb] Wiki tells me "also known as Fences, Takegaki, Loop the Loop, Loopy, Ouroboros, Suriza and Dotty Dilemma"[/nb], which could just do with some set puzzles in addition to the randomly generated ones so you get some sense of progress.

VegaLA

I do enjoy playing 'Word Warp' on the iPhone but the Android version is simply terrible! The interface really needs a slap of Shiseido  on it!

Nibbsy

On the iPhone, but probably available on Android too:

Cut The Rope - nice physics based puzzler.

Plants vs Zombies - hugely addictive tower defence strategy game. Never gets too hard, but never gets dull either and ends just before things get boring.

Words With Friends - basically Scrabble, with the scores and multipliers changed slightly but just enough to keep the lawyers at bay. Advantage over the official Scrabble app being that you can play over the internet with friends or randoms.

MojoJojo

Game Dev Story - ipod, a little expensive, but gaming crack.

Management sim of a game company.

fat_abbott

Alchemy on Android.

Mix two things, make something new. Bizarrely addictive.

Still Not George

Quote from: small_world on October 17, 2010, 10:15:52 PM
Angry Birds - Android
Yup, everyone's seen this one, but I only had the free trial version until a friend mentioned that it was currently up on the market as a free download.[nb]This is one of the main reasons I thought I'd get this thread up, if it's free tell EVERYONE![/nb]
I'm currently stuck (somewhere dissapointingly early on) but i'll go back to it later, fucking birds....

Holy fucking shit. You realise that's just Crush The Castle with a different skin? That's totally shameless.

MojoJojo

I'm amazed you've not heard of it before, it's been the top grossing app on the iphone for about 6 months.

Tbf, it's not just a straight reskin - there are several different birds, some of which have extra abilities triggered by an extra screen press. Also, the presentation is pretty excellent.
It's an OK game, but it's success is more than a bit baffling - it quickly gets annoying as the control mechanism is far too crude, and the whole thing devolves into luck. But apparently people don't mind that.

Still Not George

Quote from: MojoJojo on November 08, 2010, 04:13:39 PM
I'm amazed you've not heard of it before, it's been the top grossing app on the iphone for about 6 months.
I don't actually play mobile phone games of any kind, and I only dev Android (cos I have a guy down the corridor I can toss the iOS stuff to) so I have little idea what's riding high. The idea that it's a fairly direct rip of a years-old Flash game with a couple of cosmetic tweaks is deeply fucking depressing.

jutl

Quote from: Still Not George on November 08, 2010, 04:33:48 PM
I don't actually play mobile phone games of any kind, and I only dev Android (cos I have a guy down the corridor I can toss the iOS stuff to) so I have little idea what's riding high. The idea that it's a fairly direct rip of a years-old Flash game with a couple of cosmetic tweaks is deeply fucking depressing.

The work Rovio did on the concept turned it from a niche product into one with very broad appeal, and although some of these were cosmetic that's certainly not the end of the story. The input mechanism, difficulty curve, ammo variety and actual levels are all entirely different. Sorry to seem awkward, but I'm a bit surprised that you're offended by this. Gaming history is built on this kind of incremental innovation and reuse. If it really was a reskinning I could see your point, but in that case there'd be legal action ongoing already, given the absolutely enormous success of Angry Birds. Also, I have a soft spot for Rovio as they didn't get heavy handed with the Maemo hackers who reverse engineered the game's level description format and started a homebrew level scene - despite Rovio's business model on Maemo involving a free core game and chargeable level packs.

Still Not George

Quote from: jutl on November 12, 2010, 07:59:11 AMThe input mechanism,
... identical AFAICT other than painfully obvious touchscreen updates...

Quotedifficulty curve, ammo variety and actual levels are all entirely different.
All pretty much entirely cosmetic. Every video I've seen shows the mechanic as dead-on identical.

QuoteSorry to seem awkward, but I'm a bit surprised that you're offended by this. Gaming history is built on this kind of incremental innovation and reuse.
If it really was a reskinning I could see your point, but in that case there'd be legal action ongoing already, given the absolutely enormous success of Angry Birds.
Not likely, given Crush the Castle is a tiny game made by a tiny dev.

I'm aware that ripping off other people's ideas is standard practise in my industry. What offends me is that the mobile market's top seller is a rip of a years-old Flash game. The Zynga model is alive and well and living on the iPhone.

jutl

Quote from: Still Not George on November 12, 2010, 02:05:34 PM
... identical AFAICT other than painfully obvious touchscreen updates...

Not sure I'd agree there. In Crush the Castle you define the curve by two clicks, while in Angry Birds you do it by dragging the 'elastic' of the catapult. I know which one feels more natural and intuitive to me. Also, the Angry Birds system isn't really related to it being touchscreen; you could do it just as easily with the mouse.

Quote from: Still Not George on November 12, 2010, 02:05:34 PMWhat offends me is that the mobile market's top seller is a rip of a years-old Flash game.

I suppose what I'm saying is that - having played both games a lot - I think that 'progression' is a fairer word than 'rip'.

Still Not George

Ah, don't mind me. It's just common or garden NERD-RAEG, really. I'm still pissed off that everyone seems to like Robot Unicorn Attack more than Canabalt, the far superior original (including me, I put RUA on the top 1000 games thread but not Canabalt).


Still Not George

Quote from: Ignatius_S on November 18, 2010, 10:32:35 AM
Rage HD - at the moment iOS only.

Woah.</keanu>

Wondered what ID were doing with Rage. On-rails, too - good way of convincing people that things are higher-quality than they are.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Still Not George on November 18, 2010, 12:00:36 PM
Woah.</keanu>

Wondered what ID were doing with Rage. On-rails, too - good way of convincing people that things are higher-quality than they are.
Carmack gave a tech demo of this game about three months ago – lots of oohing and ahhing.

In this presentation, he essentially said that the game which will be out shortly (i.e. this one) will essentially be a mini-game to show off the technology and they're working on a second, richer iOS game that will ship when Rage does

MojoJojo

Quote from: Still Not George on November 12, 2010, 02:52:20 PM
Ah, don't mind me. It's just common or garden NERD-RAEG, really. I'm still pissed off that everyone seems to like Robot Unicorn Attack more than Canabalt, the far superior original (including me, I put RUA on the top 1000 games thread but not Canabalt).

I've been trying to work out the reason for Angry Bird's success compared to many other games, because it's really not that good compared to some of the other stuff out there. My conclusions are
1) Luck
2) Friendly/Cutesy presentation. But not too cute. Basically, personified animals have a very wide appeal.
3) Excellent presentation.
4) Low stress game play - the majority of ipod games demand constant attention, but Angry birds is essentially turn based which makes it easier to play)

(this isn't an exhaustive list, just what AB seems to have that other games don't)

Anyway SNG, have you started doing mobile gaming then? I thought therewasn't any money in it? Just curious.

Still Not George

Quote from: MojoJojo on November 18, 2010, 02:34:48 PMAnyway SNG, have you started doing mobile gaming then? I thought therewasn't any money in it? Just curious.
There isn't any money in it, but while Project No 1 is still without a publisher (we have a sexy agent-type person working on that now, however) and Project No 2 goes through the interminably slow process toward getting approval for the Sony Pub Fund (a process which has been ongoing in one form or another for 4 months) I might as well bang out a couple of Android/iPhone titles. A friend of mine happens to be in a small indie board game company and I agreed to make an Android version of their flagship game. It's nearly done after a week and a half. I can see why people do this, now - it's like real game development only piss-easy.

AB really is addictive. I've three starred both versions. For the later updates I did not move onto the next level until I had three stars on the current level. Could be really frustrating, but still great fun, with the whole 'just one more go, I was so close, oh these smug fucking pigs are not going to laugh at me this time' aspect.

Still Not George

Crush the Castle had the same addictiveness to it.




well it did

MojoJojo

Quote from: Steve Lampkins on November 18, 2010, 03:32:19 PM
AB really is addictive. I've three starred both versions. For the later updates I did not move onto the next level until I had three stars on the current level. Could be really frustrating, but still great fun, with the whole 'just one more go, I was so close, oh these smug fucking pigs are not going to laugh at me this time' aspect.

Lots of other games are addictive though (I'd say more addictive but YMMV).
Smug pigs fits with point number 2 above.

Quote from: SNGThere isn't any money in it, but while Project No 1 is still without a publisher (we have a sexy agent-type person working on that now, however) and Project No 2 goes through the interminably slow process toward getting approval for the Sony Pub Fund (a process which has been ongoing in one form or another for 4 months) I might as well bang out a couple of Android/iPhone titles. A friend of mine happens to be in a small indie board game company and I agreed to make an Android version of their flagship game. It's nearly done after a week and a half. I can see why people do this, now - it's like real game development only piss-easy.
Interesting to know. I'm trying to motivate myself into writing some ipod or android software as a hobby/little extra cash/chance at quitting the day job[nb]I know this is very unlikely to happen[/nb]. Ideally I'd like to make a game but think I need to start smaller - doing it in evening and weekends, keeping the motivation going for even a simple game is likely to result in my burning out before completion. Besides which I can't draw and don't know anyone who can.

Piczle Lines for iPhone is super-fucking addictive. That is all.

Ignatius_S

After having a little more time with Rage HD, it's highly enjoyable - although I have experienced 2-3 slowdowns, which took the shine off.

Tron for the iPhone is worth a look - free and there's a tank and lightcycle games.

Quote from: waste of chops on November 18, 2010, 05:53:17 PM
Piczle Lines for iPhone is super-fucking addictive. That is all.
Ah, that looks good - I'll give it a spin.

The Widow of Brid

Quote from: Still Not George on November 18, 2010, 03:43:12 PM
Crush the Castle had the same addictiveness to it.

well it did

The touchscreen version of Crush the Castle played like a dog though. Honest.

iPhone games are generally way better than Android games.

Can anyone prove me wrong?

Besides Angry Birds and Flick Kick Field Goal (both available on iPhone), I don't play any Android games, ever. I like Cut The Rope and Zen Bound on my mate's iPad but neither are available on Android. Android. Android.

MojoJojo

Yes, it's the big advantage the IOS has over Android, at the moment at least. Hopefully google will finally sort out paid apps in more countries soon. Some of the big names (Roxio, Popcap) have started putting stuff on Android now. Several surveys of developers show a belief that Android is a more promising platform long term. So hopefully it will improve.

Still Not George

It's certainly an nicer prospect than Apple's moving goalposts and then being lost in the noise of the App Store.

But most devs are still going to go with both platforms, simply because they're exclusive markets, and because anything that gets released on Android but not iPhone can expect to be cloned on iPhone within a few weeks.