iPhone Games

Mr. Trivia Lite: Free iPhone Trivia Game

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mr. Trivia Lite is a free iPhone trivia game now available in the iTunes app store. It’s a trial version of an upcoming Mr. Trivia game that will presumably not be free.

The lite version features 2 rounds with 10 questions each. Players are given three multiple choice answers and 30 seconds to answer. The game features pleasant, polished graphics and limited sound effects.

The questions in the lite version are of a general trivia variety and for the most part interesting, but there are some problems. For instance, I noticed numerous typos (check out the misspelling of “ingredient” in the picture above). Questions were sometimes mislabeled with the wrong category (a question about forks and the civil war was labeled “Animal Trivia”). One question began with the anecdote, “I love my cat ‘Pixel’.”

The upcoming pay version will feature 500+ trivia questions, multiple categories, and a bonus lightning round. If you are a trivia nut, this game might be a warm up until something better comes along. But if the sloppiness of the questions from the lite version are any indication, just go ahead and skip it all together.

Name: Mr. Trivia Lite
Developer: Iron Square
Price: Free
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in Free iPhone Apps, Free iPhone Games, iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Games, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (0)

iPhone Game Review: Sextuple Word Challenge

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Sextuple Word Challenge ($0.99) is a solid clone of the game Jumble (aka TextTwist) and is our pick for one of the top word games currently available for the iPhone.

The graphics of Sextuple Word Challenge won’t win any rewards, but they get the job done. Words are perfectly visible on the small screen, and animations display without any bugs or quirks.

Game play is simple, players are given six scrambled letters to create words from. Tapping on the letters places them on a grid, and it requires at least three letters to form a word. Players must get at least half of the possible words to progress to the next round.

Sextuple’s game interface works smoothly without bugs or lag. The interface features an Enter button to submit words, a Mix button to change the visual order of the scrambled letters, a Clear button to clear letters from the grid, and a Back button to remove the last letter placed on the grid.

The game features minimal sound effects and no music (you can play your own music in the background). Each round has a timer, and the length of each round seems dependent on how many possible words are available in each round.

This leads to main complaint about the game: the length of each round. Many times, I found myself bored waiting for the next round to start after becoming stuck on the few remaining words. The game often does not feel challenging enough, especially in longer rounds, as there is plenty of time to randomly enter letters and figure out trickier words.

However, I do enjoy the fact there is at least one six-letter word in every round, and getting all the letters to form that word is the most satisfying part of the game.

Conclusion

Sextuple Word Challenge is a solid, bug-free version of the classic word game TextTwist. While it won’t win any awards for graphics, and game play may not be challenging enough for some, it perfectly delivers all the features you’d expect from the classic word games Jumble/TextTwist in a bug-free manner. And for 99 cents, it merits the label of a no-brainer download.

Name: Sextuple Word Challenge
Developer: nBit Inc.
Price: $0.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in Apps, iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Game Reviews, iPhone Games, iPhone Word Games | Comments (0)

Two Free Tetris Games for the iPhone: Tris and Teto Teto

Monday, August 18, 2008

There is an official licensed version of Tetris ($9.99) in the iTunes apps store, but it’s expensive and bloated and has long loading times. There are, however, two free basic Tetris clones, Teto Teto!! and Tris. Here’s a look at both of them:

Teto Teto!!

While both of the Tetris clones are flawed, the better of the two is Teto Teto!! It won’t win any awards for graphics, but Teto Teto’s button controls are much more accurate than Tris’s, which becomes important when the game speeds up. The buttons rotate and move the blocks left, right, and down. The buttons are in no way comparable to classic tactile buttons, but for Teto Teto, they work well enough to not get in the way of game play.

There is one one minor glitch. If you tap the down button, which accelerates the descent of the blocks, too zealously, it will immediately drop not only the block on the screen and but also the next block in the queue. This is an annoying flaw, but not a game killer, as you learn to be careful and work around it.

Teto Teto also features an interesting strategy twist. There is an area on the right side of the screen called the Stock. Tapping the Stock button will place the next block in the queue in the stock area, and tapping Back will place it back in the queue. You get 5 stocks, which you keep track of on the left side of the screen.

Overall, what makes Teto Teto superior to Tris is the accuracy of control. This becomes more important in later stages when the pace of the game begins to pick up.

Tris

iLounge recently took a look at both of these games and listed Tris as the better of the two. While I agree that Tris is the better looking and intially the smoothest, I found it frustrating to control the blocks accurately as the game sped up.

Tris uses finger swipes to move the blocks left, right, and down. Players simply tap the screen to rotate the blocks clockwise (there is no option to rotate them counterclockwise). The problem with Tris’s controls comes with the inaccuracy of the finger swipe positioning. Also, accidental taps tended to be a problem.

Both of these games are very basic (neither features sound) and make for a very average Tetris-like experience. Their controls will take some time to get used to thanks to some control flaws. Since they’re both free, they are a risk-free proposition.

Name: Teto Teto!!
Developer: macer software
Price: Free
iTunes Download: Click here

Name: Tris
Developer: Noah Witherspoon
Price: Free
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in Apps, Free iPhone Apps, Free iPhone Games, iPhone 3G Native Apps, iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Applications, iPhone Game Reviews, iPhone Games, iPhone Tetris Clones, iPod Touch Native Apps, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (0)

Video Simulation of LaserBattle iPhone Game

Saturday, August 16, 2008

LaserBattle ($1.99) was just introduced to the app store and has a pretty ridiculous description:

LaserBattle lets you wildly swing you [sic] iPhone/iPod Touch through the air while listening to exciting laser sounds as well as keeping score.”

As an owner of a Nintendo Wii, I don’t mind making myself look like an idiot in order to get a little fun from a game. In that vein, check out the following video simulation of LaserBattle for the iPhone.

Name: LaserBattle
Developer: Taptation
Price: $1.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Games, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (0)

iPhone Game Review: Toy Bot Diaries

Friday, August 15, 2008

Toy Bot Diaries ($3.99) is a cartoonish 2D platformer for the iPhone that utilizes touch and tilt controls that, if done right, could have been revolutionary and refreshing. However, the game is filled with so many game design mistakes, the actual game becomes forgotten as you try to work through the game’s quirks. It’s clear now that many developers are using the app store as a beta-testing dumping ground, delivering unfinished products and using the iPhone’s ability to update apps to make promises to fix later if you buy now. I would put Toy Bot Diaries in this category, except it plays like it should have never escaped alpha.

The control scheme for Toy Bot is interesting enough. You move a robot through the 2D world by tilting the iPhone left or right. The robot can also swing through the air like Spiderman by shooting out an electric grappling hook. The robot also has magnetic boots that are activated by tapping the robot and can attach to objects or walls. This skill is often used to lift and move objects around.

As the robot moves through the world, strange game quirks and errors will leave you scratching your head. The picture above shows the first real puzzle in the game. The robot must move a plate to access the pit, but once in the pit, the robot becomes cut off by a weird darkness that should have disappeared.

The robot often becomes stuck, controls frequently fail to respond, and puzzles are unsatisfying. I frequently found myself tapping the screen over and over in frustration trying to get the grappling hook to attach to the correct surface, only to have it launch to a different one.

Conclusion

Half-baked games like Toy Bot Diaries will no doubt continue to appear in the app store; the initial gold rush is on, and being early can mean a quick easy buck. Be patient and skip this one. There are a couple good choices (some free) already out there, so it pays to wait.

Name: Toy Bot Diaries
Developer: IUGO Mobile Entertainment
Price: $3.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Applications, iPhone Game Reviews, iPhone Games, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (4)

All iPhone Solitaire Games Reviewed

Thursday, August 14, 2008

iLounge has reviewed every single Solitaire game in the iTunes app store, spending a total of $75 to try them all. Their top choice is Solitaire Forever from Mike Sedore with an A- rating. They were impressed with the game’s slick 3D graphics and 150 different Solitaire rulesets, as well as the basics such as undo and redo features and the ability to see playable cards.

There were 4 other solitaire games that received a B rating or higher, including the second-place Mondo Solitaire, which received a B+. Head on over to iLounge to see the complete article.

Game: Solitaire Forever
Developer: Mike Sedore
Price: $5.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Game: Mondo Solitaire
Developer: Ambrosia Software
Price: $9.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Links

“Every Solitaire Game, Review” at iLounge.com

Filed in Apps, iPhone 3G Native Games, iPhone Applications, iPhone Game Reviews, iPhone Games, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (0)

iPhone Game Review: Platinum Sudoku

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Platinum Sudoku ($2.99) stands apart from sudoku competitors due to its depth of features, graphics, and game play, all of which work together to keep the game fresh over time. There are plenty of free Sudoku apps for the iPhone, but if you’re a serious player, Platinum Sudoku’s polish and depth make it well worth the three bucks.

The game features 20 million grids as well as five different difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard, pro, and Sudoku X (which adds diagonals). There are two ways to enter numbers: select a number from a circle or trace the shape of the number with your finger (see above). The second method works better than I expected, although not perfectly. I found the game misrecognized the numbers about 1 out of 10 tries. (See my post on how to write the numbers.)

The game features draft notes for writing down number possibilities. It you’re stuck, the game offers hints such as filling in draft notes or the correct number for a square, or you can choose to have it scan the entire grid and show incorrect numbers.

What really makes Platinum Sudoku special is the sense of progress that comes with completing a puzzle. As you solve grids, you gain unlockable features such as 14 different backgrounds, 11 soundtracks, new puzzles, and special challenges. This works well to keep the game fresh over time.

There is a coach mode that offers a brief tutorial for beginners and a set of unlockable lessons that will teach you advanced puzzle-solving methods. You can also select from two coaches.

Other features are the ability to create custom grids, a solver mode if you’re stuck on a particularly complicated sudoku, and a game called Kakuro, which is described as a mix between sudoku and crosswords.

My biggest complaint about Platinum Sudoku is its loading time. There are 2 unnecessary splash screens before a loading screen that takes another 15 seconds of your time. The sheer size of the game can be bothersome when you just want a quick game of sudoku.

Conclusion

Platinum Sudoku is the most full-featured out of all the sudoku games in the iTunes app store, and its unlockable features and polished interface give it high replay value. Serious sudoku players should look no futher and shell out the $3.oo for the best.

Name: Platinum Sudoku
Developer: Gameloft
Price: $2.99
iTunes Download: Click here

Filed in Apps, iPhone 3G Native Apps, iPhone Game Reviews, iPhone Games, iPhone Native Apps, iPod Touch Native Apps, iPod Touch Native Games | Comments (1)