Finally we get a little bit of breathing room, with a relatively light week of new releases.
So I’m taking this rare opportunity to include a few titles which came out earlier this month, but have neglected to mention previously.
Let’s kick things off with a familiar face for PlayStation owners…the delightful Sackboy, who makes his way to iOS at last in a new endless runner appropriately called, Run Sackboy! Run!. Brimming with our favorite knitted hero’s usual character and charm, the game is a fairly straight-forward auto runner that has you running through rich texture filled worlds jumping to avoid obstacles and picking up stickers and bubbles, Bubbles can be used to purchase upgrades and new costumes for your Sackboy which will bestow him with special multipliers. It is fun to see this character on my iOS device and hopefully this is a sign of future Sackboy appearances.
Featuring DreamWorks Animation style characters, Smash Champs is a ‘fighting’ game where players train their champions, then let them fight. The fighting portion of the game is a little awkwardly hands-off, but the results depend on how well you do in training, which is a Fruit Ninja-style exercise in swiping flying objects. As you play you grow your Champ’s power to do battle with stronger foes. Probably a fun one for the kids.
Grab your Boltgun and Chainsword and lead your Space Wolves into battle in HeroCraft’s new free-to-play 3D squad-based combination turn-based strategy and collectible card game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf. With some nice looking graphics, a sizable campaign, unlockable companions and all sorts of new weapons, perks, bonuses and tactics cards, this game looks like it has plenty of gameplay to sink your teeth into.
Obslashin’ is an endless hack and slash tapping game where you progress from room to room eliminating hordes of enemy creatures, collecting loot and other items like spells, as well as leveling up your character’s abilities. See how long you can last and if you have the skills to take on the big bosses you’ll face during your perilous and endless journey.
Onto the paid apps…
Like arcade games? We’ve got a few good candidates this week.
Bulkypix has just launched a cool looking new 3D brick breaking game called Grey Cubes. Not just the usual bump the ball onward and upward, breaking rows and rows of bricks, instead, players have a top-down view as they try to take out multiple layers of bricks in a rich looking three-dimensional play area.
Woah Dave! is another game which I first checked out at PAX East earlier this year, but at the time it was not on the iPad. It comes from Choice Provisions (formerly Gaijin Games). Woah Dave! is a difficult, yet fun single-player retro 8-bit arcade game in the style of the original Mario Bros.. You play as Dave, jumping around a fixed layout of platforms trying to collect as many pennies as possible before losing all of your lives. Pennies are created by destroying the creatures that hatch from the eggs that appear randomly about the screen. You destroy enemies by tossing unhatched eggs or exploding skulls at them, just don’t hold onto these objects for too long or you’ll be the one dying. It is fast frenetic and fun, with your only solace coming when the Mario-esque ‘POW’ comes up and you can instantly convert all current objects on the screen into pennies. See you on the leaderboards.
Unfortunately I missed snagging this next game while it was on a temporary free launch promotion during Spiel 2014. Doodle City is the digital version of Aporta Games recently released city building board game. Players are building a city by drawing a network of roads to connect shops, hotels and taxis and earn the most points. Not sure I’ve really explained it well, but it sounds like an interesting concept, check out the trailer.
Twisty Hollow is an interesting new take on time management games. Instead of tapping on ingredients and running back and forth to prepare items for impatiently waiting customers, the game plays out on a series of concentric spinning circles. Think of it as stack of lazy susans with each ring being able to be rotated independently. To feed a customer you have to spin the wheel to line up the correct person, tool and item (ie. butcher, knife, pig), tap the screen and the butcher will go to work making bacon on the outermost ring. When the food item is ready, the ring can be rotated around to feed the correct customer. Things start to get trickier as the game progresses, with items needed to be prepared by multiple people, like a fish that first must be caught and then cut to form sushi. It’s a neat take on the genre and unlike any time management game I’ve played before.
Secret Files Sam Peters is Deep Silver FISHLABS’ latest iOS port of the Secret Files adventure game series. This time around journalist Sam Peters investigates “an age-old mystery on the ground of Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana”. Solve puzzles and riddles and aid Sam Peters peters on her quest in this fully voice-acted interactive adventure.
SlimCricket is back, just in time for Halloween with a new interactive adventure game in their cute “The Witch with No Name” series designed for children aged 4 to 10. My daughters adore these. In Is the Witch in Love?, the witch thinks she’s in love with a handsome and famous sorcerer and decides to do everything she can make him fall for her. I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet, but it has several mini games and lots of interactivity for your child to explore as they read through the story. This looks like a great little Halloween treat for the kids and it currently discounted by 30% off for a limited time for launch.
A Few Days Left is a title that I somehow failed to mention previously. Built on the Unreal engine, it is a gorgeous looking sci-fi, twin stick shooter with a strong puzzle element. You are fighting off hordes zombies, trying to “save humanity from the brink of extinction” and there are upgradeable weapons and tactical gear. Players must solve puzzles to progress between levels and it this aspect in particular that interested me in this one as it helps set it apart from standard twin stick shooters. As a paid game, there is none of that free-to-play energy nonsense.
Finally, we have Medford Asylum: Paranormal Case, the latest hidden object adventure offering from the folks at Microid. Nicely timed for a Halloween week release, this supernatural themed game is set in a haunted former asylum. Fans of hidden object adventure games looking for something a bit spooky, may want to check this one out.
And that does it for this week!
 Run Sackboy! Run! |
 Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf |
 Obslashin’ |
 Woah Dave! |
 Doodle City |
 Is the Witch in Love? |
 Secret Files Sam Peters |
 A Few Days Left |
