Lost Cities is based on a board game of the same name by a leading name in the board game industry, one Reiner Knizia. I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of him either but after a little research I found that unbeknownst to me I had played one of his games before, a board game based on The Lord of the Rings.
I’d enjoyed that game many times and another good thing going for this iPhone app was the fact that it’s made by TheCodingMonkeys that made one of my favorite iOS games, Carcassonne. With that said, Lost Cities has a lot to live up to for me.
Lost Cities is part board game, part card game where you play either against a computer or GameCenter opponent to score as many points as you can by discarding your cards along 5 color coded lanes.
You start with 8 cards of various colors and you can place any of them down on a corresponding colored lane and then it’s your opponents turn to do the same on their side of the table. On your next turn you can either add to your existing card or start a new lane.
You earn points for every card you play based on it’s face value but before you start any lane you can play a coin card which will double the value of any cards that you play after it. The dilemma though is that starting each lane reduces your score by 20 points and playing a coin card on it will double that 20 point deduction to 40 points. You can do this up to 3 times on any lane and so the decision to be made is do you have the cards to make up for the negative points.
Make sense? It’s ok if it doesn’t as there is an in game tutorial where one of the AI opponents will talk you through the rules and gameplay. But once you get the basics whether you are playing against the AI, a friend or a random GameCenter opponent the challenge keeps on coming and it’s easy to play multiple games at once as you are notified both in game and via the iPhone Notification Center whenever it’s your next turn.
I was initially concerned due to the fact that my color blindness caused problems when attempting to differentiate between the five sets of cards, however the latest update took care of this and now High Contrast Mode can be enabled from the settings menu to make the cards more distinctive for people like me.
The controls are straightforward and intuitive and there are plenty of stats to keep track of your progress, from leveling up my completing certain achievements to the Game Center integration that includes Leaderboards and a little under 100 achievements.
If you are a card game fan then Lost Cities is a must have title for you iPhone, and if you love quality games too then that’s another reason to grab it. At $3.99 it’s not the cheapest card in the App Store but quality sometimes cost money and in the case of Lost Cities it’s worth every penny.
[rating: 5/5]
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VS. Racing for iPhone is the first game from Maciek Drejak Labs and is a top down racer which reminds me of the old school classic Super Sprint.
The game gives you a top down view of the racing track with you and your opponents taking up just a handful of pixels as you race around a variety of tracks that twist and turn around the screen.
The tracks are to scale with the miniature cars but despite their size they provide lots of detail, tricky corners, fast straights and various surfaces that affect the handling of the cars.
The game has a narrative in the single player mode where you play the role of Ryan, a rookie racing driver who you have to bring up through the ranks of five championships on your way to the World Championship Finals.
While the narrative is fun it’s pretty irrelevant to the racing and luckily it doesn’t get in the way of it either. In fact you can move from race to race pretty quickly which means the action keeps coming thick and fast.
You have a choice of controls for your car which includes both touch and accelerometer controls. My weapon of choice was the touch controls which I found very responsive. You only need to worry about steering as acceleration is automatic.
Included with the auto-acceleration is a speed boost which helps you catch up if you are running behind the leader, however this is a double edge sword as this speed boost also applies to your opponents so large leads can be eaten into pretty quickly.
This is no bad thing though as it keeps all of the races exciting right up until the last corner and while this may be a little frustration the speed in which you can replay the race means that you can get your revenge very quickly.
The multi-player options are local bluetooth & wifi and Facebook leaderboards which includes a Ghost Mode so that you can races against your friends ghost cars. These are fun alternatives to the single player mode but GameCenter integration and online multi-player would be nice additions.
If you enjoy racing games of all descriptions you won’t be disappointed with VS. Racing especially if you can grab it while it’s still free. With future free updates also promised this could be a real bargain.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
At first glance it appears that despite his name Captain Antarctica is not your usual game hero. However, it’s soon apparent that with a plethora of upgrades and gadgets Captain Antarctica is no ordinary penguin and is ready to take on the task of rescuing his family and friends.
You responsibility in this task is to steer Captain Antarctica though underwater caverns to defeat the multiple bosses across 6 initial chapters, (chapter 7 is listed as “Coming Soon”). While 6 chapters may not seem like a lot of value for the $1.99 price tag each chapter is full of challenges.
The ultimate objective of each chapter is to negotiate your way through the dangerous underwater caverns and all the dangers they hold. From a variety of dangerous sea creatures to more volatile dangers such as mines and torpedoes there are dangers around every corner to hinder your progress.
Controlling Captain Antarctica through these dangers is done either via the accelerometer or via the touch screen, personally the most successful control system is the accelerometer but it’s nice to have the choice.
Each of the chapters include multiple Experiments (challenges), this means that you’ll need to repeat the chapters multiple times to complete them, the early chapters contain single digit challenges, however by the time you reach the final chapters will be double digit experiments for you to complete.
You are aided in these challenges by the option to purchase power-ups and upgrades to your existing skills. You have magnets, shields and jets and of course extra lives at your disposal and they can be purchased by coins.
You earn coins by completing the experiments in each level, but you can also purchase coins via in-app purchase. The balance between gaining coins in game and having to buy them to progress is fairly balanced so if you don’t want to buy them you don’t have to.
GameCenter integration is hit and miss, sure there are 32 achievements to unlock but rather than having leaderboards for each chapter there are just two for total coins and total distance traveled.
The game is great looking game to with bright, colorful two dimensional graphics which despite their 2 dimensionality provide great depth to the game and the jaunty music is well pitch to the game.
Captain Antarctica HD is a fun arcade game which has that vital ingredient of convincing you to need just one more try before you put it down and will appeal to players young and old alike.
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
While car racing games dominate the App Store racing market there are those that prefer 2 wheeled transport and for those people there’s a new ride in town in the form of Rock(s) Rider, a new universal game that’s available in the App Store right now.
Rock(s) Rider is a trials based motorcycle game where your opponents are both a variety of obstacles and the clock and is based in a DaftPunk style warehouse full of ramps, jumps, loops and fireworks, yes fireworks!
If you’ve played Bike Baron before then you’ll have the basic idea of what you are in for here, however while Bike Baron is cartoon style arcade game, Rock(s) Racer is more of a simulator, with a few bells and whistles added for good measure.
The graphics look great, from the line-drawn design on the I game navigation to the industrial graphics of the levels themselves you aren’t going to be disappointed and the pleasure is matched in the audio department too where a pumping soundtrack and great sounding audio effects create an environment which you’ll want to keep coming back to.
Despite the claustrophobic confines of the warehouse each level is packed with action and controlling your two wheeled chariot over and through these obstacles is fun, challenging and at times frustrating.
These frustrations come from some of the level designs which can often leave your motorcycle trapped in a position that it can’t get out of. Sure you can go back to your last check point but the fact that you can even get stuck is, as I mentioned before, frustrating.
That frustration aside the game is a lot of fun, the controls are accurate and have multiple configurations so that you can choose between virtual buttons and touch controls but a combination of them both too, add to that the ability to control the sensitivity of them means that you have no excuse to control your bike with skill and accuracy!
And the bike responds well to these controls to and after a few rides you should be able to get the bike to do pretty much as you please. Of course that may sound like the challenge to the game is over at that point, you’d be wrong though as the real challenge comes not only from control the bike but from anticipating the tracks, collecting the relevant objects and finding the hidden objects too.
All of this takes place across 24 progressively difficult levels, bonus levels and additional levels promised at a later stage too, as you progress you will unlock features for your bike and character as well as a 3 wheeled bike that you can use on the bonus levels. Once you think you’ve mastered the various tracks though you’ll find yourself racing side by side with the bosses who are out to prevent you taking their crown.
Leaderboards and 40 achievements are provided via GameCenter integration which provide additional challenge to the game and while it’s a Universal app there is no synchronization of your progress between devices.
Rock(s) Rider, despite its frustrations, is a fun and challenging game, if you like you racing action on two wheels then this could be $2.99 well spent.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
Miniclip, most well known for the game Fragger, is adding a new game to their extensive iPhone / iPad game portfolio in the form of Rat Fishing where you are challenged with killing rats across over 100+ levels of challenging puzzles.
The cartoon graphics look cute and effective as the tiny hypnotized rats follow the smell of cheese to their impending death. You have a limited number of cheese pieces on each level and it requires careful planning of the location placement to kill all of the rats, especially if you want to get the maximum rating and coins.
Each level is graded on a bronze, silver and gold star rating based on the number of pieces of cheese that you use and how quickly you complete the level. You also earn coins for your endeavours and these can be used to unlock levels, get hints and also skip levels.
Of course you can also purchase coins via in-app purchase and this will probably be required as the levels get aggressively difficult and skipping some, or getting hints was certainly required by me at least!
The aggressive nature of the difficulty is based on the variety of tools and the timing of their use that is required to complete the levels. While the initial levels simply require luring the rats to their deaths onto mines and down holes later levels start to not only introduce multiple rats and additional tools but also require you to time the placement of items to create a daisy chain of destructions.
Putting all of these actions into practice is very easy with the simple touch controls and the ability to instantly restart the level when you realize that something has gone wrong is nice too, especially as these feature doesn’t cost you any coins.
Rat Fishing also includes leaderboards for all 6 levels and over 40 achievements that provide a good amount of replay value, although that being said the 144 levels and the inbuilt difficulty should keep you either entertained for a while or frustrated.
Rat Fishing should be available on the App Store soon and will be priced at 99 cents. It’s a fun challenging game for those that enjoy a challenge, although the more casual gamer or younger player may find it a little too difficult.
[rating: 3/5]What we like
What to know
When your catalog consists of some of the biggest, most popular and dominating titles in mobile gaming you could be forgiven for resting on your laurels and continue to milk that money cow. That’s not the case for Rovio Entertainment Ltd., the makers of the Angry Birds series who have released Amazing Alex for iPhone and iPad into the App Store.
Amazing Alex uses previously successfully implemented techniques, it’s a physics based puzzle game with usually 3 star per level rating system for each level, and as those features have worked before there’s no reason why they shouldn’t work again…..right?
Alex is a young boy with a taste for creativity and problem solving and in the style of toppling a chain of dominoes, only on a much larger scale, you are challenged to help Alex produce a daisy chain of events to clear each level.
The initial levels get you started on how you play the game, even showing you where you should place the range of objects that you are given to utilize on each level, and because of this you may be fooled into thinking that Amazing Alex is going to be a simple game that you can rush through in a matter of minutes.
However, that is soon to be shown as a wrong assumption to make as when the placement guides disappear the levels immediately get more complex and as you continue to the Classroom, Backyard, Bedroom and finally onto the Treehouse the levels become more and more challenging, especially, if like me, you want to get three stars on each level.
There are over 30 objects at your disposal across the levels and as these become unlocked they are also made available to build your own levels which has the potential of adding an endless number of levels for you to play with.
Creating your own levels is very easy. You have all of the objects that you’ve unlocked and can place them anywhere on the screen with guidelines for legal and illegal placement. The final step is to place the 3 stars on the screen which act as the measure for other players to complete the level.
The ease of both creating your own levels, sharing them online and then downloading other players levels is amazing. The only issue I have with the custom levels is that there is no rank of them, either via voting or just the number of downloads to help you find the best custom levels available.
As you might expect from Rovio the whole game looks polished, cute and engaging. Something else that Rovio seem keen to do is keep their iPhone and iPad versions of their apps separate rather than universal. Why they do this, especially considering that there are no differences between the two versions is beyond me. Needless to say if you want Amazing Alex on both your iPhone and iPad you’ll need to pay twice and play it twice as there is no synchronisation of your progress between the two versions.
Of course Rovio promise multiple free updates to add more levels and based on their previous history there should be quite a lot of them! Quite what they plan to do with the GameCenter integration with no leaderboards and only one achievement remains to be seen.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
On Wednesday, Amazon announced its own gaming service for game developers called GameCircle. By creating this new experience, Amazon appears to be competing directly with Apple Inc. (AAPL) Game Center, putting scores, competition and social gaming into one service and offering it to developers and users alike.
On the Amazon Mobile App Distribution blog, the company describes what GameCircle is all about, calling it a “new set of services designed to make it easier for you to create more engaging gaming experiences and grow your business on Kindle Fire”.
GameCircle will make achievements, leaderboards and sync APIs accessible, simple and quick for you to integrate, and will give gamers a more seamless and entertaining in-game experience.
Although it focuses mainly on developers creating an ecosystem for their apps, the end user features are very similar to Game Center, Apple’s own online multiplayer social gaming network. It allows users to “ track all earned trophies, treasures, badges, awards, and more without leaving the gaming experience”.
Other features include giving users the ability to invite friends, start multiplayer games, track achievements, and compare scores on a leaderboard. With GameCircle, Amazon’s Kindle Fire enters the social gaming market that other companies such as Apple and Google are currently dominating. GameCircle will allow Amazon to offer tailored services to its Kindle Users and with the new SDK can also offer users apps made specifically for their device.
With GameCircle, Amazon is preparing to get a leg up on the competition and make the Kindle Fire one of the more sought after devices in the market. Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2 is rumored to be unveiled next summer, and will likely take advantage of GameCircle and the company’s numerous other services.
{Via 9to5Mac}
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Some of the most popular games on mobile devices are those quick, pick up and play games that you can play for a couple of minutes and end up still playing 3 hours later!
The latest to attempt to meet those requirements is Subway Surfers, a free universal game for your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad from Kiloo.
Subway Surfers task you to travel as far as you can along the tracks to prevent you from being caught by security who have caught you tagging one of the trains.
As you would expect there are multiple challenges for you to overcome and avoid as you aim to get as high a score as possible. Your biggest challenge is to avoid the trains that are on he track, both stationary and moving.
There are three tracks for you to navigate, swiping left and right will move you between the tracks to avoid the trains but you can also run on top of the trains should you find a ramp to get you up there or the sneaker power ups that will allow you to leap double height.
The game is all about timing as the trains leave little room for you to run or jump between them, however there is more to overcome including barriers that you can slide beneath or over and tunnels. If you do hit any of the obstacles you may get a second chance if you don’t hit it too hard, do it twice in short succession however and it will be game over.
The game does give you a helping hand to boost your high scores in the form of a variety of power-ups that include not only the previously mentioned Super Sneakers but also a Hoverboard, Headstarts, Coin Magnets and even a Jetpack! All of these can be purchased with the coins you pick up in the game but can also be brought via in-app purchase. These in-app purchases are pitched pretty well so unless you want to take massive shortcuts to big scores there’s no need to use them.
Coins can also be earned by liking the game on Facebook or tweeting about it on Twitter, however these are one off options unlike the ability to watch sponsored videos and earn 50 coins each time, although on occasion there are no videos to watch.
There are also 4 characters to play as, unlocking these is done by collecting special items that also appear in game, however after playing Subway Surfers for multiple hours I’ve only come across one of these special tokens once.
As if this wasn’t enough for you there are daily challenges and missions to complete while you play, these come in the form of traveling X distance, dodging X barriers and collecting tokens, if the game wasn’t addictive enough already these additional tasks certainly do.
Having taking multiple paragraphs without mentioning how the game looks you would think maybe that they aren’t all that special, in fact they look pretty good. Bold, solid and colorful graphics flow by fast both on the iPhone and iPads retina screens and will appeal to all players.
You can compare your scores with your friends via Facebook and GameCenter integration and although I did find that I they wouldn’t always connect as quickly as I would have hoped after playing a few games it would sync up and show me the leaderboards.
Subway Surfers {Free} takes the best of Temple Run and throws in the best of Jetpack Joyride and with the ability to challenge your friends via both Facebook and GameCenter integration this is a game that you will be playing for a long time to come.
Welcome to your new addiction!
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
One of the most eagerly anticipated games has finally made its way to the iPhone and iPad. But while the wait is finally over it may not be what some players of the massively successful franchise want.
Burnouts first journey onto iOS is in the from of the mini game, Burnout Crash, that has already made it onto the PlayStation and XBox Arcade. So instead of a full-on 3D crash-fest of mangled metal, you have the pleasure of playing God, (or should that be the Devil), in a crashtastic onslaught of exploding cars, trucks and every other type of vehicle you can think of.
The 2D top-down view looks great, across a massive 18 different junctions the detail pops of the screen and the whole environment is interactive so not only can you destroy the vehicles but also blow up the surrounding buildings, parked cars and pretty much anything that burns.
Each of the 18 junctions have three different game modes so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to hone your skills and have plenty to keep coming back for as each of the have 5 stars to be collected based on high scores and other side-goals such as performing special moves or destroying certain items.
The 3 modes are Rush Hour, Pile Up and Road Block and while they all take place on the same junctions they require slightly different techniques to succeed. Rush Hour puts you up against the clock to destroy as much as you can while Pile Up tasks you to crash as many vehicles as possible and then keep them blazing. Road Block meanwhile is as simple as blocking any vehicles from driving off the screen, lose 5 and it’s game over.
All of the modes provide special vehicles too that offer a variety of challenges. Stop a Pizza delivery truck and you get to spin the lotto wheel a win a bonus item while stopping the bank truck will rain down bags of money on you.
Like all great games Burnout Crash is easy to learn but difficult to master. Controls aid this as all that’s required is a swipe to move your car or truck while a tap of your vehicle will cause it to explode once the burnout bar is maximized of course.
There are 7 cars and trucks to unlock and each one offer a slightly different balance of power and control, switching between these vehicles can offer different opportunities to grab all 5 stars on each level and you will often find yourself heading back to earlier levels with better cars to grab all the available stars.
While causing all of this mayhem you are blasted with a cacophony sound and a great set of songs from the 80’s. I certainly recommend playing this game with headphones in to get the best sound experience and so that you don’t annoy anyone sitting around you!
Unfortunately the multi-player option that they provide in the form of Autolog, is a little disappointing. It certainly works and you can send challenges to your friends but no ability to play against other players in real time is a real disappointment. And while GameCenter integration is included there are no leaderboards, just 20 achievements to be unlocked.
That being said, I do keep coming back to Burnout Crash to unlock more levels and to go back and gain more stars, it could just be so much better if the social aspects of the game worked better.
Burnout Crash is a universal game and is available in the App Store, despite its shortcomings it’s still a recommended purchase.
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
If as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the people over at Zynga must be very flattered indeed and must be doing something right. The latest company to be inspired by the success of Zynga’s ‘…with Friends’ series is Stofle Designs with their version of Yahtzee called ‘Dice with Buddies’.
Despite the obvious influences Stofle haven’t rested on their laurels, instead they have produced a highly polished and playable game with both turn based online and local game-play for two-people.
If you have ever played Yahtzee before then you will feel perfectly at home in Dice with Buddies. The game consists of rolling 5 dice to complete different sets. From 3, 4 and 5 of a kind and groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6’s to straights, full house and the always useful chance option if you’ve not played Yahtzee before a basic understanding of the hands in Poker will also see you through.
The game is nicely laid out, you can see all your available combinations listed down the page and your opponents alongside them too. This allows you to easily see what combinations you have remaining and how you are doing compared to your opponents. While the layout is usable yet compact on the iPhone on the iPad with its larger real estate is even better with no scrolling required.
The updates come thick and fast with push notifications working well to inform you when it’s your turn to play and you can have multiple games running at the same time. In game notifications are all well managed meaning that you don’t have to navigate away from the game screen to play multiple games.
The game integrates with Facebook allowing you to easily play with your Facebook friends and brag about your success to your wall. There is no Twitter or GameCenter integration though which is a shame as achievements, if not leaderboards, would be a nice addition. There are in-game stats though so you can see how well you are doing including such as your highest score, average score, wins and wins percentage.
Of course no game would be where it is without in app purchases and Dice with Buddies is no different. You can buy bonus rolls from 99c to $100 (seriously!) and these will enable you to have extra rolls of your dice to get the combinations you need, however, these are certainly not required and not buying them certainly doesn’t make the game any poorer.
Dice with Buddies is a universal game which is a great feature if you have both devices, and the game comes in both paid and free versions. If you’re a fan of these types of social games and prefer numbers to letters then Dice with Buddies is a must.
[rating: 4.5/5]What to know
iBomber Defense Pacific is a follow up to the highly acclaimed iBomber Defense and provides hours of tower defense style game-play.
The action, as the title suggests, takes place on the Pacific Rim and the levels reflect that region in all their glory, from golden deserts and deep jungles to the city streets the graphics are clear, detailed and strong over 20+ different levels.
If you’ve played a tower defense game before then you are going to be very comfortable in iBDP but for those of you that haven’t there is in game tutorial that takes you through all the basics and it’s not difficult to pick up, although as with all good games there is more to simply knowing enough to cruise through all the levels.
You can do that if you like and even then there you will enjoy the journey but just like achieving 3 stars on all the levels of angry birds the real fun comes in attempting to get the best ranking in each level which in turn rewards you with the cash and honors to do even better in the following rounds.
The controls are simple, drag and drop to place your machine gun, cannon, rockets, flamers and other weapons and tapping on them provides you with the ability to repair, upgrade and sell them. If things aren’t going your way on any level you also get the ability to rewind a wave and try again, however this ability it limited so it has to be used wisely.
I highly recommend playing the game with your headphones on too as the sound of the thundering gunfire over the back-drop of the ambient location noises creates a great atmosphere.
As with all Chillingo titles the game comes integrated with Crystal, their social gaming network which provides multiple achievements and leaderboards for all the levels.
Chillingo continue to churn out quality titles and in iBomber Defense Pacific they continue to do so with a solid, if not ground breaking title. iBDP is a universal game and is available in the App Store now for $2.99.
What we like:
What to know:
[rating: 3.5/5]
Don’t Run With a Plasma Sword Review: I loved Mirrors Edge, it was one of the first games that I brought for my iPad and I played it almost non-stop, sliding, jumping, swinging and rolling through the scrolling levels it worked great. Well, if you’ve played Mirrors Edge you be right at home here, minus the cutting edge graphics!
Your Plasma Sword is your only defense against an invasion of intergalactic creatures, well, that and your swift feet that will see you running, jumping and sliding through the levels.
You’ll find yourself running and leaping from left to right as you attempt to avoid traps, pitfalls, meteors and other items that will be detrimental to your health and as you progress through the levels and things get faster you will need quick reactions to prevent a premature end to your adventures.
With running being taken care of automatically your only concern is with the jump, slide and attack buttons which are on the left and right hand side of the screen. These buttons work well but sometimes, especially on later levels, it is possible to miss them in the frantic action.
For added value there are two game modes. The main story mode see’s you making your way through multiple levels of action and end of level bosses and while this is fun I prefer the endless mode where you are tasked with achieving various milestones to earn XP which you can then use to unlock levels, upgrade abilities and change your plasma sword.
The game graphics and sound are ok, but could certainly be improved on and are rather lackluster, however, what it lacks in polish it makes up for in humor with seemingly a million and one things that you shouldn’t do with a plasma sword.
To add to the two game modes there are 30+ achievements and Leaderboards via the OpenFeint and GameCenter integration that add to the hours of fun that you can have while not running with a plasma sword!
What we like:
What to know:
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In the last 24 hours Apple has eased the situation to some degree, and 9TO5Mac reports that it has told developers that they should now find the functionality in their developer account to allow them to setup the necessary metadata for Game Center leaderboards and achievements.
It seems likely that any Apple event in September will probably have some Game Center news making part of the announcements.
Do we need another social gaming network for the iPhone? Which ones do you currently use? Let us know in the comments…
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