The iOS gaming thread

[therev]

Bah! Humbug! Another Appvent game that's something I already have!

In this case, Crazy Snowboard is free today. It's pretty ace, too, in an unassuming sort of way.

[Rev]

Blimp reminds me a little bit of Ugh, which is good. But I now want Ugh.

[bigbrick]

In this case, Crazy Snowboard is free today. It's pretty ace, too, in an unassuming sort of way.

says "free" on the search results screen, but £1.79 on the actual game page.

[therev]

says "free" on the search results screen, but £1.79 on the actual game page.

Sometimes these changes take a while to get through, try it again later.

[Pistol]

Equilibrio is also free.

[Girth Certificate]

I take back the slating I gave Rope Raider when I first got it, its actually really good fun.

[therev]

Bought Boom It Up! on impulse this afternoon. It's from Gamevil, it costs 59p and looks like a great little one-button casual title.

Trouble is, it's rubbish. It's jerky, unresponsive and generally looks like a bad port of a cheap mobile game. It could be really rather good if the framerate and responsiveness were improved, but I'd avoid it as it stands.

(No wonder they're doing a "get a high score and get an iTunes voucher" promotion in the US.)

Definitely the worst 59p I've spent on the App Store in months.

[roskelld]

Managed to get up to 38 on Orbital now.

It's annoying how the game can come crashing down after one slight miscalculation.

[Kramer]

Super Monkey Ball 2 is on sale this weekend.

£5.99 > £2.99.

I've bought Red Conquest for some new RTS action. Just downloading now.

[Paulando]

Oh my, Labyrinth 2 is brilliant. I didn't like the first one, so I was a little hesitant about the sequel. I took the plunge after seeing all of the positive reviews on the App Store, so I thought it was worth a try. It really is quite great though. The controls are spot-on, the sound effects are great, and it looks lovely. Recommended.

[The Great Khali]

Hey guys, my girlfriend was in Morrisons he other day and picked up two £15 itunes vouchers. When they were scanned at the till they came up as £20 total. I asked the assistant and they said they were on special offer.

Bloody good deal, huh?

[robdood]

Just got meself an iPhone and wanna try out some gaaaaames! This is a biiiig thread so I thought I'd be lazy and ask for some recommendations here... Preferably things with lite/dem versions so I can make an informed choice

I have a 3G, not a 3GS - so perhaps stuff which is less graphically intensive is a good idea? I have a HookChamp, loving it!

So, recommend me up, bitches!

[Grobbelboy]

Many recommendable games but most of them aren't free. But Real Racing GTI is very good and Traffic Rush is a nice polished game and about as addictive as Flight Control.

[Mike]

Draw Racer is ace with a few mates at the pub.

[Kramer]

Oh my, Labyrinth 2 is brilliant. I didn't like the first one, so I was a little hesitant about the sequel. I took the plunge after seeing all of the positive reviews on the App Store, so I thought it was worth a try. It really is quite great though. The controls are spot-on, the sound effects are great, and it looks lovely. Recommended.

Yep, Labyrinth 2 is excellent. I'm finding it quite tough now on the later stages.

Illusion Labs are great. Touchgrind, Sway and Labyrinth 2 are totally different from each other and all are brilliant.

[Kramer]

Angry Birds is brilliant.

Catapulty castle knockdown physicsy thing.

[bobontheway]

Just got meself an iPhone and wanna try out some gaaaaames! This is a biiiig thread so I thought I'd be lazy and ask for some recommendations here... Preferably things with lite/dem versions so I can make an informed choice

I have a 3G, not a 3GS - so perhaps stuff which is less graphically intensive is a good idea? I have a HookChamp, loving it!

So, recommend me up, bitches!

MiniSquadron!

It isn't free but you won't regret it.

[Looper]

iBlast Moki is the appvent free game today, a game so good I actually emailed the developer saying 'thanks for making this'. GET!

[Dr Nookie]

iBlast Moki is the appvent free game today, a game so good I actually emailed the developer saying 'thanks for making this'. GET!

Apparently this item is being 'modified' and is unavailable for download.....grrr

[The Liberal Elite]

appventcalendar is the kind of shit that puts someone buying a game ever again.

[Garibaldi]

Oh my, Labyrinth 2 is brilliant. I didn't like the first one, so I was a little hesitant about the sequel. I took the plunge after seeing all of the positive reviews on the App Store, so I thought it was worth a try. It really is quite great though. The controls are spot-on, the sound effects are great, and it looks lovely. Recommended.

It is rather good, gave me a bad neck after I was craning my head around to follow the on-screen action, though!

[bobontheway]

http://blog.sketchnation.com/

Sketchnation Shooter looks like it is going to be amazing. I wish my bloomin' iPod Touch had a camera

[gingerling]

I'm still loving Peggle. It took me a week to get 400k on one of the challenge levels.

[Simmy]

A question for you lot - I bought the iPod Touch the day it first came out - can I play games on this? I never really thought to try but if I can, then I will give it a go.

[Grobbelboy]

Yeah, it's pretty much an iPhone without the phone and the camera.

There's an update for Canabalt with new obstacles and music but I can't seem to download it It keeps coming back in de updates section and the game just doesn't update.

[Froettmaning]

I've had that with a number of apps recently - I've no idea of the cause, but it seems to resolve itself eventually.

[hanzo]

Same here. The Canabalt update looks to be awesome - global leaderboards, new obstacles and a new music track. But yeah, I can't seem to install it either.

[Pistol]

appventcalendar is the kind of shit that puts someone buying a game ever again.

That's one way of looking at it; it's certainly annoying when a game you paid full whack for becomes free (or even 59p) afterwards.

But look at it this way. If the game is good enough, you don't begrudge the price cut really. (Especially when you factor in the fact that even "high" priced apps are about the same as a pint of beer.) I've bought loads of great games, and if I'm honest, the ones that are the best I have paid full price for, seen them on sale later, and thought "Shucks... actually you know what, sod it, it was more than worth it." I only get buyer's remorse if the game turned out to be a dud - and although I'm a pretty compulsive app-hooverer, I do think I tend to make fairly informed judgements on what to buy, so that's not too common.

This whole appvent calendar promotion must be heaven for those developers sensible enough to participate. The very nature of the app store is that success is self-perpetuating, and you don't get anywhere without getting your app noticed. Making apps temporarily free is a good way of getting your app up in the charts temporarily, but it's still going to be a brief moment in the limelight unless you're lucky.

With the appvent calendar, however, there are now tens of thousands of app addicts eagerly poised to download the next day's free game. Rather than hoping your temporary sale gets you noticed, you are instantly guaranteed massive volumes of downloads and a rocket straight up the charts. That is going to do more for your app than anything else you could do.

Having said that, have you looked at the comments on the appvent calendar itself? There are leagues of morons hoping that really popular games are going to be on there. POPULAR GAMES DON'T NEED FREE SALES, IDIOTS. You're going to get lesser-known gems, not existing blockbusters.

[bigbrick]

Having said that, have you looked at the comments on the appvent calendar itself? There are leagues of morons hoping that really popular games are going to be on there. POPULAR GAMES DON'T NEED FREE SALES, IDIOTS. You're going to get lesser-known gems, not existing blockbusters.

yeah, some divs are even begging for stuff like TomTom...

[robdood]

Well iblast moki is still being modified. Gash.

ps hookchamp ftw!!