Infinite Dreams’ Jelly Defense [$.99] is a well-made by-the-numbers tower defense joint with an embarrassingly unorthodox and captivating art direction that arterially informs and fleshes out its otherwise boring core mechanics. Without this direction it’d look and feel as flat as a modern FPS, but its detail, vividness, liveliness, and the raw skillfulness employed in making it this way morph it into an experience.
Conventional tower defense games are demanding, punitive, and scripted pretty harshly. You usually have to “get” the vision the designer had in mind for levels, which leaves a lot to be desired from a play perspective. Jelly Defense doesn’t depart from these norms, nor does it do much to differentiate on any other level outside of its look. You build towers. Those towers fire on specific enemy types and have certain effects on them as they crawl towards an ultimate end goal. If they reach the goal enough, you lose. If you pick bad towers, you lose. If you try to be unconventional, you lose. If you spend poorly, you lose. There’s a lot of losing in general until you understand and execute on proper placements, upgrade paths, and memorize the order of waves. (more...)
When it comes to the crowded Tower Defense genre, a game truly needs to take an innovative (or extremely well-produced) approach in order to make its mark. Unfortunately, Tiny Defense [$0.99] doesn’t really satisfy this lofty goal. Sure, Tiny Defense manages to take the core gameplay of Plants vs Zombies and offer a twist on the traditional formula (as well as a vastly different setting), but it just doesn’t offer any sort of gameplay experience that can’t be found in better games in the genre.
As mentioned above, Tiny Defense closely mimics tower defense gameplay made popular by Plants vs Zombies – gamers place various attacking and support units on the right side of the screen in order to defend against baddies coming in from the left. If any enemies get to the other side, you lose a life. Lose enough lives, and the game is over. Tiny Defense differs somewhat in its theme and perspective. Instead of plants, you control a variety of robotic units that are defended against evil (and usually much bigger) robots. Also, instead of the gameplay arena taking place from a top-down perspective, Tiny Defense has a purely 2D perspective.
There are two things I want in life: (a) more content in 11 Bit Studio’s Anomaly: Warzone Earth [$1.99 / HD] and (b) a working Space Marine chain-sword that doubles as a potato peeler. I’ll never get the latter, but the chances on the former seem great right now. 11 Bit just wrapped up an interview with relative game Web site newcomers Split Kick and confirmed that one more Squad Assault level is coming to the App Store version of the reverse tower defense game in a fresh update. Even better, more content is being planned alongside a possible sequel.
Talk about a treasure trove of information, right? Here’s 11 Bit’s Pawel Miechowski’s relevant newsy-news words:
Currently an update is on the way to Anomaly WE on App Store. Apart from the several fixes, it’ll deliver a new Squad Assault mode and it is placed in Baghdad setting too. Additional downloadable content for iOS version is in the works and it’ll introduce some new improvements to the concept and some new locations, although that levels are desert-based too. Much of the “processing capacity” is used for the development of other versions that I mentioned, so we do not have enough powers to produce extra content for PC/Mac version now. However, we’ll do in the future. We’re also planning content for the possible sequel and there are brand new ideas and brand new locations considered.
On the studio's blog last week, 11 Bit added that this update, in addition to bug fixes, will also make the HD version Universal. This means that if you held out on iPhone version, you'll get it for free with a download of the iPad one.
Actually, let’s add a third thing to that list. As great as the first game is and as powerful as the prospect of downloadable content for it is, I’d like to go ahead say that I want a new Anomaly game with new locations, new missions, new powers, and new mechanics, too please. Thanks, guys!
If you missed out on our WWDC preview, allow me to calibrate your expectations about Tiny Heroes [$2.99], a new tower defense title from Simutronics Corp. You may have heard that the team behind this game was headed up by David Whatley, the developer of the outstanding geoDefense [$1.99 / Lite] and geoDefense Swarm [$1.99]. Already your brain may be whirring along, thinking about upgradeable towers and mazing. Stop that. You won't find those here. And you won't miss them, either.
In Tiny Heroes, you are the master of a dungeon rich with treasure. In classic Dungeons & Dragons style, where there is treasure, there are heroes. Are you going to sit back and let them take your treasure? Heck no! So you set up defenses in their way, and who can blame you if a few of those defenses are a touch lethal? You have liability insurance, right?
On the heels of a cool new content update to Plants vs. Zombiesfor iPhone and iPod Touch, creator PopCap Games has slashed the prices of the vast majority of its App Store catalogue. From now until whenever the studio decides to call it quits, you can grab its best games on the cheap, including the aforementioned Plants vs. Zombies as well as Peggle.
It’s hard to believe that everyone doesn’t own Plants vs. Zombies or Peggle already, so I thought I’d plug Chuzzle real fast. It’s another neat match-three game in a long line of match-three titles that don’t quite do enough to distance themselves from Bejeweled, but it’s hip in bursts and has a ton of character to spare. At this price, it’s worth a shot if you’re into puzzle games.
Plants vs. Zombies [$2.99 / HD] for the iPhone just received a little more feature parity with its cousins on other platforms and a touch of free-to-play to boot. Creator PopCap Games has just added in a total of nine new mini-games to experience in-between your bouts with the undead. Each mini-game comes bundled in packs of three, all three of which you can buy through Crazy Dave for 50,000 coins respectively.
In a fun twist that I’m sure certain crowds are going to love, the studio is allowing users to spend $.99 three times in exchange for oodles (read: 100,000) of in-game coins. Naturally, you can exchange these coins in return for these packs -- or presumably whatever else you want, including new plants or slots -- from the in-game shop that Crazy Dave runs. (more...)
4Towers: Onslaught [$1.99] is the latest tower defense game from LambdaMu, the makers of Infinight [$1.99/Lite] and Dice Soccer [Free]. If the name of this game sounds familiar, that's probably because it was originally released mid-2010 as 4Towers Combo TD: Classic Edition [99c] .
Onslaught is a reboot of their Classic game, as it delivers additional levels, bosses, an features, plus improved vector-style graphics and sounds. The first 22 of the 28 levels are taken directly from the Classic game, but look better and include the addition of equipment which grant special abilities.
We've recently been given an exclusive heads-up on two interesting looking upcoming titles from Digital Concepts, who brought us the early iOS pick-up RPG Loot Master [iPhone] as well as the space age tower defense title Starfall [iPhone, iPad].
The first bit of news Digital Concepts' Douglass Beck shared with us should be of interest to all the Minecraft junkies out there. Doug is working on a game that started out as something of a "pet project," but is now evolving nicely and should make it to both App Stores (Mac first, then iOS) sometime down the road. The as-yet-unnamed title is a single- and multi-player Minecraft-like game that is already quite functional in its early state of development.
That's about all we can share right now in the way of media and details on the studio's Minecraft-alike, but we'll bring more before the game goes live. (more...)
11 Bit Studios decision to make a tower defense game set in a bombed-out, alien-infested world otherwise full of sand, bullets, and bombs doesn’t seem like an inspired design direction for a downloadable game from a new studio, but it totally is. Despite its over-saturated genre and its dull name, Anomaly: Warzone Earth [$1.99 / HD] has something new to share and its fresh conceits are executed in some of the most graceful, simple, and visually striking ways I’ve seen in a long time. It nails its strategy component by providing unique constructs, it nails its controls, and it nails its look, which is really is a treat on touch devices.
The easiest way to express what Anomaly does is with the phrase “tower defense in reverse,” which sorta sounds cheesy, but it’s pretty good approximation. Basically, you control the creeps in an environment laced with enemy turrets. Anomaly takes this idea a step further by giving you control over what kind of creeps you can build, the order in which you place your creeps, and by also allowing you to plot out the course you’ll take dynamically during the mission. (more...)
My most anticipated title of the year for the iPad, 11-Bit Studio's reverse tower defense game Anomaly: Warzone Earth, will hit the US App Store within the next one-to-two weeks, a rep from publisher Chillingo revealed to us via e-mail.
The wait has been crazy long. Anomaly first appeared on Steam and the Mac App Store in April this year to huge and well-deserved acclaim. We’ve gone hands-on with the touch-focused iOS iteration of the same game a couple of times since and have always come away impressed with how the port was being handled from a technical perspective. It looks great and it plays great, too, if those alpha or beta builds can be taken as a solid indication of the final product.
I’ve been begging for a pre-release build for months now, so hopefully we’ll be able to bring you some much more fleshed out opinions of the final game leading up to its release. At any rate, you’ll definitely be able to get your hands on it soon. Yay! Finally! I'm peeing at little but thats cool because I'm excited I think!
Of late, PopCap Games has been crossing its T’s and dotting it’s I’s. Just a few weeks ago, the publisher dropped a retina display support update into its monstrous hit, Peggle [$2.99]. Around roughly the same time, Plants vs. Zombies [$2.99 /HD] received the Zen Garden in a free update, bringing it on par with the other versions out there. Now, PVZ can boast retina display support, too. In a free update that just dropped, PVZ can be seen in all its fantastic, HD-y glory for those playing on an iPhone 4.
If PopCap was a person this kind of housecleaning behavior could be seen as a sign that it’s preparing for something new. Lord knows you won't catch me picking up quarters off my floor or dusting my molding unless I'm moving out an old couch and putting a new one in.
Is it plausible that we’re on the cusp of receiving a fresh game from the studio? Undoubtedly, it’s working on stuff. Games are kinda how a studio makes money, you know? I just wonder how soon we'll see something since both of these games are essentially in totally finished states, finally.
In the not-so-distant past, the media spotted a bunch of out-there PopCap Games trademarks. The one that caught my eye the hardest was Yeti Train, but there’s also Popcorn Dragon, Robodojo, and Vacation Quest.
We’ve got some screens of Crescent Moon’s Siegecraft, a hot-looking fixed-weapon castle defense game set to hit the iPad and iPhone later this September.
Siegecraft is all about putting you in control of various kinds of turrets against several different types of hordes: catapults, ballistas, rams, siege towers, and trebuchets will be your weapons against boats, vikings, vikings in boats, knights, and other ‘races’ who wish to take the object or place you’re protecting in Siegecraft's instance-based levels. One of the most remarkable things about the title is its visual appeal, which is why we want to show it to you.
The camera perspective might be pretty tight, but know that this is a 3D rendered game and it leans on a robust physics engine, which should make for some additional fun if it proves to be solid in final release form.
Aside from the look and tech, though, the game does have another edge: race-based play. In its initial form, you’ll be able to play as Knights, Vikings and Samurai across their own unique campaigns. Down the line in updates, Crescent Moon is planning to expand on this with Orcs, legions of the Undead, Egyptians, Romans, and men from Sparta.
Looks cool enough and, surely, the race thing will give it the edge it needs to feel like a new thing amongst the throngs of other fixed-turret games out there. We’ll keep following it as it worms its way through Crescent's innards.
Is Chillingo moving to free-to-play? That’s a huge question and it’s one we asked ourselves when we saw a re-tooled, free-to-play-ized version of Monster Mayhem [Free] hit the App Store this week. The original game, which we reviewed back in 2010, didn’t ask for cash in exchange for digital cash that you can exchange for weapons. This one does. Also, it wasn’t free like this one is, which you know, is sort of the point of free-to-play.
It’s not a secret that free-to-play is the dominant kind of game on the App Store, so why wouldn’t a publisher like Chillingo start really digging into free-to-play? That’s probably a question it asks itself a lot, but no, this doesn’t signal a larger move. In a response to us, the publisher said that it will continue to institute additional functionality into games where it makes the most sense. For Monster Mayhem, an older game, optional IAP downloads did. But the publisher will continue to offer standard, premium downloads as it has and said it will.
I’ll add that this is a pretty normal tactic for older games: World of Warcraft, actually, just opened up a lot more of the early game to new players for the price of $0. You could also cite titles like Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons MMO or even Lord of the Rings Online. Of course, the biggest free-to-play move in the recent past was Valve’s Team Fortress 2.
If anything, free-to-play gets the game in more people’s hands and opens up the potential for crazy revenue. Take the Dungeon and Dragons MMO for example: game has done crazy money since switching formats.
I wouldn’t count out a larger move in the mid-to-late future from Chillingo, but as of right now, nothing big is up.
The most recent update to Two Worlds II Castle Defense [HD / HD Lite] for the iPad is as curious as the fact that the game is even receiving updates, considering that it’s a weak tie-in title for a niche, PC-focused RPG series. But anyway, the overhead strategy game has just received head-tracking by the way of the iPad 2’s front-facing camera. According to a press release, the title now recognizes the position of your 'eyes' and changes the perspective of the in-game camera accordingly.
The example that’s being throw around for its application are, simply, corners. Apparently, you’ll now be able to see around them -- if you’re playing the game with an iPad 2 and move around your head as the tracking demands. The iPhone version [$4.99 / Lite] hasn't received this update.
“Right now we are adapting the system for more platforms like PC or Mac and will also present some challenging 3D surprises within the next couple of months,” TopWare Interactive’s CEO, Dirk Hassinger, said in a statement.
This update is, of course, free, but this technology support has even been added to the Lite version of the title. So, if you want to give it a spin and haven’t taken the plunge, you can for the price of $0, which seems fair. I’d also like to add that we’re now one or two steps closer to Judgement Day.
In a move that makes a lot of sense, PopCap Games has announced that it has penned an agreement with Sony Ericsson that will see its titles pre-loaded on the Xperia Play mini and the pro later this summer. News of this comes mere days after EA’s acquisition of the casual games developer and subsequent promises to further its reach. This will be the first time PopCap Games’ games have been available in Europe on Android.
Chuzzle [$2.99], the lesser-known puzzle game from PopCap, will be pre-loaded in its entirety on new Plays, while trial versions of Plants vs. Zombies [$2.99 / HD] and Peggle [$2.99] will round out the offerings. A healthy amount of native Play games at the moment are PSOne titles, so this is a welcome shot in the arm to an aging line-up of downloadable titles. On the other hand... I suppose these games have been available on a billion other formats for several years, too.
If anything, take this as a sign to come from PopCap as it starts expanding what it can offer under the wings of EA and its larger, consumer-facing bandwidth. “As the Android ecosystem matures, PopCap is committed to providing best-in-class game experiences for Android game players,” a rep said in a statement. Fingers crossed for Peggle Nights!
In somewhat related news, Sony Ericcson also wrapped up an exclusive with Mojang. The platform is, at least, trying to be competitive. And really, the best thing that could happen for iOS gamers is for Apple to see some serious competition, especially if you buy into the idea that competition breeds innovation.
Infinite Dreams’ Jelly Defense [$.99] is a well-made by-the-numbers tower defense joint with an embarrassingly unorthodox and captivating art direction that arterially informs and fleshes out its otherwise boring core mechanics. Without this direction it’d look and feel as flat as a modern FPS, but its detail, vividness, liveliness, and the raw skillfulness employed in making it this way morph it into an experience.
There are two things I want in life: (a) more content in 
If you missed out on our 
On the heels of a
Plants vs. Zombies [$
11 Bit Studios
My most anticipated title of the year for the iPad, 
Of late, PopCap Games has been crossing its T’s and dotting it’s I’s. Just a few weeks ago, the publisher dropped 
Is Chillingo moving to free-to-play? That’s a huge question and it’s one we asked ourselves when we saw a re-tooled, free-to-play-ized version of Monster Mayhem [
The most recent update to Two Worlds II Castle Defense [
