iPad Fling! is now available, from the makers of Fuzzle!

I am interested in Fling. I'm not holding my breath for a promo though I am mulling over several games right now and this might be one of the purchases. Looks and sounds great.

 

This game looks pretty good.
I followed you on Twitter and I entered the contest

 

This looks like a great game and I've been very pleased with all of Candy Cane's apps in the past so hopefully this will live up to them.

 

networkman, re your two-player mode suggestion - one idea we had is to have a two-player challenge mode, in which you choose a level, and then two players compete to solve the same set of 8 puzzles from that level the fastest (randomly chosen puzzles, but the same for both players) ...... either at the same time if they have two devices, otherwise taking turns ... any thoughts?

 

Sorry, I'm not networkman. But, I think idea is good. Might want to have several options to choose from 5, 8, or 12 puzzles to compete against. If only 1 device and a challenge no restarts only pass which could give a fixed time , long obviously, or a separate "pass" column which, player with the least wins, or if equal, best time wins.

 

What time does the promo code contest end tomorrow?

 

Review: Fling! more than a one-nighter that will have you back for more

The simpler, the better. That’s seems to be the magic formula for the developers at Candy Cane. These guys were the brains behind Fuzzle, one of the more popular games in the early days of the iTunes store. Now, they’ve taken that “simplicity principle” and created a new game involving furballs aptly called Fling! that on the surface looks relatively harmless. But, spend a few minutes with this game, and you may find an addictively challenging logic puzzle that never plays the same twice.

While flinging objects into other objects to knock them off the board until only one remains is nothing new, Fling does two things well: polish and replay value. Go through the game, and you’ll see what I mean when it comes to the polish conveyed throughout from the menus and tutorial to the game modes and soundtrack. A good deal of thought went into the planning of this game, and it’s apparent each time you play the game.

Each of the furballs more or less has a face and comes in a variety of colors. Beyond the blinking and occasional tightly closed eyes, the little guys aren’t especially animated. The sound effects are minimal, although the lighthearted soundtrack creates a jovial feel. To move these guys, you simply flick them with your finger and off that zip down the screen to knock off one of their hairy companions. Fling also a terrific tutorial that reviews the rules and provides a visual walkthrough of everything you need to know.

Fling has 3 modes of play—Arcade, Free Play and Challenge. Both Arcade and Challenge are timed modes while Free Play is untimed and allows for puzzles to be completed at any pace or even skipped altogether.

In Arcade, the objective is to complete as many puzzles as possible within a limited time to score points. I find that the game generally provides easier and less complex puzzles for a longer duration before dropping the really difficult ones. While there is limited time in Challenge, the objective here is to solve a specific number of puzzles within each level before progressing to the next level. The task is to solve several within each level, and the difficulty varies widely from level to level.

Free Play provides puzzles and unlimited time to solve each and statistics are tracked based on the time to completion. What’s great about Free Play is that a thumbnail is also kept showing each solved puzzle along with the best time. And, as mentioned, you can skip puzzles and revisit them later at your leisure.

Unlike Free Play where you can revisit levels later on once they are unlocked, that option is not available in Challenge mode if you start a new game. I accidentally did that, and I had to start back at level 1 even though I had completed through level 10. However, my previous times were still provided at the beginning of each level as the time to beat. This is based on personal preference, but I would think it would make sense to be able to select any levels completed. Having said that, Fling will auto-save separately for each of the three modes.

Based on your skill level and depending on whether you play at the easy, medium or hard level of difficulty, the puzzles start off easy enough that you’re thinking this will be a breeze. But that feeling will be short lived because more furballs appear forcing you to be a little more creative in your logic, and remember that each puzzle has only one solution. Fortunately, Fling includes two key features: an Undo button located in the bottom left corner of the screen and a Hint button in the bottom right corner of the screen. The undo function is unlimited so you can use as many times as necessary, which you will. For hints, a limited number is provided for each level, and they will move a furball to get you started. The hint option only works when first starting a puzzle or if you undo all the way back to a puzzle’s original state.

A game that involves only flicking furballs may sound limiting, but within the established rules and the different modes of play, it’s surprisingly entertaining. All furballs are created equally, and if you ever do get stuck or fail to solve a puzzle within the allotted time, you can use the hint function to show you the solution. The scoring in particular within Free Play mode doesn’t allow for a comparison for scores if you decide to re-solve a puzzle which hopefully is addressed in the future which probably be addressed in an update. In addition, the game is strictly a one-player experience at this point, although a “friend’s challenge” mode could add to the replay value. An achievement system may also be something to consider such as the fastest time to solve a puzzle on a per level basis, for solving puzzles without using the Undo function, or even certain milestones for number of puzzles solved (e.g. 10, 25, 40).

Fling is great puzzler that while not offering the most sophisticated-looking game offers a rewarding experience that will have people coming back for more. Too often, developers try to be too creative which in turn makes a game overly complex and ultimately unsatisfying. Fling, on the other hand, is a well thought out and well planned game that follows the “simpler, the better” rule…successfully.

Albie Meter: 4.5 Stars (well-implemented game with several modes of play; simple rules don’t make this game any less challenging; Hint and Undo functions round out a solid puzzler)

 

Is there a limited number of hints you get?

 

It depends on the level. But you generally start with one per level (not puzzle). And as you progress, the number of hints increases.

 

seems like a well put together game.

 

I just bought it.............where are the local / global high scores listed ??

 

The local/global high scores are only for the arcade mode (since this is the mode where you make a score), so if you start a new game in arcade mode, you'll then see a link to the high-scores from the main menu (the list for the currently selected difficulty will be shown - so there's three (local+global) high-score lists, for easy,medium+hard)

We'll think about ways to make this simpler / more clear in future versions, as it seems to be a cause for confusion

 

Thanks a lot Big Albie for your well thought-out review and explanation of the game .... we've noted all your suggestions ...

- being able to select any previously solved level in challenge mode is something that could easily be added, we've been in two minds about having this 'feature' or not. Its definitely something we can think about adding already in the next update (i.e. the one following the update we've already submitted) if users generally want it

- 2p challenges, comparing scores in free-play, and some kind of 'achievements' (more idea/stats on your progress/achievement in free-play mode) are all things we're looking at adding in the future

 

I'm definitely interested in this game. Not getting my hopes up for a promo but it would be nice. Sounds like a great casual game which is mostly what I am looking for in an iphone (ipod touch) game.

 

Anyone else noticed that the game mechanics - apart from fling them together - has not been mentioned?

I think I have worked it out but it's a pity the detail wasn't there already.

 

Regarding the game mechanics - so the tutorial doesn't explain explicitly that when a bit hits another, that it stops at the square before the other, in the hope that this is apparent from what you see .... and the only other thing I guess is what happens in a 'chain reaction' (flinging a ball into multiple balls) - again, the hope is that this is quite apparent+logical after the first time that you try it?

 

One more thing about the high scores. I think it would be better for the global scores to accept only the highest score from each person, and not multiple ones...............................

 

Lol please announce the codes soon because I can't hold off buying this for much longer. Anyway i'll check back in the morning.