The world of Ski Pirates is a harsh one. Full of angry whales, rival pirates, the occasional shark, and lots and lots of trees. Although the booty that’s scattered all over the place probably makes it worth braving the elements (and sharks), I suppose.
Ski Pirates is a relatively simple game of arcade-y downhill skiing. You can slide a finger to the left or right to steer, tap to jump, and basically just try your best to avoid obstacles while snagging gold. Although you can also pull of tricks like jumps, spins, and grinds.
There's more of a focus on social elements in Ski Pirates, though. The pirates you’ll see drifting around the mountain actually represent your friends’ scores, and of course you'll want to beat the pants off of them. You can also customize your character using the coins you earn to buy gear (or find it outright when skiing) and then show them off when your friends try to beat your high score. Which of course they won’t. Because you’re the skiingest pirate of them all.
Ski Pirates is slated for an August release, and will be available as a free download.
Garfield is taking a page from The Simpsons in Pixowl's upcoming Garfield: Survival of the Fattest. And no, he's not trading lasagna for donuts.
The game is actually a sort of town builder (ish) from Pixowl where you'll be putting structures together, forcing up to twenty different characters from the comic strip to work, playing mini-games, and keeping the world's most beloved fat cat, well, fat. The emphasis here is on the various characters - like John, Odie, the mouse, and so on - and you'll be able to have them each perform different tasks in order to progress. You'll also want to craft various food ingredients so that you can stuff Garfield's face and keep him all nice and doughy, of course.
Garfield: Survival of the Fattest will be coming to iOS on March 26 as a free download.
Surprise Attack Games has announced a Cat-astrophic new physics puzzler called Fort Meow! In the game, a young girl named Nia finds her grandfather's journal which triggers an all mighty feline attack! Why do the cats want the journal? Who knows, but you'll have to protect it with pillow forts and over twenty items to discover. As you read the journals, you'll discover the secret behind how the cats invaded the attic. You'll guide Nia as she explores the manor in order to find household items to protect herself with. Each item will have its own physics and special attributes, and you'll have to bend your brain to solve each level.
It's sad knowing that Game Oven (Bounden, Fingle) will be shuttered in April, but they're not going to let that stop them from releasing one last game to the App Store. Jelly Reef is going to be the studio's swan song (of a sort) and quite honestly seems like as good a place to stop as any.
A lot has changed since Jelly Reef was first shown, and in that time it's gone from more of a puzzle game to a roguelike with an emphasis on exploration. Now the goal is for players to guide a bunch of jellyfish to the bottom of the ocean, but rather than controlling the stinging invertebrates directly they'll have to move them around by creating water currents. That's right, you play as water.
Each ocean tier is split into multiple hexagonal sections that come together to create one big map, and you'll need to push and pull the jellies around all sorts of unpleasantness in order to make it to the end. This is not an easy thing by any stretch of the imagination, but it is quite cool how you can create currents that will remain on the level and allow you to plan your routes ahead of time. Or screw you up horribly when you forget where you put them and they shove your jellyfish into the waiting jaws of an eel.
Jelly Reef should be releasing either at the end of March or the beginning of April.
Gameloft has excitedly announced that Dungeon Hunter 5 is on its way! Once again, you will adventure across the land of Valenthia exploring dungeons and fighting monsters. The game will have a new asynchronous multiplayer mode called Strongholds which lets you create a customizable base that you can defend and raid your opponents bases. There will also be a new evolution system for your gear so you can upgrade as you go. Dungeon Hunter 5 comes with a single player campaign with 5 realms and tons of dungeons. If you don't want to go it alone, you can hire friends or other players as allies.
Dungeon Hunter 5 will be available on March 12th for iOS.
The Sandbox has been doing pretty well for itself since it first released almost... holy cow it's almost been three years. Well anyway, in those three years Pixowl's 'powder' game has been updated to a ridiculous degree - even going so far as to receive controllable characters and new elements that let players design their own games within the game.
And now they're going "back to basics" with The Sandbox 2.
The new sandbox is similar to the original in many respects, but now sports a few noticeable changes. Shadows and lighting are a bit more detailed, the physics have been improved, and the various elements now have honest-to-goodness textures to ogle. Some environmental effects have also been included, such as glowing lava and a slight distortion to objects that are underwater. In addition to all of that, it will display multiple layers (i.e. foreground, background, etc) so that your creations won't always have to stack up on top of each other. If nothing else it's great to be able to drop a person into a world full of trees and actually see them walk in front of the trees rather than over them.
The Sandbox 2 should be out by the end of the year. Although if that seems like too long a wait, you could always head over to the official website to try your hand at the open beta.
Mortal Kombat X, by Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios, will be a a free-to-play fighting/card-battle Mortal Kombat game. The game promises card collecting, multiplayer team combat, classic characters such as Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Raiden, and the ever popular fatalities that made the series famous.
“NetherRealm Studios has created a Mortal Kombat X mobile experience that allows more players than ever before to play this over-the-top fighting game through their ever-present smartphones, tablets or other devices,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “What’s more, we’ve expanded the unique cross-connectivity feature that links the mobile and console versions of Mortal Kombat X, delivering unique rewards to all players for simply playing the mobile game.”
With the roll of a die and a critical success, Paradox Interactive has announced Knights of Pen & Paper 2! You'll be taking your place at the table once again in this sequel to Knights of Pen & Paper +1 Edition. The game will introduce the new ruleset, new races such as Dwarves and Elves, an updated combat system, new crafting and loot, and the old 8-bit graphics have been tossed out for a sweet new 16-bit look. There is so much to get excited about!
“When you allow people at your company to dress up in wizard robes and suits of armor, sometimes you wind up with games like Knights of Pen & Paper 2,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive.
Start sharpening your swords and studying your spells, because Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is coming on May 14th.
You might know SomaSim best from their gold rush sim, 1849. Well, the developer is taking things to new heights (I apologize for nothing) with Project Highrise. It's still in the extremely early stages - as in concept sketches and not much else - but it sounds like it could be quite neat.
Project Highrise is a game about, well, managing a highrise building. You'll be taking care of businesses and residences, balancing your tenants' needs and comfort, and even taking a look at individual characters' feelings on various subjects (a-la games like RollerCoaster Tycoon). If that sounds a lot like SimTower, that's probably because the Maxis classic was a big inspiration.
Of course there's still a long road ahead for Project Highrise's development, and all sorts of stuff could be changed, added, or removed along the way. Still, the idea of it seems very interesting. We'll definitely be keeping you posted as we learn more.
Our rating: :: BUILDING AN OK TOMORROW :: Read Review »
EA is taking SimCity BuildIt to Japan in this latest update, Tokyo Town. The game will now allow you to unlock the international airport, which allows you to ship cargo and earn Tokyo Town items, like a Lucky Cat. You can also build the Himeji Castle landmark, post-modern skyscrapers, and Japanese style residential zones. There is a new Mailbox to receive rewards, gifts, and game update news. Lastly, your city's sky will be filled with blimps and hot air balloons.
There is a lot of Japanesey goodness coming to SimCity BuildIt, so download it today for free on the App Store.
As a native New Yorker - and by extension, a person who's quite familiar with subway systems - I found the concept of Mini Metro to be instantly appealing. Of course it's only available on Steam. Or at least, it was.
Dinosaur Polo Club has been hard at work bringing the stylish, minimal, and exceedingly clever Mini Metro to iOS. The basic idea is that you have to run a metro subway system by creating train lines that reach different stops, and ferrying riders around before they get too cranky after waiting an age and a half to get to their destination. Easier said than done, obviously.
The build I was able to get our hands on is still in the early stages but it already plays quite well on a touch screen. Dragging new lines around or editing existing ones is pretty fluid, and adding new trains and train cars is quite easy. Keeping everybody happy by balancing your subway lines, not so much.
Mini Metro will be coming to iOS (definitely on the iPad and potentially on the iPhone as well) sometime in Q4 later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for this one. Seriously, they pretty much had to wrestle the iPad away from me after the demo.
At this point it’s pretty safe to say that no MOBA is going to dethrone Dota 2 and League of Legends anytime soon. After all, if Batman can’t do it, nobody can. However, with a genre as popular and profitable as this one, there’s still room for smaller games to carve out unique identities. Jurojin: Immortal Ninja opts for this path with its shinobi battle arena, and we see if it’s worthy in this edition of It Came From Canada!
What immediately sets Jurojin apart from its contemporaries is its theme. Ninjas are nothing new for video games, but in a MOBA landscape full of nothing but vague fantasy archetypes, it’s refreshing to see bamboo forests and stealth assassins instead of generic crystals and character designs two steps away from a Blizzard game. The smooth visuals and movement complement the elegance of the heroes and gives the game the precision the eSport-friendly genre demands.
Also aiding the precision are the controls that work around the limitations of a touch screen in some clever ways. Instead of controlling the character directly, players freely spin a flowing cursor/camera around and their ninja will follow. It’s quick and sharp and makes targeting opponents for melee or projectile attacks a breeze. Although there are paths to follow and enemy structures to take down, in general Jurojin’s environments are more open than the rigid lanes of other MOBAs, so the more open control scheme really shines.
Players put those controls to the test in typical multiplayer battles as well as some welcomed single player challenges. Kill waves of enemies to get the loot and cash necessary to upgrade elemental spells and skills for the next real challenge. Obviously these missions lack the depth of a true duel, but they still do a great job rounding out the package and making up for the lack of additional characters to master.
Ninja Gaiden meets Dota might be too much praise for Jurojin: Immortal Ninja, but that’s not the most inaccurate comparison either. See for yourself if this ninja way is right for you when the game launches everywhere soon.
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.
‘Just one more go’ is a pretty good thing to think while playing a game, even if it’s hardly conducive to your productivity. That’s been the case for me with Alto’s Adventure, as I find myself having ‘just one more go’ to double check something before writing this. It’s an endless runner (something that shouldn’t hook anyone so easily these days), but it’s also a fine example of the genre. We’re talking borderline Tiny Wings levels of fun here. It helps a lot that Alto’s Adventure is gorgeous to look at. It’s relatively simple looking at first glance but that hides some beautiful little touches. Most notable of all is how things change depending on if it’s day or night in the game. It’s thoroughly delightful, with the only real issue being that rocks can be hard to see when it’s dark. --Jennifer Allen
How often do you take a photo then immediately want to send it elsewhere or do something else with it? Probably pretty often, right? Courtesy of the power behind IFTTT, Do Camera can do all that for you, saving you some valuable time. It won’t cover every eventuality but it’s still going to be pretty useful most of the time. As with other IFTTT products, Do Camera is centered around the concept of using recipes to set things up. You hit the Add Recipe button, then make some choices as to what you do next. In each case this means that the central button on the camera side of Do Camera relates to that recipe. All you do is hit the camera button and Do Camera takes the photo while also performing whatever act you’ve set it up to commit. --Jennifer Allen
Swap Heroes 2 is a prime example of a game giving players exactly what they want. As an iteration on the fun-but-flawed Swap Heroes, this sequel delivers all of the strategic elements from the original while removing some of the more random elements and adding a good mix of heroes. For those familiar with the first title, Swap Heroes 2 should be very familiar. Players take control of a set of four heroes and control them purely through swapping their positions in their T shaped formation. Each character has their own set of stats and can unleash special attacks only after being swapped from the back of the formation to the front. Despite being a pretty simple formula, it maintains a sense of depth by providing a wide variety of enemies, character upgrades, and multiple viable strategies for success. --Campbell Bird
Playing Planet Quest couldn’t be simpler. Players are in charge of a UFO’s zapper that’s supposed to zap costumed creatures as they zip along a planet’s surface to the beat of a song. Although it may sound unintuitive, the rotation of the planet is analogous to the note highway of games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, and the notes are just giraffes, bunnies, flowers, and other weird creatures. At first players are walked through the basics, which are essentially ‘tap to the rhythm to zap the creatures’, but along the way more nuance is added. For example, some levels obscure the game view to add difficulty. Also, things like the flower need to be avoided as they take points off of a player’s high score. The game ends when players lose three hearts by missing too many creatures, but it’s forgiving enough that they can miss a note or two while still being able to earn hearts back. --Campbell Bird
If you’re like me, you often find yourself thinking how you really need to text someone but it’s 2am and you don’t think they’d appreciate a message right now. All too often I then entirely forget by the next morning, and so the pattern repeats itself for far too long. Sure I could send myself an email as a reminder or add something to my To-Do list, but wouldn’t it be great if I could schedule a text instead? That’s the thinking behind Capsule – a flawed but useful way of texting in the future. You set Capsule up by inputting your phone number and then receiving an authorization code. It doesn’t take too long to do and is possible anywhere throughout the world. After that, using Capsule is simply a matter of tapping Create and you can get texting. You type your message as usual, choose whether you want to add a photo or video, pick out your contact, and then schedule a time and date. It’s as simple as that. --Jennifer Allen
Other 148Apps Network Sites
If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:
Camelot (of course) is our location and, of course, there ain’t no Camelot without Arthur. Amelia and Merlin are out to help the noble monarch save Camelot by thwarting the evil Morgana’s plans, and they do this with runes or special potions. To begin the game, one gets to choose a character, and each is said to have a unique storyline. At its core, Runes of Camelot is a match-3 puzzle game. As such, the idea is to get a line of three or runes of the same color, horizontally or vertically. Getting three straight (via gesture swipe) dissolves the matched set, and they are replaced by pieces that fall from the top. The pieces are randomized, but any triples created from swaps also dissolve and are replaced. When a set of four pieces are formed, a diamond-looking rune with special powers is formed. These runes can be manipulated to create column shattering reactions that help finish levels. Regular matches yield special powers that are diverse and helpful in time crunches. --Tre Lawrence
Action platformers almost always resonate; they are simple to learn, easy to enjoy and can be tweaked with several gameplay elements. With Buzz Killem (from industry strongman Noodlecake), we get some glorious graphics, easy-to-learn controls, arcade goodness and a lot of action. Buzz Killem is a story of, well, going buck wild. It’s Rambo meets Independence Day. Buzz (action star’s Bill Killem’s dad) is a war vet who is brought back to confront an alien threat. Now, the kicker is tha Buzz has no compunction with regards to blasting away, and in the 2D environment that the game is set, all advantages are to be treasured. --Tre Lawrence
When I look at adding accessories to my workflow, I try to keep to a few important precepts: portability, functionality and compatibility. Portability is obvious; the ability to use stuff on the go is quite important. With regards to functionality, before adding an addition or substitution to my creative/work process, I’d rather know that it is worth the time to make a change. Lastly, the ability to use a tool with other tools and across platforms is priceless. On paper, Livescribe’s Sky Wi-Fi Smartpen seems to touch on these elements quite comfortably. --Tre Lawrence
We were teased about Mediocre Games' (Smash Hit, Sprinkle Islands) upcoming and untitled project back in January, but now we've got more details to share - along with a name.
Does Not Commute (Ha!) is a mind-bending puzzle of a game that tasks you with guiding various vehicles to specific destinations on each of its initial eight levels. Which, at its core, is simply a matter of tapping the left or right sides of the screen to steer. It gets a lot more complicated than that, though.
Every time you successfully see a car (or boat on later levels) to the exit, you jump back in time and take control of a different vehicle that you'll need to see to a different exit. The catch is that everyone you previously controlled will be following the paths you've set them on at the same time - creating some rather hectic moments as you try to avoid crashing into these new obstacles.
We'll definitely have a review for Does Not Commute when it should be releasing in mid-April, but until then you can check out some of the madcap action in the video below.
F84 Games has announced that it is working with legendary comic creator Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment to produce Stan Lee’s Hero Command. The game will be a action adventure of heroic proportions. The game stars Stan Lee, himself, as he recruits and controls a team of super heroes including Captain Steamhammer, a Russian strongman with a steam-powered suit and Seer, a kid genius and powerful psychic. He will send them on missions every day to fight evil and save the world.
Stan Lee’s Hero Command will be available as a free to play download from March 19th 2015.
:: DECENT SHOT
