Word Trick, Outplay Entertainment’s first title for Apple iOS is now live on the App Store in the US, UK, Canada and Europe. The game is new take on the classic board game formula. Players take it in turns to make the highest scoring words they can from a selection of eight letters.
The board features the familiar double and triple letter or word scores, but Word Trick adds a new element with green ‘trick tiles’ which give players bonus points when they’re used in groups of three or more. Up to four players can take part in a single game and players can have up to 21 games in progress at any one time.
Clear? Good.
Word Trick can now be enjoyed by Facebook and iOS users alike. On the same game. On different platforms. Mind BLOWN. Truly we are in the FUTURE…
You can also play against other players in the same location by passing your phone back and forth, like a tiny electronic board game of joy.
Word Trick for iOS is available now for your iPad, iPod or iPhone. There is a free, ad-funded version of the game available now. A paid for version which removes the adverts will be available shortly.
Whatever will they think of next? Cobra has started promoting a forthcoming game – BEFORE IT’S EVEN RELEASED!
Their so-called promotion will be looked upon by the wider industry with the greatest disapprobation and their concept will be stolen, pirated and released upon the lawless streets of the world before they can draw breath.
Will it be mobile? Will it be online? Will it be social? What genre is it? THEY DON’T SAY! There’s literally NO information there. It’s like the expect people to GUESS or actually wonder what they’re up to.
It’s IMMODEST and crass.
It’s clearly madness!
Looks very nice though. Count us as impressed.
(Oh and the rest of you. Yes, you lot. This is a GOOD idea…)
Tag’s first title for its casual/social TagPlay label, Funpark Friends, has been nominated in the Best Social Games category in the 2012 International Mobile Games Awards, which are announced that the Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona at the end of February.
Congratulations to the team and we’ll all keep our fingers crossed for another win.
The local chapter of STV popped into the Dundee HQ of Outplay Entertainment earlier this week to take a look at what the company’s working on and ponder the ongoing evolution of the games business.
Superstar reporter Holly Hamilton spoke to senior producer Tone Brennan and a handsome passerby to ask how the industry has changed in the last couple of years and what the future holds for the local development studios and publishers (which are increasingly one and the same).
Digital Goldfish, the studio behind the hugely popular iOS versions of the Bloons series of games are celebrating a phenomenal start to 2012 with news that the latest game in the series – Bloons 2 - is riding high in the iPhone App Store charts and has had a very successful Christmas indeed on the Nintendo 3DS.
First up is Bloons 2 – the sequel. Now with MORE monkey, more darts and more bloons that ever before. Out now for iOS (that’s iPhone, iPod and iPad, readers). The game hit the UK Top 20 over the Christmas holidays and is continuing right well, according to company boss David Hamilton.
Digital Goldfish also created a brand new version of the game for Nintendo’s downloadable games service, DSiWare.
The tower defence game, Bloons TD, which was released towards the end of 2011 was the UK’s Number 1 DSiWare game over the Christmas period. The game is currently sitting in the Top 5 games in both the UK and US charts. You can get it now for a mere 500 Nintendo points.
Which isn’t bad for a friendly little monkey armed with darts and a soul rending fear of inflatable rubber.
Finally, Digital Goldfish released its first game for the rapidly growing Android market. Bloons TD 4is out now for all leading Android devices for an entirely reasonable £1.93.
We should also point out that other Bloons games are available, including Bloons TD and Hot Air Bloon. There are even Lite versions, should you wish to try before you most assuredly buy.
The IGF is the world’s leading indie games competition. It runs alongside the prestigious Game Developers Conference, which takes place in San Francisco in early March. All of the finalists will have their games on display throughout the conference. The awards ceremony takes place on March 7th.
Pugs Luv Beats deserves your love and recognition. In the official nomination announcement, one of the judges is quoted as saying, “This one took me by surprise. It’s super charming and the music integration into the gameplay is really creative here. I was enjoying the audio until I realized that the planet selection screen basically andallows you to play two monosynths and…at that point I was sold!”
If you’re heading to GDC, stop by the indie games area and say hello to Lucky Frame. Then tell your contacts and friends Pugs Luv Beats is very good. Follow them into their next appointment and repeat yourself, getting louder and louder if needs be.
Yann Seznec, founder and director of Lucky Frame, says “We are ecstatic to be finalists in the IGF Awards. There were over 500 games submitted, and we are honored and proud to be a part of such an elite group of developers from around the world.”
Pugs Luv Beats has been garnering rave reviews since it was released in December 2011, with critics calling it “2011’s most adorable and best sounding game”, “unique, adorable, a mesmerizing experience”, and “the strangest game on iOS”. It is the first in a series of music games produced with support from Channel 4 and Creative Scotland.
Congratulations to the Lucky Frame team. Our fingers are crossed for you…
It would seem that the generosity of spirit, love and compassion which the games industry is famous for, is shining out like a beacon for Christmas 2011.
A variety of developers have provided promo codes for their games to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or more ecumenically, have a lovely couple of weeks off…
Here’s the rundown of companies, games and codes for your pleasure and delight:
A HUGE thank you to all of the companies who have contributed codes, links and love. Even bigger thanks to Kevin Ng from Pixels On Toast who started the whole thing.
We covered the launch of Drop Catcher earlier this year, when the game hit the App Store. Now however, Fat Bob Games, the developer of Drop Catcher are working with Play Mob & games charity Special Effect to raise money via the game’s in-app purchases.
Drop Catcher is free to download and play, but will offer new downloadable content from within the game itself. 50% of the money raised from all such purchases will go to the SpecialEffect charity.
Euan Mackenzie of Fat Bob Games said, “We had no hesitation in supporting this initiative and working in collaboration is an amazing opportunity to do some good .”
Jude Ower CEO of Playmob added, “When we built Giverboard, this was exactly the sort of initiative we wanted to help build. It has come together really quickly and shows when good is being done, people join together as one.”
Dr Mick Donegan from SpecialEffect said “Some potential donors who’ve never played a videogame find it hard to understand the value and importance of our work and this can limit our fundraising appeal. However, time and time again, gamers have shown that they DO understand the importance of the of the charity’s work and are eager to help. What better way for them to help our work than through this amazing new idea – gamers raising funds to help transform severely disabled people’s lives simply by playing a wonderful new game? Massive thanks to Playmob, Fat Bob and GamesAid for giving us this wonderful opportunity. For SpecialEffect this idea is a REAL Gamechanger and a marriage made in Heaven!”
Andy Payne Chair of UKIE added, “This is exactly the sort of joined up creative thinking that the UK is so good at. Connecting up three vibrant technology companies digitally shows what is possible when people come together to share ideas and challenges. Gamers can now play and do some good by helping others. It really is a win-win.”
There you have it. Download Drop Catcher from the App Store now. It’s available for iPod, iPhoneand iPad. It’s FREE, but every in-app purchase donates money to SpecialEffect.
Serious Parody’s Wrestling Manager game is now live on the Apple App Store for iPhone, iPod and iPad. It’s one of the first games to offer players the challenges and tribulations of pro-wrestling management.
The game’s been picking up some serious interest from a number of wrestling sites around the world, as you’ll see in the video above.
In addition to guiding your wrestler(s) through the murky underworld of the grappling game, Wrestling Manager also offers a variety of in-app purchases and downloads which add new features, unlock new arenas and allow players to compete on a global stage (or ring…)
Thanks to being independent, Wrestling Manager is also not tied to any specific league, organisation or outfit, allowing the game to create the ultimate wrestling challenge.
Ladies & gentlemen today, with only twelve days of the year left, we present what may be 2011′s most adorable – and best sounding game. The constantly surprising team at Edinburgh’s Lucky Frame studios today released Pugs Love Beats, a brand new game for iOS.
Players take charge of a growing army of space Pugs. Yes, the tiny dogs which look like they’ve been bonsai’d. The goal is to get your cadre of tiny acolytes to skip gaily from their weeny little dog houses to love and hug equally weeny and delicious beats (like beets, only more musical).
Each prance of your tiny dog’s hooves produces a magical sound, so once two or more have been set about their space vegetable loving tasks, the auditory effect is as intoxicating as scoffing a tub of vodka margarine with a wooden spoon, while sitting in a warm bath of cough syrup.
Change your pugs’ routes and paths for an endless supply of sounds and musical wonder.
Buying new outfits for your purdy little doggies improves their movement over different types of terrain. New dog houses = more pugs = more beat love = more points.
Once you have collected enough beat love, you can purchase new houses. Also planets. As you place houses, you dispel clouds from above your shiny new planet to reveal more of the landscape, allowing new houses to be placed and more beats revealed…
…and then, onto more new planets and – possibly – the most endearing galactic empire since Ming the tiny duckling and Fluff Gordon got together.
In terms of design, Pugs Love Beats is as gorgeous as it sounds – and it sounds jolly good too. Try dragging your finger around the planet buying screen and clap delightedly as your friendly helper pug sings his (or her) tiny heart out.
Bless!
Pugs Love Beats is out now on iTunes for an entirely bearable cost of £1.99. If we’ve not already convinced you, then check out the promotional video. We defy you not to gurgle with joy…
There’s an excellent in-depth piece from Lucky Frame’s Yann Seznec over on Create Digital Music. We’d recommend that too…
Funding for the game was provided by Channel 4 and Creative Scotland. We’ll have more from Lucky Frame on that in the near future.
Word Trick, Outplay Entertainment’s first title for Apple iOS is now live on the App Store in the US, UK, Canada and Europe. The game is new take on the classic board game formula. Players take it in turns to make the highest scoring words they can from a selection of eight letters.
Word Trick can now be enjoyed by Facebook and iOS users alike. On the same game. On different platforms. Mind BLOWN. Truly we are in the FUTURE…
