A Gaming Diary
iPhone
100 Rogues (iPhone)
May 12th
Absolutely fantastically designed game, it really is. It requires real thought to survive – along with the usual roguelike dose of luck. I’m experimenting with different skills, learning how best to use items, ways to move that limit my exposure, etc. The levels themselves may not be especially interesting, but I seem to have several fantastic fights every time I play. (Along, of course, with a few “stand in one place and attack the enemy in front of me” ones.)
Slice a beetle into mush, level up.
It’s going to be amazing once, you know, it actually works properly. It’s pretty stable at the moment, but I’m running into odd problems here and there. In one game yesterday my health and energy refused to regenerate, which made for an interesting challenge. More annoyingly, after my best game ever the game crashed as I died and didn’t record my score. That was a bit of a blow and I’ve not gone back since. I will though – and probably soon.
Crush The Castle (iPhone)
May 12th
Watch stones bounce off the castle and get increasingly annoyed, more like.
Played a few more levels of Crush The Castle last night, but, frankly, it’s becoming less interesting the more I play.
Skate It (iPhone)
May 11th
Only one blog entry today, because one game has dominated my gaming time over the last twenty-four hours. (Not that there was an awful lot of gaming, what with spending most of yesterday evening watching Johnny Cash’s America, Glee, The Cleveland Show, Have I Got News For You, etc.)
The game in question was EA’s Skate It, a portable spin-off from their popular Skate series. Originally a DS game, way back in 2008, they’ve iPhoned this version up and stuck on the App Store for a fraction of the price of a DS game.
As you might expect, given that I’ve not played anything else, it’s rather good. A long way from perfect – the graphics show their DS origins and are really rather ugly – but skating around feels good. The trick system seems a little random, but that’s probably down to me being a bit rubbish and the game being quite generous with how it interprets your input. Pretty much any random swiping will mean something happens.
Tilt to steer, draw lines to do tricks.
There seems to be an absolute ton of content – lots of levels, the ability to create your own skatepark, lots of customisation for your ugly, ugly skater – and I’ve spent most of my time just skating around trying to find lines, rather than doing the actual challenges.
If you can put up with the rough edges, I think there may be something of a gem hidden away here. As always, though, this is a blog post based on playing around with the game for a bit, not a review or definitive verdict. Any opinion I offer in any post on this blog is subject to change.
100 Rogues (iPhone)
May 10th
The latest roguelike to hit the App Store, it’s been as hyped as it’s possible for an indie roguelike to be. By which I mean I actually knew about it before release. I’m even a fan on Facebook.
It came out a week or two again but was, unfortunately, bugged to hell and back. Constant crashes, the player spawning in walls, the lot. So, despite it being one of my most anticpated games, I held off until a patch hit at the weekend. The patch stopped the Challenge game mode working, but was meant to make the core game much more stable.
So, still slightly worried, I gave it a go.
How I did I find it?
(Pause for suspense and screen shot.)
I normally play as the Crusader - he's easier to keep alive than the fairy wizard thing.
Well, it’s excellent. Really. The graphics are made up of lovely, cartoony sprite work (equipping new armour even results in a palette swap for your character!), the controls seem to be well thought out (I’ve certainly had no problems so far), there’s a skill tree so you can customise your character, the enemies have interesting behaviours and it requires real thought to survive fights.
It’s perfectly playable now, but once it’s properly stable and optimised and the promised updates have come out (more classes to add to the two included in the current game, shops that aren’t just boarded-up store fronts, etc.) I honestly think this might be something of a classic. Right now, though, you’re still getting a game that’s worth the three quid price tag.
Cavern (iPhone)
May 10th
In my previous post about Cavern I mentioned I was having trouble with the movement controls. Well, that’s no longer a problem. My brain adjusted quite quickly and now I’m completely comfortable with the control scheme. (And there is an option for more standard relative movement controls, but I actually prefer the default control scheme now.)
Squishing bugs for fun and XP.
Without the control problems I was able to dig into the game properly. It’s a fairly simple roguelike, but a solid and playable one. It reminds me of ZAngband in the way you often need to return to the surface for supplies, but magic scrolls that teleport you back are cheap and plentiful, so it feels more like a quick break than a tension-reducing slog.
It’s a harsh game, too – no matter how well you think you’ve been doing, you can die in seconds if you don’t keep your wits about you – but that’s not a bad thing at all.
I also like the variety of locations, with things like bridges and brick-walled, finely-carpeted rooms breaking up the brown and grey of the cavern. Well worth a look if you’re into roguelikes, I can’t see this being deleted off my iPhone any time soon.
iNetHack (iPhone)
May 10th
I keep failing to notice that I’m hungry. I’m not sure if it’s because it doesn’t tell you in portrait mode – which it might well do – or if my stupid, rubbish eyes just aren’t noticing.
Poor Meatbreath. A monster killed him as soon as we stepped out of the starting room.
It’s a problem. Especially when I faint from lack of food and end up being eaten alive by sewer rats, while helpless. That’s a terribly ignominious end for any adventurer.
Sword of Fargoal (iPhone)
May 10th
Another great game that I’ve played for the first time in ages. Since I last played it’s had a lot of updates, but I didn’t notice many changes in the two or three floors I played. Mostly, I assume, because I was continuing an old save game – I think I lot of the changes are to do with additional gameplay modes. I’ll investigate them once I’ve won or died with my current character.
One change I did notice was the introduction of shields, which I don’t think were in the last version I played. A small change, but anything that helps me survive is welcome.
Look! I've got a shield!
Also, all the passages I found to other maps on the same level as me seemed to be blocked – not sure what’s that around. Bad luck, glitch, new design? I must investigate further.
Anyway, it’s still probably the best introductory roguelike on the iPhone. (And it is a roguelike, as far as I’m concerned. It’s got randomly-generated dungeons, loot to find, monsters to fight and, crucially, permadeath.)
Ninjatown: Trees of Doom! (iPhone)
May 10th
Played a lot of this over the weekend and finally managed to get above 1,000 metres. Or feet. Or whatever scale it’s using. I can’t remember offhand. Let’s just call it points. I got over 1,000 points. There. Good. Let’s move on.
It’s a great little game, but I’ve got a bigger problem than the splash screens I mentioned earlier. Let’s look at the picture below.
Branches are springy.
You see that arrow? That shows where you’re going to land when you jump off the branch. You aim by pulling down and releasing. Seems simple, but every now and again when I take my thumb off the screen the arrow changes and instead of leaping to safety, I leap to my doom.
It wasn’t much of a problem at first, but now I’m getting better at the game, I’m finding that most of my deaths come from these bad leaps. It’s starting to get annoying. Either I’m going to have to find a way to let go of the screen without changing my aim or I’m going to delete in the game in a fit of frustration.
I hope it’s the former, because everything else about the game is just lovely.
Run! (iPhone)
May 10th
A much-loved iPhone game that I’ve not played in a long, long time. It’s been through several updates since I last gave it a go, including OpenFeint support and new game modes.
Purple = zombie
I just stuck with the main game, though. I’m not sure if I ever had any skills, but if I did, I seem to have lost them. That said, I do seem to be top of my friends leaderboard – but I think that says more about my friends than me.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
May 10th
Don't you just hate when you've got a great word and nowhere to put it?
Haven’t got many games on the go right now. If you want a game, please start one against me. I’m ThatRevChap.
