Wow. 5 months wihout a post.
Has Apple given up on pushing iOS game developers or has the market just stagnated?
Or possibly 'none of our old asses are the target audience for mobile games anymore' (not sure its that, but its possible!)
I've been having fun with Teeny Tiny Town on iOS. Generally, though, I'd rather play games with a bigger scope that don't really fit on mobile devices. I have no idea what's hot in iOS games now.
there’s a Vampire Survivors clone called Survivor.io that I still play occasionally but if I have a few minutes to fill with a mobile game it’s basically only been Marvel Snap or Monster Hunter for the last six months.
I don't game that much on my phone aside from the odd game of Polytopia (unless I have a plane flight I guess). That said, when Balatro comes to phones, I'll absolutely be getting that.
Slay the Spire hit Apple Arcade last month and I can’t stop playing it. Way better form factor, but I do wish the interface was rejigged a little for iOS.
Slay the Spire hit Apple Arcade last month and I can’t stop playing it. Way better form factor, but I do wish the interface was rejigged a little for iOS.
Playing it on my tiny iPhone it felt a bit fiddly, but on my iPad I must have logged more than 100 hours over the course of the last three years. Apart from that, I really only very occasionally tried the games that come with the Netflix subscription. Terra Nil was great on two long train rides.
Or possibly 'none of our old asses are the target audience for mobile games anymore' (not sure its that, but its possible!)
If we were then they'd have larger fonts on all of their games.
I've been having fun with Teeny Tiny Town on iOS. Generally, though, I'd rather play games with a bigger scope that don't really fit on mobile devices. I have no idea what's hot in iOS games now.
I'm going to try this. Been looking for a less complex strategy game. Seems to have IAP but just a $4.99 pack to unlock unlimited turns. Would love a less complex Civ or Warcraft clone if anyone has suggestions as well.
Would love a less complex Civ or Warcraft clone if anyone has suggestions as well.
Polytopia is a fun mini-Civ game. I haven't found many good strategy games that don't require a lot of idling (to encourage purchasing speed-up options).
I've played a horrible amount of 'Sp!ng', a one-touch timed swinging game that is a) really good and b) has thousands of levels. It's on Arcade. I highly (do not, if you value your time) recommend it!
EvilHomer3k wrote:Would love a less complex Civ or Warcraft clone if anyone has suggestions as well.
Polytopia is a fun mini-Civ game. I haven't found many good strategy games that don't require a lot of idling (to encourage purchasing speed-up options).
(Also on Apple Arcade if you want all the civs.)
Oh, and Retro Bowl (also available as Retro Bowl+ on Arcade) is a fun little football game.
Who do I have to deliver bags of cash to so I can obtain Balatro on my phone and officially resign from the rest of the human race between it and Slay the Spire?
Or possibly 'none of our old asses are the target audience for mobile games anymore' (not sure its that, but its possible!)
I am thinking more of the cultural trends. Remember Flappy Bird and the hype, remember Angry Birds and the franchise - including a movie?
I don't think it is just about us being old farts, the iOS ecosystem has not been creating much recently.
Yeah, there aren't many creative/clever folks who stayed in mobile-only games. Once it became clear that you couldn't sell enough $5 copies of a game to justify a high quality game development, most people and most studios were out. The race to the bottom hit literally $0. The things you have to do at that level to make money in that ecosystem dont attract good people.
If nintendo emulation is your jam, apparently emulators are allowed on the app store right now:
Yeah, there aren't many creative/clever folks who stayed in mobile-only games. Once it became clear that you couldn't sell enough $5 copies of a game to justify a high quality game development, most people and most studios were out. The race to the bottom hit literally $0. The things you have to do at that level to make money in that ecosystem dont attract good people.
I do have a friend that stayed in mobile games. He just started his own company and released their first little indie game, which is PVP tower defense. It's also free, so I guess that means he is keeping in demand with the market.
Anyway, thought it was worth it for me to give him a little plug here. It also has lovely art so give it a glance if any of that sounds appealing to you:
I downloaded "stitch." on a whim last week, and have been kinda obsessing over it since then. The elevator pitch for the game is easy: it's basically paint-by-numbers crossed with like a simple Picross (maybe closer to "Shikaku" actually?). Once you start to see some patterns it can become a very fast game, with nowhere near as much thinking as in a Picross. Nice and quick to blaze through levels to finish cross-stitch hoops and see a completed picture. Definitely worth a try if any of this sounds interesting and you have Apple Arcade.
Dammitall! I don't need more ways to waste time! 
(downloading...)
Monument Valley 3 - Official Announce Trailer
yay! One of my favorite iOS game series
oh darn netflix logo there means it's probably a locked exclusive for some set period of time.
Balatro is out on Apple Arcade in case anyone has that but hasn't been checking new releases.
It's also in App Store, 10€.
Balatro is out on Apple Arcade in case anyone has that but hasn't been checking new releases.
I picked this up and holy cow...I had a bit of a tough go at the beginning but man, this is a time suck now--in the best way possible.
I finally got around to trying it yesterday and I just don’t get the appeal of it. Spent a little over an hour waiting for it to get fun since everyone’s constantly fawning over it and now I’m a bit mad that I decided to get it on mobile where I can’t even get a refund.
I put in a few hours and, yeah, not a bad game, but I just wasn't feeling the progression.
It definitely clicks, but I remember the first couple of hours being a little meh about it. (That is no longer the case. )
It was fun for a few hours, but it gets very repetitive - which would be fine for a quick card game EXCEPT there’s no win state. You just keep going until you inevitably lose.
It was fun for a few hours, but it gets very repetitive - which would be fine for a quick card game EXCEPT there’s no win state. You just keep going until you inevitably lose.
There's absolutely a win state. You finish Ante 8, you've achieved a win on that run - it's what gates/unlocks the meta-progression. You can choose to continue playing past the win state in "Endless Mode" if that's your thing, but it's entirely optional (personally I only really bother when I've got hella deck going: if Ante 8 was a breeze, it can be fun to see how much further you can push this deck that's firing on all cylinders).
The repetitiveness is pretty much a feature of a roguelite and/or a deckbuilder though. Slay the Spire "gets repetitive" too, for instance. I totally get how that can be a turnoff for some people, but it's like saying you spend too much time looking at a map in a 4X game. Like yeah dude, that's what that game is.
PaladinTom wrote:It was fun for a few hours, but it gets very repetitive - which would be fine for a quick card game EXCEPT there’s no win state. You just keep going until you inevitably lose.
There's absolutely a win state. You finish Ante 8, you've achieved a win on that run - it's what gates/unlocks the meta-progression. You can choose to continue playing past the win state in "Endless Mode" if that's your thing, but it's entirely optional (personally I only really bother when I've got hella deck going: if Ante 8 was a breeze, it can be fun to see how much further you can push this deck that's firing on all cylinders).
Ah, I didn't realize there was a win state. I only got to ante 6 once.
The repetitiveness is pretty much a feature of a roguelite and/or a deckbuilder though. Slay the Spire "gets repetitive" too, for instance. I totally get how that can be a turnoff for some people, but it's like saying you spend too much time looking at a map in a 4X game. Like yeah dude, that's what that game is.
I also didn't know it was a roguelike or a deck builder. Knowing it was either of those would've disqualified it immediately for me. I saw people on social media saying it was a fun addictive poker game.
I didn't mean to offend anyone that likes the game or say that it was bad - it's just not the type of game I enjoy. I get miffed when people demean every open-world game as just a "map full of icons."
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