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Tag: Android

Weekly Gaming: It’s Quiz Time (Xbox One)

It’s been a while since I last played a quiz game, especially one that I can play with family and friends. In fact, it’s thanks to my friends that It’s Quiz Time even come on my radar at all. After a great catch up around their house they proceeded to ask me if I enjoy quiz games and whether I’d be interested in playing one on the xbox, with my iPhone as the controller. Intrigued I jumped at the idea, and proceeded to have a great time answering questions and losing terribly, all in the name of catching up with old friends and having a good time.

Fast forward a few weeks and another set of friends were wondering what we could do at a meet up. Thinking back, I recalled it’s quiz time, and how it’d be really useful at this encounter due to it’s control scheme of using each players mobile phone as the personal controller. So, £15 later we had bought the game and within another half an hour we were all playing it whilst drinking the night away.

So what is It’s quiz time? As can probably be told by my introduction and the game’s title, it’s a quiz game for the Xbox One, with the main premise of the game being to download a standalone app on your respective phone, and then answer the question accordingly without no one else knowing. It’s Quiz Time comprises of over 25,000 questions, so it’s rare you’ll see the same question twice. An advantage the constant internet connection employs.

As should now be obvious, I love the fact that each player uses their mobile phone as the controller. It makes It’s Quiz time feel all the more personal, especially since other players can’t see what answers you’re giving until it’s already on the TV. The fact as well that you each have your own usernames and the AI host recognises you from previous games just adds the cherry on the cake on personalising your experience. For example, in games where we had someone older than the rest, the AI would consistently comment on their age, saying they were a little older.

But, a quiz game is only as good as it’s questions, and thankfully, It’s Quiz Time has done a fantastic job of customising the questions to your age group. For example, if you were to put your age as 60, your choice of questions could be anything from the last 60 years, but should you say you’re younger then you’ll only get more recent questions from pop culture. This differentiator makes the game so much more enjoyable, especially since you get to always feel like you’re participating in the game, regardless of your age or knowledge.

The rounds of questions are pretty cool, and have enough variety that the game is a joy to play everytime. Some rounds require you deciding whether one player will be able to answer a question correctly, whilst others are general intelligence for everyone. It’s quite a nice variety, and is definitely enough to keep the game entertaining after quite a few replays.

The mobile app is nice and responsive, and whilst it sucks that the app has to be connected to the internet rather than directly to the xbox itself, it does the job well. I could complain that it’s not like “That’s you”, which took advantage of the unique features mobile phones bring to consoles. I suppose that’s what you get for a cheap game, and one dedicated to quizzes and quizzes alone.

So overall, if you need a party game to entertain guests, you can’t go wrong with It’s Quiz Time. It has to be said that this new trend of playing party games using mobile phones on a common console is something of an amazing invention. Almost everyone these days has a games console, and being able to sit around it with your phone and have a laugh is fantastic. So all in all, I enjoyed It’s Quiz Time, and would recommend it to anyone, especially due it’s low cost.

4/5

26/01/2018
Weekly Gaming: Desert Golf (iOS)

I never imagined, in my wildest dreams, that I would be writing about an endless procedurally generated golf game. Even writing that last sentence feels weird. And yet, here I am, writing about a game I’ve become obsessed with.

Like my first sentence alluded to, Desert Golf revolves around plain, 2D course, where holding your finger on the screen, moving it in a direction and releasing whacks the golf ball in a specific direction. The course is procedural, so you’ll get random geometry sticking out here and there, and once you’ve potted you ball, you’ll then proceed to the next stage, which simply encompasses the viewable screen moving to the right a certain distance and pushing your ball out of the hole to try again on the next course.

That’s the entire game.

I’m not even joking. The entire game encompasses what I described above ad nauseam.

There’s no music to speak of, no change of scenery (albeit the colour of the ground slowly changes hue over the 250 holes I’ve so far played), and no change of mechanics.

And yet, despite how little this game has to offer, I’m absolutely hooked.

The simplicity of the levels can be a random mix of difficult shots (where you’ll need to use the curvature of the land to bounce the ball correctly) all the way to the mundane where a simple tap will suffice. It’s addictive to sink one hole after another, all the while your score at the top of the screen is increasing. the score is used as an indicator for how well (or bad) you’re doing, with a twitter icon appearing occasionally to share your progress with friends. I (thankfully) found I was 200 shots below a friend at the 200 mark, a massive achievement for myself, and one that helped in keeping me hooked to the game.

So when will the madness end? Well I recall the Giantbomb crew talking about Desert Golf, and from what I remember, it really does never end, with many giving up after a few thousand holes.

Is Desert Golf worth your time? Yes yes and hell yes. Looks can be deceiving, and for Desert Golf, that works in its favour, with a simple but challenging mechanic taking it far further than I could ever imagine. Time will only tell how far I actually get, but for now, I’m hooked.

4/5

27/11/2015
Weekly Gaming: Monument Valley DLC Forgotten Shores (Android)

Having loved the original monument valley when I played it a year ago on this very blog and with my new android phone, I had been wanting to buy the DLC for ages, but had never gotten around to actually downloading it due to time constraints. So, with my blog backlogged with content until August (yep, I’m that ahead of time in regards to weekly gaming), I decided to take the plunge and buy the £1.49 Haddon to the game I loved so much this time last year. So what’s been brought back to the fray, and what’s new in this £1.49 expansion?

One of the first things that will be apparent the second you start up the DLC is the increased difficulty of the game, something many won’t be accustomed to considering the relative ease many were able to complete the original with. For starters, one of the first levels has you twisting geometry to make your princess go from one side of the world to another, a confusing feat for any player, both new and old. Once you’ve wrapped your head around this increased difficulty from the offset, the game continues to get harder with each level bringing new and interesting challenges to throw at you.

Your ally from the first game, the totem block, is back, and this time, you’ll need to use him in weird and wonderful ways that had me scratching my head for ages. From twisting him to breaking him to get through certain areas, you can be sure that every level with him involved will push you to you limits in how to proceed, something I loved when playing through the levels. It’s strange how so many people have such a strong emotional attachment to the totem block, despite it having no personality and no speech. This is probably due to the fact it helps you out and expects nothing in return, like a cherished pet.

Add the increased difficulty together with the return of the totem block, and in turn the new ways you’ll use him, and you have a challenging but rewarding game on your hands. One that doesn’t hold your hand, and rewards creativity in the way you look at the levels. Later levels for example start twisting walls and the angle of your princess, making it difficult to determine how she’s positioned and whether she can progress through doors on the same level. It’s through trial and effort that you’ll pass some stages, which always allows you to feel accomplished at the end of each stage.

One of the most creative stages was one where you lost your hat (the source of the princesses power which in turn allows her to fix the world). It happens to fall on a birds head, which leads to a brand new way to look at the world and the puzzles within, as you’re not only moving the princess around, but having to guess and control where the bird is going, or even manipulating it into pressing switches for you just by knowing it’s movements. It’s interesting, and a good twist on the fantastically simple but hard gameplay that comes before it.

I praised Monument Valley for it’s fantastic art direction and simple mechanics, with that not changing in the slightest for it’s DLC. Levels are gorgeous, fitting perfectly on a mobile phones display in portrait orientation, with even bigger levels showing extreme amounts of detail in their surroundings. UsTwo are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to design, something their recent contract with BMW (yes, they’re now designing BMW’s dashboards) shows off.

So, was Monument Valley worth the £1.49 entry fee? HELLS YEAH IT IS! It’s seriously one of the best games for mobile, but easily one of the most creative too. The simplicity of the movement and concept it fantastic, and the developers at UsTwo have gone to great lengths to push the boundaries of what can be done with such a simple premise, whilst still making it challenging and rewarding to overcome. If you’re anyone that has a smartphone (AKA every single person on this earth at this rate), then you owe it to yourself to own Monument Valley, and in turn it’s DLC Forgotten shores.

4/5

03/07/2015
Weekly Gaming: Monument Valley (Android)

Beautiful and abstract art make Monument Valley an absolute joy to behold.

Having recently switched from a iPhone to an android device with a lovely 5.2inch screen, I wanted a game to push those pixels and play out and about. I didn’t have to go far to find a game that intrigued, with bytwo’s Monument Valley being a featured app in the Google Play store. At the cheap price of £2.49, I decided to take the plunge, I mean, from the looks of the game alone it was worth giving the developer £2.49 of my hard earned cash.

The game starts you off like many tropes in video games these days by giving you no context about the environment you’re dropped into. This may be because it allows you the player to explore and realise the world as you progress, engrossing you more into the story and the world itself.

The levels have many platforms like this, with multiple floors being accessible by manipulating the geometry and the world to your will.

Story pieces are told through these encounters with the fairy lady. She’ll show you the past and the future so you have more context as to what’s happening in the world.

You play as a white girl that must explore a seemingly puzzle like world made up of different geometry to get to the bottom of where you are, and why the world looks like it does. Throughout the story you’ll come across other characters, mainly black crows, that block your progress and try to hamper your progression through the narrative. Finally, you’ll come across the main form of narration in the game, a white fairy like person who’ll give a tiny glimpse of the past or future once every few levels to give you a little more context.

The game is controlled merely by tapping the screen where you’d like the white girl to move. As you navigate across the stages, you’ll need to use the geometry of the world against itself to get higher and higher on platforms. Take for example, the Penrose Triangle, an object that shouldn’t exist, but when you look at it from the right angle, you can become higher or lower that you were before, even though looking at the illusion, you’re on the same level. Monument Valley is completely comprised of this trickery, which both makes you as a player feel intelligent, but also allows you to praise the amount of thought and effort that must have gone into creating the game.

Eventually, the game starts introducing more core mechanics, like the ability to control a totem poll independently of your character, and additional parts of the level which can be moved into place for your progression. None of the puzzles are especially hard, in fact, I didn’t feel challenged once and was able to briskly get through the game within an hour, but you know what? I savoured every moment.

Each level was beautiful and mesmerising, pushing me on to see as much as the game had to offer. Each level, filled with its unique and splendid geometry made me stop for a few minutes just to marvel at the level design of this game. It’s a fantastic showcase, one that I hugely recommend any person, whether they’re into games or not, to see.

There isn’t much more to the game, except that the story eventually is concluded, albeit with the little pieces of information you’re given, you kind of make your own conclusion to what could happen next. You play Monument Valley purely for the visual spectacular, one which bytwo studios should be hugely proud of creating.

Playing Monument valley was like being transported into one of those old abstract paintings, the ones where it messes with your head and your perception. Everything about the game twists your mind in weird an wonderful ways, and whilst not being too difficult to play or complete, it feels like an accomplishment to experience this truly breathtaking game.

4/5

27/06/2014
Weekly Gaming: Unpossible (iOS, Android)

It can’t be denied, despite unpossibles simple style, it’s also extremely pretty. The skybox is beautiful, and allows for you to enjoy the style of the level you play.

Given the nature of the game I’m currently developing, I decided it was time to delve into the mobile app market to see what competition is in the market, and what innovative/original ideas were out there. Whilst browsing, I came across a nifty little app that I liked the trailer of called Unpossible, an obstacle avoider game, similar to my own, which had a unique sound track and slightly different course structure in that you’re on a never ending tube that generates obstacles on the outside. Usually, tubing games stick you on the inside, so this definitely made the game stick out for me.

Levels start out easy, with obstacles being fairly easy to pass, but the difficulty soon ramps up, with obstacles coming at you faster than you can move to avoid them.

The game starts you off on a tube where you’re constantly moving forwards, throwing obstacles at you which you need to avoid by strafing left and right around the tube. You’re stuck to the outside, so you don’t have much room to navigate, but it’s enough to keep the game tight in gameplay whilst also being loose in controls. You can choose to strafe by either touching either side of the screen, or by rotating the device to the side you’d like to move. I personally went for the touch controls as I felt they gave me more precision when navigating between lots of obstacles.

The levels begin easy, with big pilons sticking out of the tube allowing 90% of the tube to avoid them, but they soon get faster, and the obstacles start grouping together, meaning that it becomes harder and harder to avoid them all. The difficulty I could say is inconsistent, with early levels being so easy you breeze through it and get scores of 2 minutes and over, with the second level ramping up the difficulty to the point I could rarely reach 30 seconds. This isn’t a detraction from the game, and if anything, adds to its addictive behaviour, but can become infuriating for many players looking to beat their friends on the scoreboards.

Although the levels may be hard, they can start to become a bit predictable, allowing you to know the patterns and how to avoid them. I was eventually able to get high scores on each level, but it takes a lot of trial and error.

The game consists of 3 levels, and 3 daily levels, meaning the game doesn’t offer much in terms of content. Where it makes up for this though is its replay-ability, ensuring players replay levels time and time again until they finally beat their last score. It’s not as addictive as say… Super Hexagon, as there are times that you feel cheated like it was impossible for you to avoid something no matter what you done, but the game still allows you to become hooked to some extent to constantly strive for a better score.

For £1.49, I certainly learnt a lot about my current competition on the market, and it makes me want to improve myself and my work for my upcoming game Twixel, with my game needing to be polished to Unpossibles level of detail. For £1.49, you really can’t go wrong with this addictive little game, and I must warn you: the soundtracks absolutely fantastic.

3/5

16/05/2014
The Ouya and its many problems
It’s definitely a new kind of game console, but is Ouya the future?

I start this article by saying that I’ve had the Ouya a few days now, and am thoroughly enjoying the emulation software on it. I’ve managed to get my collection of classic Sega and NES games running perfectly, and it really takes me back to my childhood having a dedicated experience for games. When I emulate games on a PC or laptop, I can easily get distracted due to the multitasking nature they inhabit, constantly switching to facebook to message people or jumping out of a game to look up a news article breaks the immersion video games offer. The Ouya fixes this for me by being on a TV like a dedicated games console, making sure I concentrate on just the game, nothing else. So whatever else I say about the Ouya, I do like it, and feel like has a great (if not scary) future. In this article I’ll go through the main points that have stuck out to me in my 4 days of owning the Ouya.

Just in case you’re thinking about buying a Ouya, this is where the batteries go, this took me far longer than I’d like to admit to figure out.

Set up:

One of the first problems you’ll come across when setting up the Ouya is the lack of any good instructions. The instruction manual that comes with the Ouya doesn’t even tell you how to put the batteries in the controller, which in itself is a challenge. I pride myself in being tech savvy, but I couldn’t see a single way into the Ouya controller to insert batteries. Something as small as a little sticker that showed you have to take metal pads off the sides to insert batteries would have sufficed.

Following on from this I had a few problems when entering my card details in the set up screens (it just kept giving me errors saying it couldn’t communicate with the server.) a reset sorted this out, and I was soon onto the main interface.

Discover Strorefront:

The second problem I have to vent about is the store. It looks nice currently, but as others have pointed out, how well will it scale? With 200 games on there currently, it’s fairly easy to find what you’re looking for, but when there’s thousands of games all trying to get your attention? I can’t imagine the trouble devs will have to overcome to make sure their game stands out from the crowd. See below for how it looks, but I can’t help but think Ouya will need a dashboard update soon in order to get around this potential problem.

This is the Ouya Discover page for finding new games. This may currently look fine, but I wonder how it’ll scale.

The search facility does it’s job, but that’s to be expected with only 200 games to search for. I can’t imagine this will change in the future, so there’s definitely a way to find specific games. I just worry for prospective devs that don’t make it to the front page. They’ll have to rely on people specifically finding their game, which can never be a good thing for sales figures. I suppose I see the discover store as a double edged sword, it can be used for good, but could also be a very dangerous place for new starters in the long run. Here’s to hoping Ouya successfully manages this.

Pricing:

One of the biggest problems I’ve come across so far though is pricing on the Ouya. Games are free to play at first, but then must be unlocked, which is a nice try before you buy mindset. At the end of the day though, the Ouya itself isn’t expensive, it’s the games that are. Now I know this isn’t Ouya’s fault, they allow developers to price their own games accordingly, but there seems to be a problem with value perception on the storefront, meaning most, if not all games are aggressively overpriced. Some examples are as follows:
- You don’t know Jack: $9.99 for 20 more question packs. (from what I can find, it’s free on Android)
- Towerfall: $14.99 to unlock the full game
- Little Crane: $5.99
- ATR: $4.99
The conclusion I’ve come to is that developers are hoping most consumers don’t know that this is a android console, and therefore perceive game value as similar to mainstream consoles. If this is the case, consumers are used to paying this much for content on Xbox’s and PS3’s, but where this theory falls short is the value to the end user. Most games on the Ouya at the moment are sub par, and I really don’t mean to be harsh, but they really aren’t worth as much as the developers are asking for. If developers were to charge the same amount they are charging on Android phones, then I’d definitely be more inclined to give them a few bucks, but not $10 and $15. Hopefully with time these developers will learn the true value of their games, and price them accordingly.

This is the retail version of the Ouya, which you’ll get if you buy one now. It’s nicely presented, but as the sales clerk at best buy proved, no one seems to know the Ouya exists.

Games:

This is what the console is all about, and should be the core component in which the console shines through. The problem is, this is where the console is having trouble for me personally. Some games work flawlessly with the Ouya controller, where as others are clearly ported straight from a normal android phone and have problems with the controller and the console itself. Some games freeze whilst others just don’t run at playable framerates. (Vector is terrible for this, there are times where the game slows down to a snails pace.) I want to point to one game in particular that showcases all these problems: Shadowgun. Shadowgun was one of the worst experiences I’ve had on the Ouya so far, with aiming incoherent and terrible, framerate issues plaguing every second of gameplay whilst also causing crashes, it ensured I didn’t want to pay the $4.99 asking price, and also ensured I uninstalled it right away. These are just some examples of bad ports, and there are certainly many good ports (Hidden in plain sight is one of the best games I’ve played so far, providing hours of fun.) but I hope this isn’t a taster for whats to come.

Vector was the worst culprit of framerate slowdowns. Hopefully this gets patched in future

This is a huge problem for a console trying to appeal to the mass market. Current owners of Ouya will give it a pass for these problems as most owners will be geeks and hardcore gamers that know what they’re getting, but the mass market won’t be as forgiving.

Final Thoughts:

The Ouya does indeed have the potential to change the future of gaming, I just worry about how it goes about doing this. As mobile phones have shown, there is definitely a market out there for cheap, addictive games; Ouya has to make sure it capitalises on this market and not get confused with the hardcore console market. The reason people love gaming on Android and iOS is the cheap, reliable experience you get for such a small investment, Ouya risks alienating this market by trying to be the jack of all trades. It’s too busy trying to be the middle man, trying to offer a cheap mobile experience, whilst also charging premium prices.

For the coming months, Ouya needs to get a lot of mobile developers on board to make sure they have some quality games to sell the system. It’s the same problem Nintendo is having with the Wii U; you need good games to sell the system.
30/06/2013