A brief analysis of curious iOS gaming projects of recent times. This time we are carefully studying Blendoku and Wide Sky.
BlendokuThis is the second project of the California studio Lonely Few, consisting of two people: Yeong Hao Han (Yeong-Hao Han) and Rod Green (Rod Green).
The first was Brainsss, a three-dimensional strategy game in which the player, controlling zombie squads, infected people.
Blendoku is also not a standard project. This is a puzzle in which the player must arrange the colors in the correct order.
What does it look like?
For example, there is a field with two filled and a large number of empty cells. There is yellow in the leftmost cell, and red in the rightmost cell. Task: using the palette, fill in the empty cells, following the “principles of color”. The authors of the game claim that such tasks are practiced in art schools.
Anyway, it is played very cheerfully. The problem is that the idea that defines the gameplay of the game turned out to be head and shoulders above the implementation. The game about colors is too serious, academic and, because of this, too pale against the background of other App Store projects.
If a motivational component had been included in the project (plot, achievements, the need to complete tasks for a while, social functions, some kind of art), Blendoku would have looked completely different.
And so, the game, which has a very clear and adaptive gameplay, has no chance of winning the love of users. An additional annoying factor is the advertising banners right during the game. Instead of working on full-fledged monetization mechanisms, the developers decided to simplify their task. Buying solutions to game problems, removing ads, does not count.
Also, you can safely write an indistinct icon to the minuses of the project.
Wide SkyThe project about a hedgehog with a rope was released back in January, but the other day it received an update and was profiled by Apple in the Russian App Store.
That’s why we remember about him, in fact.
The author of the game – Marcus Eckert (Marcus Eckert) is a real steamboat man. He not only draws, programs, but also shoots wonderful commercials.
Wide Sky became a project in which Marcus tried to realize himself “in full.” It took him two years to develop a physical arcade game on Cocos 2D and Box 2D. The result is more like not a game, but an art installation in the form of a game.
The gameplay boils down to throwing the hero of the game (cute hedgehog) from cloud to cloud. It happens as follows: the first tap on the screen throws the hedgehog into the air, then the player touches the screen with his finger, holds it. When held, the hedgehog releases a rope that clings to the clouds. When drawing circles on the screen, the hedgehog begins to spin, if you abruptly release your finger from the screen after that, then the hedgehog, having received acceleration, flies in one direction or another. Points are earned by completing tasks, lost if the hedgehog falls back to the ground.
It sounds simple, but it’s difficult to play at first. It affects a very original management. And there is no special pleasure in the promotion.
From a host of unsuccessful gameplay projects, Wide Sky pulls out stunning vector graphics and musical design, turning each game session into a meditative entertainment. The payment of the project can also be recorded as a plus. If Wide Sky were free, it is unlikely that players, after downloading the application, would begin to learn circular passes and understand the types of ropes, and so the money is paid, the game is on the device, so it’s necessary…
And here, by the way, here is a banal thought: you should not mindlessly make your projects free, following the general trend. Some games, such as Wide Sky or Year Walk, which is very close to him in spirit, which came out completely outside of a certain trend, but as a phenomenon formed an entire niche, should remain paid. Outside of this, conditionally, elite field, they will not only be unable to raise money, but also will not be understood.