Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Dave Flodine'
Halfbrick's newest collaboration Band Stars soft launches in Australia, and Canada
Halfbrick have teamed up with developer Six Foot Kid to release Band Stars. The game is out now in Australia and Canada, and will be a free release in the rest of the world later on in the year. Take a look at the debut trailer. From the trailer, Band Stars looks to be more sim game than rhythm game, picking band members, a genre, and mixing the song in the studio in order to top the charts with that number one hit. You can train your members, undertake band challenges, and even decorate your own studio. Seeing the game is out in my native country, I'll be grabbing it today, and you should see a soft launch review or impressions piece soon.…
Giant Boulder of Death Review
You might ask, “What motivation for destruction could a giant boulder possibly have to go on a gravity-powered killing spree?" That's a fair question, one that Adult Swim's Giant Boulder of Death attempts to answer. You see, a pompous general has turned your loved one into a statue of himself. So, in a fit of rage, our rocky hero decide to roll down a hill crushing everything in his path. The game follows the endless-runner formula of play, upgrade, and then play some more.…
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Strata Review
Strata is a ribbon-based puzzle game that requires a large amount of forethought. Though we often rally behind puzzle games which give our fingers something to do while our brains dissect the problem, you might be surprised to learn that we took to Strata in a big way. It's a game about laying coloured ribbons on grid filled with coloured tiles. Criss-crossing two ribbons over a tile activates the colour beneath. The catch is that the tile will only light up if the ribbon layed on top…
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The Question
Hello there loyal Appspy readers! It’s another Monday and it is of course time for another question. Last week there was a new iPhone announcement, and along with it came a plethora of game trailers for upcoming releases (with Infinity Blade III being revealed at the keynote speech itself). With such franchises as Trials, Rayman, and Assassin’s Creed on their way to iOS (and no doubt more announcements to come), my question for you is a simple one this week. Which game slated for release before the end of the year are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments, and i’ll let you know my pick at the end of the week. With luck, there might be even more developments b…
The Answer
Hey there loyal Appspy readers! Thank you once again for your responses. Special shout outs to Jastootie and Taekon for their detailed answers. It seems that when it comes to this week’s question, most people go all in or nothing, either having a completionist’s attitude to obtaining all the stars, or not caring about anything but forward progression. My approach can be summed up as optimism slowly declining into apathy. For most of these games, my goals start out noble. “Of course I’ll grab every star, that’s part of the gameplay, and the challenge”. For the first batch of levels, this usually suffices as the game hasn’t become difficult yet, and…
Angry Birds Star Wars II Official Trailer
Earlier in the year we reported on the upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars II. Well it looks like it's due out next week on the 19th, and Rovio have a new trailer to show off. It highlights some of the jedi powers which look really fun to play with, as well as joining the pork side and unleashing sith powers as the piggies. Have a look for yourselves! I've been off the Angry Birds bandwagon since the original release, but this is looking to pull me back in. We'll know whether that rings true or not next week!…
Gleamer Review
Gleamer is a platformer which combines simple shapes, basic controls, and a pulsing electronica soundtrack. The goal is to collect all five stars as quickly as possible, allowing you to move on another of the game's 50 stages. It all sounds rather standard doesn't it? However, it's amazing how one little mechanic can make all the difference. Your cube moves automatically, and reverses direction when it hits the outer edge of the level. Every time it does this you gain speed. The stag…
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Bombcats Special Edition Review
Chillingo has been experimenting with freemium games in recent months. One of these experiments was Bombcats, a game which combined the physics flinging fun of exploding kitties with a freemium gem system. We didn't get around to reviewing the original release, but with Bombcats Special Edition sidelining the gem currency and adding more content, we thought we'd take second look. So there are these trapped kittens. To free them, you chuck an exploding cat (because cats explode now) in…
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Fling Theory Review
In Fling Theory, you follow a particle through a journey of attraction, repulsion, destruction, and everything in-between. It's a physics flinger in the truest sense of the word. Each stage involves guiding your partcle through series of mazes and pipes, collecting the three stars and plenty of coins along the way. By changing the charge of your particle (yellow for positive, red for negative) you alter the way charged particles in the environment affect your path through the maze. By…
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Chair announces Infinity Blade III, due out next week
One of the big game announcements at the Apple keynote was of course the rumoured sequel to one of iOS's flagship franchises. Infinity Blade III has been announced with an impressive trailer. You can watch it below. It will be a universal app working on the iPhone 4 and up, the iPad 2 and up, the iPad mini, and the iPod Touch 4 and up. It will cost £4.99 / $6.99. Look for our review to come soon after the game's release.…
Joining Hands 2 Review
A meteor has crashed in the whispering woods. The denizens of the forest, the Peablins, go to investigate. The investigation might take a while though. It seems the only way these cute little creatures can advance is to hold hands until everyone is happy. It might seem a bit of a weird strategy, but this is for Joining Hands 2, it's just another day in the office. Each Peablin has a different number of hands. The grabby blobs must be arranged on the game board so that no hand is left…
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The Question
Hello there loyal Appspy readers! It’s another Monday and it is of course time for another question. This week’s questions struck me as I was playing a game for review last week. The game had stars to collect during its levels, like so many puzzle games and time wasters on the App store do. It made me think of how I approach the stars in these games, and thought I’d ask you the same. I’m talking about games like Cut the Rope where the stars are actually on the stage themselves (although games like Angry Birds where the stars are tied to a score count as well). How do games with bonus stars influence your gameplay? Do you try and grab them all, perfecting each level…
Strata adds elegance to the App Store on September 12th
If last week's Answer column wasn't a give-away, I'm always on the lookout for new engaging puzzle games on the App Store, and the upcoming Strata certainly qualifies. By laying down colour ribbons on different levels, you have to create a pattern based on the coloured tiles already in place. The trailer will explain all. And how beautiful is that menu? Strata looks to be a complete puzzle package, and I look forward to trying it out upon release.…
Ookibloks swinging into the App Store late September
Now at first glance, Ookibloks seems easy to ignore, with its presentation appealing more to a younger audience. After half a minute or so into the trailer however, the gameplay grabs your attention. It looks to be a rhythmic platformer, creating music depending on how the monkey travels through the stages collecting fruit. Have a look at the trailer and see what you think. There's a fluidity to the movement that will most likely make for some entertaining play. We'll be keeping an eye on the release schedule for when this one finally hits the App Store.…
The Answer
Hey there loyal Appspy readers! Not much of a response this week, but I more than understand. Not only is asking what your favourite game of the year is time consuming (if you need to go back and remember what you’ve played), but doing so in September is more than a little odd. Still, I would like to thank those that responded. Each person had a different answer, and all games mentioned were fine picks. It was difficult for me to choose. For one, I had to go back and look at all the games I reviewed on this site this year for reference. Not being the editor, and working under Andrew and now James, I often miss out on the big releases each week. I don’t review them, and in my sp…
