Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Dave Flodine'
Second Chance Heroes - An action RPG with a lot of history
...because you play as historical figures! Get it? *ahem* Anyways, Second Chance Heroes has been in development for a couple of years. Rocket City Studios is aiming for a 2013 release date, or failing that, an early 2014 one. The game looks like your average action role-playing game, but what makes this one worth a look is the four player co-op, and the chance to play as historical figures. Now, obviously, they don't use their real names in the trailer, but you can tell who they are. Have a look to see what we mean. If you wish to know the whole roster, names and all, this page on their website will inform and amuse. As for the game, we'll let you know when it's close to launch.…
Tiger Style website reveals new game as Spider sequel
About a month ago, Tiger Style, the developer behind Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, and Waking Mars put up a new website with a cryptic screenshot and quote. Here at Appspy we were quite excited at the prospect of a new game from the studio considering their track record. Well it's official now, the new game is titled Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, and is a sequel to the exploration focused leap-a-thon that the first Spider offered its players. The game is scheduled for Spring 2014, so there's a ways to go, but it looks like it will be a cross-platform release. You can keep up to date by following the developers via social media links at the bottom…
Angry Birds Go! soft launches in the New Zealand App Store
That's good news for all you kiwi Angry Birds fans. The Angry Birds kart racer has shown up in the New Zealand App Store a couple of weeks before its December 11th release date. This soft launch may be like other soft launches, in that Rovio is testing out the free-to-play mechanics in a smaller economy, and tweaking where necessary. Yup, the game is free-to-play, but it is yet to be seen how in-app purchases will affect play itself. To remind you of what the game looks like, here's the gameplay trailer if you haven't seen it... The game looks gorgeous, and the karts, characters, and weapons all look like they contribute to a fun mobile kart racing time. We'll let you know more upon…
Gesture your way to victory with Blek
I love to be surprised by ingenuity in game concepts, and the upcoming Blek by a team of brothers in Vienna certainly qualifies. I could explain how you collect dots by using gesture input, but that wouldn't sound very impressive, so I'll let the trailer explain things instead. One can only imagine the horrors awaiting in the later levels. Nevertheless, it looks like a fantastic new brand of puzzle game. It's out next week on December 3rd for the iPad. You best start practising your swiping in a straight line now.…
Shivah Review
Earlier in the year, Wadjet Eye Games brought their critically acclaimed sci-fi adventure Gemini Rue to the App Store. Before Gemini Rue, however, Dave Gilbert created The Shivah, a game which won him an adventure game competition and led to the formation of his company. Now all these years later, he's decided to upgrade the visuals to create the Kosher Edition. The question, of course, is whether the game holds up all these years later, and if it has made the transition to iOS unscath…
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Strand Review
Long-time fans of AppSpy should know of our love for puzzle games. Still, when a developer takes a simple idea such as connecting together numbers and circles by lines, then realises it with the level of style evident in Strand, it's difficult not to take note. Each board in the game features a group of circles. These circles are identified by a number, which identifies how many connections need to be attached to it. To create a strand and make a connection, you drag your finger from…
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Dwarven Delve - A very clever dungeon crawler
I guess one of the problems of dungeon crawling is you always run into those pesky monsters. Well what if you had the opportunity to shift the labyrinth to your liking in order to send your team through unscathed? That's the premise of Dwarven Delve. The trailer will explain further! With traps and the ability to meet foes head on as well, this is looking to be a very unique gaming experience. Tinkerhouse Games are hard at work, and estimate that the game should be out sometime in early 2014. We'll keep ya posted!…
Demon Dash is the good kind of 4 player mayhem
The iPad has had its share of party games on it, and we here at Appspy are constantly surprised by the ingenuity and amusement that many of these games bring to the table. Demon Dash continues that trend as a four player racing game. You hold down your demon button to charge, and release to speed off, but the catch is that your directional arrow is constantly spinning, so if you don't time it right, you may end up any which way. Alongside normal race modes, the trailer shows off variations of Breakout, Pinball, and other party games. Take a look for yourselves... Demon Dash launches on Wednesday the 27th. It's only a couple of days away, so if you like what you see, start revving those de…
Baby Lava Bounce Review
As gamers, we have certain expectations about he ways our virtual worlds behave. For instance, anyone who's played a platformer - especially one starring a plumber or hedgehog - will know that lava is bad. Baby Lava Bounce has come to change our conceptions. Instead of dealing firey death to all in its path, perhaps lava just wants to be loved. Problem is, rather than red hot hugs and kisses, these lava blocks can only express their affection through wanton destruction. Each lava has…
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You heard it here first folks - Cuebox is 3 dimensional Pool
And we don't mean that the pool table is lovingly rendered in 3D, we mean that the entire game of Cuebox is played in three dimensions. Take a look at the trailer, and you'll see what we mean. I dunno, I have enough trouble with the geometry and force needed to sink the balls on a flat surface. Adding another dimension to it leaves me intimidated. For those willing to rise to the challenge however, Cuebox will be available on November 29th for the price of $3.99.…
For those wanting some target practice on the go, check out Firing Range
In an article I wrote last month, I likened a lot of the shooting we do in videogames akin to target practice. How fortuitous then that Firing Range appears in my inbox, an iOS adaptation of the Xbox 360 game of the same name. If you want to test your aiming abilities with a selection of firearms over ranges of increasing difficulty, this looks like a good way to go about doing so. Have a look at the trailer to see it in action. It looks like moving your gun around is done via touch, but we hope there might be a tilt option as well. For those interested, the game is available now for $0.99. [App Store Link]…
Deemo Review
It's been a while since gamers fell out of love with rhythm games. This was mostly due to the over-saturation of rock music sims driven by plastic guitars, but also because of lack of creativity in the games themselves. Deemo does its best to address these issues by not only providing feedback as you tap and slide, but also presenting a fantasy through the melding of music and haunting artwork. The story, such as it is, tells the melancholic tale of a lonely creature who finds the co…
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Friendstrap - a game of comfort and endurance
How well do you know your friends? Have you ever wanted to have an interesting conversation with a complete stranger? That's where Friendstrap comes in. The concept is simple. Each of the two people participating hold their finger on the screen. The first one to lift their finger off loses. The game suggests topics of conversation that range from the mundane and bizarre, to deeply personal, and things you might not want anybody to know. The 12 minute demo video will explain it all better than I could (if you have the endurance to watch it). A game of chicken lies at the center of this app, but even for a completely open and honest person (or someone playing the game with their partne…
Galaxy Run is an auto-runner... platformer... puzzler... kind of
Rez has crashlanded on an unknown planet. The easiest way to repair his ship and get home is by running through a set of increasingly dangerous levels. Spiel Studios wished to create an auto-runner with single screen levels, slowly adding to the challenge and variety of the gameplay on offer. From the few examples shown in the trailer, it looks like they might have hit the ground running with the right formula (joke!). The has a one-touch control system, and will be available on December 4th for 69p / 99c. …
Don't Shoot Yourself! Review
“Don't shoot yourself!” Once just sensible piece of advice, this statement is now the title of an iOS game. This game has a simple premise: survive long enough to shoot 100 bullets. How hard can that be? As you might expect, it's tougher than it sounds. You take control of a small arrow which finds itself trapped inside a number of oddly-shaped prisons. Normally this solitude would be good for such activities as introspection and self-discovery. But the arrow has a problem…
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