Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Dave Flodine'
Floralia Review
It can't be just coincidence that the majority of fireworks resemble blooming flowers. After all there's the same breadth of color and the unfurling from a central bud. The only real addition aside from the dizzying heights that fireworks reach are the explosions that start off this reaction. Well it seems that Kensho development thought the same thing when designing their high score game Floralia, a game of flowery fireworks and the combos they create. There are really two parts to h…
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Unlock Review
Have you ever sat down in a restaurant or entered a game shop and there were those clumped puzzles sitting there made out of wood or metal that required you to play around, trying to separate the pieces from each other? Unlock by Miniclip is a virtual representation of that concept. Each level has two or more blocks of varying shape melded together, and by rotating the puzzle, it's up to the player to take the pieces apart and free the monster from his cage. Taking the pieces apart is…
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Kemco Post-E3 Trailer for 'Symphony of the Origin'
For those of you that enjoyed Kemco's previous JRPG, Symphony of Eternity, the prequel, Symphony of the Origin is set to be released sometime in late 2012. Sporting a level up system based on weapon crafting, improved visuals and a whole new story, this looks like it could be a solid entry on the iPhone for RPG fans. Here's the trailer... We'll let you know more about the title closer to release.…
Inferno+ Review
Especially in the last five years, the twin-stick shooter genre has taken off. First with the success of Geometry Wars and then by the explosion of the games here on the iPhone. The problem arises in that so many of the games get the basic formula right that it gets hard to stand out from the crowd. There seems to be a check-list in place. Beautiful lighting and particle effects? Check. Great balance of weapons and monsters for high score play? Check. Tight and responsive controls? I'm…
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Popcap's 3rd Survey of Mobile Game Consumption Yields Interesting Results
A survey conducted by ISG and commissioned by Popcap Games has found that there is substantial growth within the mobile market. The survey was conducted amongst adults both in the USA and UK, with projections indicating there is now an addressable market of over 125 million people playing mobile games. Here are some of the highlights of the report: * The ratio of new gamers playing mobile games has doubled over the last three years, with 44% of those surveyed having started playing at least one mobile game within the last month (as opposed to the 22% surveyed in 2009). * It is thought that tablets have brought in at least 11 million new players, with 9% of these new gamers usin…
Expand it! Review
Expand It is a real eye-opener. Apparently not only were there dinosaurs that resembled what we today call rudimentary shapes, but one of the favorite past-times of these prehistoric abominations was to absorb rainbow streams to obtain a euphoric state of being. It wasn't the ice age, volcanoes, or a meteor that defeated the dinosaurs, it was simply hallucinogens. The goal of each level is pretty simple. At least one of the dinosaurs has to stay in the warm glow of the rainbow sparkle…
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Nyan Cat added to Techno Kitten Adventure
Techno Kitten Adventure is a game we missed reviewing upon release here at Appspy. Most likely since the reasoning behind which free titles we review is constantly evolving (and hey, if we don't review it, the game is free. You can see for yourself if it's any good). For fans of this game and also those who love the internet meme of Nyan Cat, 21st Street Games is releasing a Nyan Cat pack in the next week for a $0.99 in-app purchase. It includes a whole new song, and three unlockable Nyan Cats. Here's the trailer, and i'm going to stop saying Nyan Cat now. [Techno Kitten Adventure iTunes Link]…
Update for Worms 2: Armageddon
One of the most requested additions to Worms 2: Armageddon has been asynchronous play, or the ability to enjoy more than one game of Worms at the same time (like a Draw Something or Words with Friends). Well the latest update adds this into the mix! Now you can play against your friends (or use the game center auto-match option) to be able to play up to sixteen simultaneous games. Perfect for those who can't get enough squirmy, wormy action. Our review of the the original release of the game can be found [here].…
Min: A Space Adventure arriving June 18th
Cwerki Studios is about to release their debut game, Min: A Space Adventure on June 18th, and we here at Appspy would like to tell you a little about it beforehand. You are tasked with travelling to the centre of planets to extract energy from their cores. It's a game of exploration and upgrades. Have a look at the launch trailer. The gameplay starts at about 0:34. As you can see the visuals and music have had a lot of polish put into them, and hopefully exploring these planets is as fun as it looks. With an emphasis on unlocking planets, upgrading, and time trails for leaderboards, the fact that this game will be free on release is a little worrying (as we've seen the freemium s…
Dungeon Village Review
Kairosoft have had a knack not only for creating the most addictive sim games in the app store, but for pumping them out with such frequency, that it's a bit dizzying. Unfortunately this means that a lot of their offerings have become rather stale, taking their established formula and plonking it down in a new scenario, with only minimal tweaks to how the game works. Last month Epic Astro Story revitalized their formula, and now Dungeon Village starts the process of refining their new…
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QI's top 10 iPhone Games for May 2012
Seeing that we here at Appspy just released our top games of May, it's only fitting to see what other review sites thought of the month's offerings at large. We've used the mouth roundup rankings from Quality Index before as it's an interesting aggregate look at what QI itself, and other review sites felt were the stand out titles. Qi's Top 10 iPhone games of May 2012 1 Zombie Ace (9.4)2 Roman Backgammon (9.4)3 LostWinds 2: Winter of the Melodias (8.9)4 Air Mail (8.8)5 Shoot The Zombirds (8.7)6 N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance (8.6)7 Penny Time (8.5)8 Juggernaut: Rev…
Pettson's Inventions Review
Pettson and Findus are the stars of a series of successful children's books written and illustrated by Swedish author Sven Nordqvist. Pettson is a strange old farmer and Findus is his cat who walks on two legs and wears green-striped pants. In Pettson's Inventions, Findus wants to be able to fly, but they don't have the necessary parts to launch the frisky feline into the wild blue yonder, so Pettson asks the player if they will help find the parts by crafting other inventions to solve…
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Trailer for Bug Princess 2: Black Label Released
Fans of vertical shooters, and CAVE's previous iPhone and iPad offerings should be delighted to watch this trailer for the upcoming Bug Princess 2: Black Label. Aside from being full of bullets, bullets, and even more bullets, it looks like there's plenty of features that fans of these games should love (the ability to slow down time to recreate the arcade lag effects was a highlight personally). The greatest addition being a boss rush mode, featuring the bosses from this game, and the previous Bug Princess as well, where the player is graded on their performance and ranked online. The app store can always use more high quality action games, so i'm definitely looking forward to g…
This game gives 'button masher' a whole new meaning
Button mashers often have a bad reputation in games due to controller wear and the feeling that it's a cheap gimmick used to prolong gameplay because the developer couldn't think of anything more clever. It's rare though that not only would a game make button mashing look interesting, but that it would base its core mechanic around it. The Wunderlich brothers and their company RAWR! Interactive are releasing Count to a Billion, where you have ninety seconds to tap furiously on multiple multiplier pads in order to reach that elusive number. This trailer will explain it better than i could... The game is due for release in July, and should be a unique experience if nothing else. In…
Zombie Tsunami Review
We've talked a lot before about that if you're going to copy the formula of a successful game, you'd best have a firm grasp on what actually makes that game work. That way you have a solid foundation to build on, and hopefully you change enough to make the game your own. Zombie Carnival has high aspirations, trying to replicate the endless runner fun of Jetpack Joyride, and you might be happy to find out that they succeed, wringing some enjoyment out of the market over-saturation of zo…
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