flight control

Last week, gaming developer Firemint released their newest iPhone game into the App Store called Flight Control [App Store]. Yes, the same Firemint that has been hard at work on the impressive Real Racing iPhone game due later this year. For their first self-published release, however, they focused on a simpler time management game which involves routing incoming airplanes to their proper landing strips.

While the game seems incredibly simple on the surface, the company has managed to hit upon the winning balance of easy pick-up gameplay, ramping difficulty and tickling the need to try "just one more time".
Flight Control presents you with a single map with two runways and one helipad. Airplanes and helicopters fly onto the screen and your job is to simply direct each plane to their respective landing pads (designated by color) while avoiding mid-air collisions.
Airspeeds vary by aircraft type. The large red airplanes travel the fastest which can cause some timing issues when coordinating landings with the small red airplanes.
The intuitive controls of the game, however, are what tie everything together into an addictive package. By simply swiping a path from the plane, you can quickly redirect a plane. You may choose a longer or shorter path depending on the desired timing, and planes can be redirected at a moments notice.
The developer provided gameplay video shows how it works:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

While we're big fans of the game, we should be clear that this is a rather simple package with a single map, 4 types of aircraft and a single goal. Still, as always, gameplay is king and we feel it's easily worth its $0.99 introductory price.
Those looking for a more in-depth Air Traffic Control experience could consider the other two options in the App Store: iATC [$1.99] and ATC 4.0 [$2.99] — as they try to offer more depth but with arguably less of a "fun" experience

flick kick football

As Henry Ford understood, breaking down any job to its component parts makes performing that task as quick and efficient as possible.

Great for business, but it wasn't so good for the personal happiness of his workers. How the focus of employment has changed over the past ninety years.

Thankfully, when it comes to iPhone games the focus is to maximise the juice and minimise the pips - something Mew Zealand developer PikPok has been regularly doing with its Flick Kick series, which to-date has covered rugby and Australian football.

So with the World Cup in full flow, it's time for non-American football to take to the Flick stage; hence the release of Flick Kick Football.

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Kick-off

The gameplay is simplicity itself: a ball is placed at various distances and angles from the goal, with various configurations of static defenders and a static or dynamic goalkeeper blocking the shot.

You flick the ball to kick. The longer the flick up the screen, the higher the ball travels, providing you with the opportunity to lop defenders. Alternately, flick a curve to bend it like Beckham.

Sounds too basic, perhaps, but the mechanic of gaining bonuses when you hit for the corners of the goal ensures there's a risk and reward balance within your control.

In terms of the main one-miss-and-it's-over Arcade mode, these bonuses enables you to build up up to three additional lives. In terms of the two-minute countdown Time Attack mode, each gives you a three-second bonus for each goal corner gained.

There's also the burning ball bonus. Generated by gaining three goals in a row in Time Attack and a set points during Arcade, this enables your ball to travel through any defender. If you don't use it, it rolls over to your next attempt.

Combined with a Practice mode that lets you play without ceasing for as long as you want, FlickKick Football is a well defined, if limited experience.

Flicking good

The real reason it works well is the flick control.

It's very simple to pick up, but the curved shots, which are the skill focus, take time to get use to. It's unclear if this level of sensitivity was planned or not, but it makes the game more interesting in the Arcade mode, as does the seeming over propensity of your shots to hit the post.

Probably such perceptions are more in the eye of the beholden kicker than from the developer, and really that's what Flick Kick Football is all about.

It's a cheap, vaguely World Cup tie-in that you'll find yourself playing in bursts usually measured in minutes, but sometimes unexpectedly in hours. Flicking throwaway fun in other words.



As Henry Ford understood, breaking down any job to its component parts makes performing that task as quick and efficient as possible.

Great for business, but it wasn't so good for the personal happiness of his workers. How the focus of employment has changed over the past ninety years.

Thankfully, when it comes to iPhone games the focus is to maximise the juice and minimise the pips - something Mew Zealand developer PikPok has been regularly doing with its Flick Kick series, which to-date has covered rugby and Australian football.

So with the World Cup in full flow, it's time for non-American football to take to the Flick stage; hence the release of Flick Kick Football.

Kick-off

The gameplay is simplicity itself: a ball is placed at various distances and angles from the goal, with various configurations of static defenders and a static or dynamic goalkeeper blocking the shot.

You flick the ball to kick. The longer the flick up the screen, the higher the ball travels, providing you with the opportunity to lop defenders. Alternately, flick a curve to bend it like Beckham.

Sounds too basic, perhaps, but the mechanic of gaining bonuses when you hit for the corners of the goal ensures there's a risk and reward balance within your control.

In terms of the main one-miss-and-it's-over Arcade mode, these bonuses enables you to build up up to three additional lives. In terms of the two-minute countdown Time Attack mode, each gives you a three-second bonus for each goal corner gained.

There's also the burning ball bonus. Generated by gaining three goals in a row in Time Attack and a set points during Arcade, this enables your ball to travel through any defender. If you don't use it, it rolls over to your next attempt.

Combined with a Practice mode that lets you play without ceasing for as long as you want, FlickKick Football is a well defined, if limited experience.

Flicking good

The real reason it works well is the flick control.

It's very simple to pick up, but the curved shots, which are the skill focus, take time to get use to. It's unclear if this level of sensitivity was planned or not, but it makes the game more interesting in the Arcade mode, as does the seeming over propensity of your shots to hit the post.

Probably such perceptions are more in the eye of the beholden kicker than from the developer, and really that's what Flick Kick Football is all about.

It's a cheap, vaguely World Cup tie-in that you'll find yourself playing in bursts usually measured in minutes, but sometimes unexpectedly in hours. Flicking throwaway fun in other words.

doodle jump

You know that feeling the first time you played theYetigame where you whack the penguin with a bat and send it flying across the screen? When I first played theYetionline game years ago, I kept trying to beat my high score (sending the poor penguin further and further) and before I knew it, an hour had gone by. That's what happened to me the first time I played Doodle Jump by Lima Sky. This simple, yet ridiculously addictive little game will suck you in . . . you'll find yourself playing over and over until you have to tear yourself away or risk spending your entire day on a quest to become the Doodle Jump master.
Then, of course, you'll be proud of your accomplishments, so you'll want to post your score on your Facebook page "wall" for all of your friends to see. At least, that's what I did. Facebook is quickly becoming a place where I share my gaming accomplishments (I am so proud of my Farmville farm!) as well as keep in touch with friends and family. It's getting to the point where I find out new information from my friends through Facebook now instead of in person or through email, so it is only natural that I would want to share my high score on Doodle Jump with the world (even though it appears it was not really a very high score).
Aside from the addictive gameplay, simple, yet adorable little doodle graphics, and tie-in with Facebook, Doodle Jump really doesn't have much depth as a game. The objective is similar to that of Papijump, a game that I played a lot when I first got my iPhone a year ago. Your goal is to try and get your "doodle man" as high as you can, while avoiding obstacles and enemies and staying off tiles that fall away (and send you crashing to your demise). Along the way, you encounter some inventive helpers like springs and propeller hats that make it really fun. If only that propeller hat could take my doodle further! Similarly to Papijump, the higher you get, the more points you score.
Even though the games share a common game mechanic, I would say that Doodle Jump is more interesting than Papijump because there is more variety. For example, you've got broken, moving, disappearing, and exploding platforms that keep you on your toes as you strive to get your doodle higher and higher. You've also got some cool monsters, abducting UFO's, and black holes to impede your progress. And you've got jet packs, propeller hats, and spinning bones to help you fly. Lots to keep you interested for a while.
I will admit though, that since the objective never changes (get as high as you can), the game can get repetitive and tiresome after awhile. But I could say that about a lot of games. They are good for short sessions of play - like in-between meetings or sitting at the doctor's office or waiting in line or trying to look like you're checking your email in the middle of a boring meeting. You know what I mean. Some games are great for short sessions of mindless play, but if you try to play for too long, you can get weary.
Despite the potential weariness that can set in after repeated plays, the sounds and graphics are fun and light and even motivating. I found myself looking forward to hearing the whirring sound of the propeller hat because I knew that was something that could help me get higher. The iPhone speakers are so terrific you can clearly hear the sound effects and you learn to fear certain sounds and rejoice at others. That's good sound design in my book.
User generated content seems to be the rage these days. And Doodle Jump does not disappoint on this front. When you put in "doodle" as your name it will take you to another screen that lets you make your own character. I liked this feature a lot. Who doesn't like doodling? And doodling on your iPhone? Very cool indeed. For what it is, and at the rock bottom price of $0.99, I would definitely recommend Doodle Jump as an enjoyable way to pass the time if you're stuck in a meeting or someplace you'd rather not be. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just whip your own propeller hat out of your purse, flip a switch and fly away?! A round of Doodle Jump is about as close as you can get to that!

Angry birds

Destructive physics help make this a very charming puzzle game, and the great level variety seals the deal.

The Good

• Extremely fun physics  
• Easy to pick up and play  
• 200-plus levels.

The Bad

• Limited strategy  
• Winning often requires luck.

Most casual news watchers are familiar with explosives that have names like "bunker busters" and "daisy cutters." However, in Rovio Mobile's popular game, Angry Birds, multicolored chickens can take on the properties of these same bombs when pushed to the limits by egg-stealing green pigs.

In Angry Birds, you have to use birds as missiles.

Explosive chickens, adorable as they are, would be pointless without big buildings to topple, and Angry Birds provides more than 200 of them, with more added all the time. You can thoroughly demolish anything from stone castles to glass houses as you punish those evil, egg-stealing pigs.
To play, you simply load up a chicken in your slingshot, pull back while setting your angle, and let go to start the destruction. Angry Birds' gameplay is incredibly easy to understand, and the visual payoff for blowing stuff up is consistently impressive. Blue chickens split up in midair for a spread effect; heavy bomb chickens explode and send structures flying; and egg-laying hens let you deliver a yolky payload directly below.
You always receive the chickens in a particular order, which diminishes some of the strategy. Even though some chickens can be used to set up chain reactions, like using a burrowing hen to soften up a building's stone exterior and then following up with a ticking explosive chicken to blast out the walls--you don't get to do this if you don't get the chickens in this order.

Angry Birds has more than 200 levels, with more added all the time.

Although you might fling your chickens in the same spot each time, the game's sensitive physics system usually gives different results. It's generally impossible to re-create specific trajectories and reactions, so there's some luck involved where obtaining a high score (and a full three-star rating) is concerned. There aren't really any tangible benefits to completing every mission with a three-star score, besides boasting about your score on the online leaderboards, anyway. Angry Birds has some minor issues, but most of the time, you won't notice because you'll be too busy trying to squish pigs and make full use of your chicken arsenal. The game's weapons, physics, and varied levels are really quite excellent, and they make this military-farm-complex a whole lot of fun.