While there is a huge number of AAA console-like games which you can play in your iPhone, the App Store gaming scene wouldn’t be half (or even quarter) as vibrant as it is today, if it wasn’t for the games talented individuals and small development teams have created.
Their way into the App Store over the last year have found acclaimed indie titles, like Zeboyd’s Cthulhu Saves the World, Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix & Her Nightmare winner of the Best Design award at the indiePub’s 3rd Independent Game Developers Contest, and The Last Express the indie adventure that won numerous awards including Editor’s Choice awards from PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, Next Generation, and dozens of game websites, including a gold medal from GamesDomain.
A mix of genuine innovation, offered from the likes of the block-breaking fantasy game,Wizorb and Super Hexagon the brilliant little game from Terry Cavanagh, combined with great addictiveness like Super Crate Box an indie title so addicting even if you’re bad at it, and great graphic work like the quirky adventure RPG hybrid Lili, mean some of the seven games featured below are immediately grabbable and well worth the cash.
Cthulhu Saves the World
Cthulhu Saves the World is the follow-up to Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, an old school parody RPG from three-man studio Zeboyd Games, mixed with modern design sensibilities, a heartfelt homage to the early days of Final Fantasy design. Zeboyd Games in partnership with Tinkerhouse Games that brought their quirky indie RPG, Cthulhu Saves the World, to a variety of new platforms in 2012 including the iPhone, iPad, Android, and Mac.
Cthulhu was originally released on Xbox Live Indie Games on December 30th, 2010 and was later ported to the PC on July 13th, 2011. Since then it has sold over 150,000 copies and has gained critical acclaim. On July 25th Cthulhu made the jump to iOS devices.
Cthulhu Saves the World is a pixelated 2D journey through labyrinthine dungeons filled with treasure chests, random encounters and bosses. It’s also a satire, ridiculing genre clichés while simultaneously paying them the utmost respect. The game might look old but it packs more personality than most big budget blockbusters. Cthulhu may not want be a hero, but he’s helping to save a genre. For those who love indie titles, classic RPGs or just a refreshing change pace of modern titles, this game is for you.
You can purchase Cthulhu Saves the World for $1,99 from here.
Super Hexagon
Super Hexagon is a brilliant little game from Terry Cavanagh, the sadistic creator of the tougher-than-Mario sidescroller VVVVV where you control a little triangle and rotate it through a maze that is constantly converging toward the center of your iPhone or iPad screen. The whole world is also constantly rotating, changing colours and getting ever faster as you last longer in the game.
The game, an expansion on Cavanagh’s original Pirate Kart entry Hexagon is as simple as it looks in its trailer, but trust this a game that you will only be able to handle, at first, for five seconds. Maybe six and about 20-30 after a day of two of continuous practice.
While all these make Super Hexagon sound as the most frustrating game ever created the truth is exactly the opposite. The instant restart, the soothing announcer, the crisp digital control and a score system that’s so brilliantly pure, manage to make you feel even more energized than you did before. You’ll find yourself loading up Super Hexagon constantly in your effort to improve your record for just a second. Super Hexagon is about testing your reflexes, reaction speed, memorization, your and instincts .
The game’s success on iOS has taken developer Terry Cavanagh very much by surprise as only on its first week on the App Store sales have come in at just over 30,000. Super Hezagon retails for $2,99 on the App Store.
Super Crate Box
Super Crate Box, is a frantic shooter/platformer that challenges players to survive waves of enemies using an array of powerful weapons that was first released on the PC as in indie game. The title aimed to bring back the glorious days of the arcade era.
In Super Crate Box the action takes place on a single non-scrolling screen, and the premise is simple: collect as many crates as you can. All enemies deal out instant death when touched, keeping the action tense. Every time players nab a crate, another pops up in a new random location on the board, meaning gamers are always scrambling above, below, and around enemies in their crate-ly pursuit. The game offers a great assortment of weapons that all feel unique. Players will snag grenade launchers, katanas, mines, and more.
The trade off though, is that you’ll never know which weapon you’re getting next until you open the crate. Sometimes you’ll be trading a great weapon for a crummy one, but since you have to open the crates to advance your score anyways, this just gives you more reason to try to reach the next crate as quickly as you can. As you play, you’ll steadily unlock more guns and more characters to use in the game, and if you die 500 times, for example, you’ll unlock Super Meat Boy as a character
Super Crate Box boasts tight controls, a chiptune soundtrack, and support for the iCade and iControlPad peripherals. You can grab it from here for $0,99.
