iPhone- if u like Tetris Attack & Magical Drop, grab this!

[headcaseGames]

Howdy shmups forum. Long time poster on and off (I used to be a regular till several years ago). I am an independent iPhone app developer, coming from 13 yrs in big studios and recently "jumping on the bandwagon" to go it alone. It's been interesting, and though I am not making money yet, it's going well.

I'm not posting about our game in here hoping to get anything out of it really (the shmups forum is a tiny corner of the Internet - and that's why I like it!) but you guys are true game aficianados and you'd absolutely appreciate what I've made, so I wanted to at least put out a line to share it with you.

My friend and I released a game called 180 this past summer. It's a direct homage to the likes of Tetris Attack and of course Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble. The game is built off of what makes those games work so well (familiar and easy to learn, simple overall rules) and also what makes them very complicated (elaborate combo/chaining systems). We wanted to do something that would take advantage of the touchscreen in a way that it couldn't be done elsewhere, and based on the critical reception I'd say we did a great job!

Sadly the game didn't really make much money (for a number of reasons) but at this point I am satisfied to just get it out there and have people play it, get it some visibility. We have had the game available free for the entire month of December (we'll set it back to paid after the New Year) and got well over 100,000 downloads.

iTunes Link (FREE until 2011)
How to play video (casual-friendly)
Hyper player (insanity!)

All I ask is that you check out my game, and review it on iTunes (and spread the word) if you enjoy it. That much will help me out a LOT. Feel free to use this thread to ask me anything about the game/process, our history, etc. I just want some visibility, so that people who appreciate these types of games can enjoy it.

In closing, I'll say to please keep this on the DL, but with the recent promotion (it shot way up the charts for a minute there) a very big entity approached us and requested that we port it to another platform. So you will be seeing more of 180 for sure in due time



thanks shmupo's!

[BulletMagnet]

I don't own an iAnything, but the game does look fun, I like how you have to manipulate both the pieces you "shoot" and the ones already on the board - it doesn't strike me as very similar to Tetris Attack though, I'm more tempted to call it a cross between Zintrick and Plus Plumb (both of which I wrote about here a little while back). In any event, best of luck this go-round!

[Drum]

Agreed. Requesting a title change to 'iPhone- if u like Zintrick and Plus Plumb then grab this FREE til 2011'. That's much more helpful!

[BulletMagnet]

Agreed. Requesting a title change to 'iPhone- if u like Zintrick and Plus Plumb then grab this FREE til 2011'. That's much more helpful!

He'll sell millions! MILLIONS I tell you!

[Skykid]

Really fun dude, I'm digging it already. I really like the simplicity of it, and being able to flip the discs is a really neat twist (not sure if there are similar concepts already.)
The music seems a little soft considering my avatar is a guitar rocking dude, but it's actually really chilled and I like it. The different modes are cool too, but I'm always a screwed when there's only Easy and Hard options as it means I have to play hard forever for the sake of dignity (and it's pretty challenging! )

Nice to see more indie dev's doing iphone stuff - I have a close friend working his ass off at the moment to release his first title in the new year so I'm a big supporter of the cause.

Hope this does well when you put it on for cost - it's definitely worth the basic price point. Good luck!

[StarCreator]

I'd certainly grab this if I owned an iAnything, but I'm committed to my Android phone for at least another two years. Looks great from the screens above though!

[headcaseGames]

thanks for checking it out folks
Zintrick and Plus Plumb - not ever heard of either of them, but then this is kind of an uber-specialist forum so I already know I am in over my head at times Would love to check them out though.

We did pretty much nick the way combos and chains work, at their basic level, from Tetris Attack - as far as how matches are sensed, timed and cleared. The bigger your combo (or chain), the longer the timeclock/gamespeed will be "frozen" while pieces clear, and of course this is the precious time when you can set up successive combos and chains. Getting a 2X chain will often happen (by accident), 3 will require conscious planning, 4 and higher means real work. The maximum I've seen is 7 chains off a single shot.

The things to keep in mind:
- After you get used to playing, you should be flipping pieces way more than shooting. Consider that your gameboard is completely 2-sided, and that there's always matches present. Shooting fast will level you up, but planning and playing reflexively will keep you playing longer and into the meat of the game (when it starts getting really fast). Mind that you can flip all the pieces on the playfield, as well as the "next" one you'll shoot, at any time (unless they are glowing/marked for clearing, and about to explode)

- This game is all about scoring, and there's a few secrets to getting huge scores. Here's the biggest one of all, and thus the ultimate goal to topping the leaderboards:

Spoiler

You get a "Full Clear" bonus of 1,000 pts times the level you are on when you completely clear the screen. Full Clear at level 3 gets you 3,000 pts. Full Clear at level 33 will get you 33,000 pts! Of course, as the game speeds up, it becomes much harder to perform this.. practice makes perfect.

again, if you can get yourself to sit through the first minute and a half of this video, you'll start to get a sense of some of the deeper techniques you can pull off with the mechanics.

[brentsg]

Great game, I like it!

I dont game on the phone a lot but I'll keep 180 on there.

[GaijinPunch]

my iPhone games generally get played once, but I'll give this an honest go. Anything where I don't have to shake the phone around is a plus.

[headcaseGames]

The different modes are cool too, but I'm always a screwed when there's only Easy and Hard options as it means I have to play hard forever for the sake of dignity (and it's pretty challenging! )

this is a game where there's no shame in starting on Easy, since it will give you room to learn the basics and more complex moves you can pull that will just not come so naturally if you dive right in at Hard (it can be done, but you've gotta be more patient than the average "modern gamer!") Also Easy will kick you right into Hard mode anyway (Level 5 on Easy = starting level of Hard) But then, who am I to tell you how to live your life

[brentsg]

I was able to squeeze a quick round of Time Attack in today while waiting in line for tacos. Perfect game style for a phone..

This would be the perfect way pass the time while standing outside Hey, waiting to buy pedophile gear for all your internet friends!

[headcaseGames]

pedoshmups? whaaaa?

I posted on reddit to try and get some eyeballs as well. That's a tough crowd, but worth a shot, if you wanna help then please vote me up over there. Thanks!

[gameoverDude]

I've been sitting on the fence regarding an iPod Touch 4. A certain shmup developer has caused me to just about "Cave". I tried the DDP Daifukkatsu/Resurrection demo on a friend's iPhone, and that's not bad for a <$10 portable version.

180 looks good, and I'll probably check it out once I get an iPT4. Right now I'm just trying to decide between an 8 or 32 GB model.

[headcaseGames]

reminder that this free promotion ends after tonite! Grab it free while you can - and have a shmuppy new year!