Best Of FingerGaming: From Rolando to Perilar

Author: by Staff

[Every week, Gamasutra sums up sister iPhone site FingerGaming's top news and reviews for Apple's nascent - and increasingly exciting - portable games platform, as written by editor Matt Burris.] This week's notable items in the iPhone gaming space include ngmoco's plans to publish three iPhone titles, a free preview for music-based rhythm game Thumstruck, and the release of the Ultima-styled, turn-based RPG Perilar. Here are the top stories: ngmoco to Publish 3 New Games "There’s new content over at ngmoco that shows them publishing 3 new, upcoming iPhone games... One game, which you may have heard of, is (the pictured) Rolando. Hand Circus announced today their highly-anticipated platform/adventure game will be published by ngmoco today." Thumstruck Free, Rhythm Game, in App Store "Resolute Games has a free preview release of Thumstruck Free (Free), which showcases an upcoming music-based rhythm game for the iPhone/iPod Touch that 'allows players to physically touch the music' according to their CEO, Chris Przybyszewski... In Thumstruck, you match colored balls with their corresponding colored lines, timed to the music which is provided by Ardent Records band, Skillet." Perilar, Turn-based RPG, in App Store "Originally the game is available as a Java-based computer RPG which is free and can be played on Windows or Mac OSX, but Mark has ported it over to be played on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Perilar is a homage to classic computer RPG’s such as the Ultima and Might and Magic series, with old-school gameplay mechanics, graphics, and strategies." Finger Gaming Review: Plank "Even though there are a plethora of match-3 type of games already in the App Store, Plank’s uniqueness, riveting gameplay, and polish makes it worth checking out. Tilting the device to move marbles around on a plank, and a shake to destroy marbles on the bottom row, is a great way to utilize the accelerometer and breathe some fresh air into the popular match-3 genre of puzzles." Spore: Origins Price Drop to $7.99 "Originally being sold for $9.99, Spore: Origins ($7.99) from EA Mobile joins many other big-name games in dropping their price to $7.99. Although many are now finding $5.99 to be the new sweet spot. With gamers now setting the market prices based on demand (or lack thereof), we’re now seeing things start to balance themselves out in the App Store." Cube Runner 2 Now in App Store "The sequel to the incredibly popular Cube Runner has shown up in the App Store, Cube Runner II ($2.99). You can still get the original Cube Runner for free, but this new version from Andy Qua has a slew of new features and gameplay modes, such as Time Trial where you not only have to avoid blocks but tilt your iPhone/iPod Touch forward or backwards to speed up and slow down and beat the best time. There’s also a built-in level and object editor to make your own courses to play and share with others."