http://www.planetivy.com

It’s likely that anyone who plays mobile games at least reasonably often will have begun to notice a significant trend in what kinds of games are being released, both on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. While there’s certainly a large number of mobile games on the market, there is a also a strong tendency to lean towards certain genres. Every time a genre experiences that surge in demand, other genres tend to get pushed aside in favour of the flavour of the month. After all, why would an indie developer with little time and money risk it all on an unproven game genre when it’s clear that Action/Adventure titles are raking in the big bucks at the moment. It’s a fair choice, but it is beginning to lead to some rather worrying repercussion.

If an mobile developer knows they can make a quick buck off a cheap knockoff of Minecraft – Pocket Edition or Fruit Ninja, then it’s likely that that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Unfortunately, this means that most mobile games are very similar, all falling into the most popular categories such a Physics Puzzle,  Action/Adventure, or Sports/Racing, while truly original mobile games in other genres are few and far between. This trend isn’t limited to the mobile industry, of course: there are plenty of franchises which churn out near identical games every year only to have them eagerly snapped up by consumers, but it is more prevalent here, due to the relative simplicity of developing a mobile game, and the comparative ease of getting it out on the market.

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We touched on this topic in an article a few weeks ago, but it bares exploring further: this sort of situation can be rather damaging for the mobile gaming industry. Having a few, extremely popular genres means that developers are less likely to produce games in less popular genres, leading to over-saturation in certain genres, and a complete lack of variety in others. Of course, this isn’t entirely the fault of the developers. Not all genres work well on all platforms, for example. While racing, platforming and action games all tend to work quite well on smart phones, a realistic flight simulator probably wouldn’t. The same is true for certain other genres, of course; fighting games, shooters and MMOs are often hard to translate to a mobile platform, and poorly executed when they finally are attempted (the exceptions are few and far between).

This doesn’t mean that such things shouldn’t be attempted, however. Certainly, attempting to create a brand new online, turn-based cake simulator has its risks; but so does all innovation. The danger of failing a task is what spurs people on towards even greater achievements. If no-one ever took any risks in the gaming industry, then classics such as Shadow of the Colossus and Journey would never have been made. Sure, there’s a chance that your game will be a flop. But there’s also a chance that people will love it, thus opening up a whole new world of turn-based cake simulators.

To be fair though, there are benefits to genre saturation. With so many similar games available, it all but ensures that only the truly outstanding will rise above the rest. The majority of people don’t want the same thing over and over again with only a different colour of paint, which means that anyone wishing to truly succeed will have to have at least some original ideas if they want their game to stand out. Repetition also leads to refinement; the more developers there are working on one genre of games, the more the genre itself will improve. Mechanics will get tightened, gameplay will be polished, and the all-around experience will improve.

So, head over to the forums and tell us what you think. Is genre saturation beneficial or detrimental to mobile gaming? Should developers continue to put out games as fast as possible for a wider variety of choices in each genre, or take their time and wait until they have something truly unique to show off? Let us know what you think either in the comments below, or over on our forums.

I mentioned not too long ago the five things indie developers need to take a closer look at when it comes to creating their next mobile game. This time, I’m going to take a look at one specific issue I raised within that article that’s just gaining some extra momentum in the news of late, thanks partly to the words of one Jonathan Blow.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. Jonathan’s 2008 hit Braid placed him on a rather high and worthy pedestal upon its release, along with his appearance in the successful film Indie Game: The Movie. Never one to pass away the chance to speak his mind, Blow has now criticised the indie industry for simply copying other ideas in a recent interview on Gamasutra, in a very similar way to the AAA console/PC race.

“Some indie developers innovate, but strictly speaking by quantity, most indie developers are just copying other peoples’ games with minor changes, just like mainstream developers do,” says Blow, “Look at all those iPhone games! The difference is just that you notice the indie games that are innovative because they make bigger splashes than the copies.”

It’s a very valid point, something I hinted on myself previously. The ‘cashing in’ phase is becoming an increasingly worrying trend, one that sees at least a handful of new games released each week on mobile platforms that mimic or outright steal ideas from other more successful releases, in order to catch the attention of the growing user base.

Cloning has been around for as long as games have existed. No doubt you’ve played some kind of weird hybrid of Pac-Man or Space Invaders that feels like the real thing but looks or sounds just that little bit different. But the problem here is the excessive use of cloning that’s trying to cash in on a younger audience or parents trying to keep said kids happy over a long car ride. It’s exploitation in it’s purest form and, sadly, it will only get worse before it gets better.

But outside of re-using game mechanics or visual ideas, for me what’s worse are developers who specifically name their title very similarly to the big hits. Names and brands are important, they always have been, but the trend lately has more to do with search results than trying to stick out from the crowd. Tell you what, go ahead and search for Angry on the app store for a moment. Go on, I’ll wait…

…

See the results? Yes, Angry Birds takes top billing and rightly so, but take a closer look at some of the apps that appear within that result. Angry Gran, Angry World War 2, Angry Hippo, even Angry Fruit! I’ll bet you whatever you have in your wallet that most of those games are either forgetful or just plain poorly developed (though there will always be an exception to that rule, of course).

Now search for Jetpack. Again, a similar set of results occur with Jetpack Joyride the first result and then followed by a number of similarly titled games.

If you’re a talented developer looking to get your name out there, I implore you to use your wits instead of cloning your easy way to profit. Oh, and for God’s sake, don’t go turbo.

The most important aspect of any Halfbrick title is presentation, combining an elegant visual quality with an easy, pick up and play control mechanic. Yup, it’s got that.

The evolution of their products have added an extra layer of ‘incentive’ programming, creating an addictive reason to continue playing the game for many moons to come. Certainly has that.

And finally every Halfbrick game is, pure and simply, fun. Tick.

So Fish Out Of Water passes all three criteria rather easily, but it has to be said that Halfbrick has clearly targeted its latest towards a younger, perhaps less experienced audience than previous efforts. You can argue that they’ve done this all along, but given how easy the controls are here, it’s even more obvious than before.

Simply put, you must fling three fish across the ocean as best as possible, taking into account both distance and the amount of skips they make across the water, in order to attain as high an overall score as possible. There’s five fish to choose from, each with slightly different statistics that can alter your overall result. You also have to take into account the different weather conditions, which change every real time hour. From there, it’s a mix of chance and timing, with a boost meter that can be activated at any time to increase your little dude’s speed, though only if you collect tokens which litter the play field.

I say chance since you don’t really have much control beyond the initial fling. If you get your angle and speed right, your fish will fly some way before skipping to a halt. If you do time it right, you can boost your fish further forward. Time it wrong and he’ll go flying high into the air, but probably straight up and down without going much further or skipping at all.

There’s a number of collectible items and unlocks to be had. In a similar vein to Jetpack Joyride, if you complete various tasks during play you’ll increase your overall level and unlock gems which can be used to improve your result among other stat improvements. There’s also plenty of stats to keep an eye on, along with competitive ladders and social involvement over Facebook and Twitter so you can bloat about your success.

For the price you pay, Fish Out Of Water is a fair package. It all comes down to how much time you put into it, really. Once you start to figure out the different abilities of each fish and combine them with the right weather conditions, you’ll eventually score rather highly more often than not. Safe to say, if you like having your name at the top of the leader board, this one will keep you going for a while.

Whilst Fish Out Of Water may not reach the same incredible heights of its predecessors (though that remains to be seen), it’s certainly set to continue the high standard that Halfbrick has set itself. The presentation is clean, colourful and fun, something kids will no doubt love. The adults, both male and female, aren’t left behind either thanks to its addictive nature. That’s the perfect kind of balance every game should be aiming for, especially on the mobile platform.

It might be considered too easy for some, but Fish Out Of Water is a fun and worthwhile distraction.

Jeff Clark is a sixth grade English teacher out of Cheektowaga-Sloan, a school district in Buffalo, NY that’s home two four different schools. He is also the creator of Patient Number Zero, an online narrative that was created to enrich the learning experience for his students, teaching them the importance of narrative through a unique online gaming experience.

It’s Jeff’s dream to introduce a video game based curriculum to the district, specifically at John F. Kennedy Middle School, to teach kids through the use of video game based literacy.

“As we continue to evolve into a “gaming” culture, it would be foolish for educators to not capitalize on students’ high level of interest and immersion in video games,” Jeff explains on his kickstarter campaign page, “Games like Uncharted, Skyrim, and the Fallout series tell AMAZING narratives that not only engage the player, but leave a lasting impression, much like that of an amazing piece of literature. My goal is to merge the English Language Arts with high-interest video games.”

The plan involves combining various video games across multiple genres and platforms with the national Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. This will teach kids to analyse specific video game narratives, genres and plots whilst building an interest in writing walkthroughs, narratives or video game reviews and creative pieces, visual presentations and the like.

From a personal point of view, I wish there had been something like this back when I was a kid. To be able to write about what I love now as a child would have not only motivated me to become a writer earlier in life, but it would have also allowed me to share in my love and appreciation for video games instead of just playing at home when no-one was watching. It’s a sign of the times, perhaps, that gaming has become more than just picking up a controller after a hard days work.

Now of course, none of this is possible without your help, so be sure to head over to the kickstarter page and show your support for this fantastic initiative. As indie writers, fans and creators alike, we can all agree that providing a better curriculum of the children of the future can only lead to bigger and better things, not only within our own industry but within the general appreciation of the english language as a whole and beyond.

So please, go donate what you can to put some smiles on some kids faces. Tell Jeff that IGM sent you.

Let me make this perfectly clear. These aren’t gripes, these are simply personal opinions. I’m also not suggesting that every developer who doesn’t follow said suggestions are nancy boys, far from it. These five ideas are something that I, as a player and as a  journalist, would reconsider or work towards if I were a developer. Oh how I wish that were the case…

1) The Runner – Now don’t get me wrong, the runner genre has become a primary staple of the mobile platform, but when every second game released each week is the same idea with a different coat of paint … well, it’s clear that there’s just a little too much cashing in going down. Just a little bit. If you are going to go that way, like I said there’s nothing wrong with doing so, then you really need to bring something new to the table. Take Buddy & Me as a good example (which we showed you earlier this week) requires multiple platform interactions by the player, or previous hits like the madly colourful and fast Time Surfer or the addictive coin collecting/obstacle avoiding Jetpack Joyride. All of those provide something different in terms of both gameplay and presentation, instead of being just a carbon copy.

2) Freemium – I’ve already discussed the issues of freemium game models previously, but it’s fair to mention it again. Real Racing 3 really got up the goat of many a gamer with its numerous item purchase options, most of which could have been avoided and in turn improved the overall product considerably. If you do go freemium, keep it short to the point that players can complete the game without the need to spend a ton more on something they simply want to enjoy. Better yet, go the very affordable 99c option and provide that extra, entirely optional service on the side. More importantly, gamers will spend the extra cash on items or extras that are enjoyable or important, not just different clothing colours or character skins.

3) Retro – I’m a sucker for retro graphics, I always have been. But we should be at a point now where the power of an iOS device can handle far more than just pixelated flashbacks. Is it just designers wanting to hark back to the good old days, or is it a cheap and easy way out? The argument could go either way, but I’d much prefer to see some original and creative character or level designs these days, especially given how the humble mobile device has evolved in their inner workings over the years. The proof is in the talent, but be creative. Don’t just use pixels to draw in a crowd, be unique. On a side note, there needs to be more games that use watercolours.

4) City Builders – If it isn’t the runner genre, it’s a game that has you building a town or a city or some kind of licensed product world. Look, as much as SimCity is a great franchise, there must be a better way of using a license as strong as My Little Pony or Ice Age, right? Okay, maybe not, but this does bring me back to the freemium concept issue. In fact, freemium and city builder seem to go hand in hand, which is both a blessing and a curse. Thankfully there are a few titles out there that mix up the recipe just enough to make it fresh again, especially Puzzle Craft (of which I’ve played a lot of lately) and Pixel People. Your game needs a catch, something to draw people in, as both of these games provide within their core gameplay mechanics (not just their presentation).

5) Online Multiplayer – Given the push for multiplayer modes in the console scene, it’s a little surprising that there aren’t more iOS or Android games that take advantage of online and competitive wifi enabled game modes. Most titles that do seem to be either racers, shooters or puzzle based titles, but why can’t we have the same for, say, Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds? Why not a competitive online mode or two in Jetpack Joyride and Doodle Jump? Variety is the spice of life as they say, so why not think outside the box and create that sense of competition within our favourite genre leaders. Besides the fact that on every other platform an online mode would be an almost automatic inclusion, it can increase longevity without having to resort to cheap DLC add-ons.

So what do you think? Is there something our favourite developers or newcomers should focus more or less on? Are you a developer and agree or disagree? Shout out in the comments below or via our forums and let your voice be heard on IGM.

Forever Lost has caught the attention of many a gamer of late and with good reason. The title has built a strong following, with anticipation for the second chapter building momentum following a successful opening episode. So who else to get the inside story on what’s to come and the journey so far than the team behind it all, Glitch Games:

For those that aren’t aware, how would you describe Glitch Games to a new fan?

Glitch Games are a fun-focused duo that have a passion for games. We want to make games that people want to play. We are not trying to make millions of pounds or change the world, but we do want to bring a certain amount of joy into people’s lives. We see games not as an escape from reality but rather an extension of it. They can bring people together or simply pass the time on a boring journey. These days, you can be immersed in new worlds after a single tap on your mobile phone. Ultimately, Glitch Games consists of two people that love what they do and, so long as we can afford to eat, we will continue to do so.

Where did the idea for Forever Lost originate?

Forever Lost was not one of the eureka moments when you wake up in the middle of the night and shout… well… “eureka.” It was a long drawn out process that took many months to formulate. We have always wanted to make an adventure game, so we decided to test the waters during a 48 hour game development competition back in February 2012.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with app/game development, 48 hours is an incredibly short amount of time to make any game, especially an adventure game (we still sometimes look back and wonder how we did it all in 48 hours.) Sometimes we spend longer than this on Forever Lost just making sure a shadow from a pillar looks right. Anyway, we ended up winning the competition and we decided it was time to make a full adventure game.

Before diving in head first, we decided to break down existing adventure/puzzle games and see how we could improve on the genre. The main annoyance in almost all of the games was that you had to write down all clues on a piece of paper or simply try to memorise them. We thought this was stupid, especially since everyone will be playing the game on mobile devices, so we decided to spend a few weeks developing a camera feature that allowed the player to take photos of anything they wanted. This way players can look back at clues, and whatever else took their fancy, at any point in the game without backtracking.

The second thing we noticed was that most of the stories within this gaming genre, at least on mobile devices, took a backseat to the puzzles and visuals. We wanted to change this and build a deep, intense atmosphere with a strong story. We didn’t want to spoon feed the story to the player though, so we decided to begin Episode 1 with no prior memory of anything. This may be a little cliché but it works perfectly since everything that the player discovers for the first time is also what the protagonist is seeing for the first time. They are both in the same position with no idea of who or where they are… so the aim is clear.

How excited are you about the future of the series and its current success?

During the very early testing stages of Forever Lost, a friend said to us “this could be big” after a single playthrough of the game. We knew we had a good game but the problem was getting people to know about it. We have indeed been receiving lots of good coverage, reviews and mentions over the last few months, but recently it has just snowballed. The hardest part of making the game is knowing what will work and what will not. We seemed to hit the nail on the head with our first attempt and most people seem to love the game.

All of this attention has made us very excited for the release of Episode 2, we’re actually taking bets in the office as to how many downloads we’ll get in the first 48 hours. Needless to say we’re probably being way too optimistic, but if you don’t expect success you’ll never achieve it.

Forever Lost was also split into chapters in order to evolve over time based on user feedback. With that in mind, what kind of feedback did you receive following the release of Episode 1?

The first thing we check every morning is not the financial reports, not the previous nights art renders and not even if the office is on fire. We go straight to the customer reviews and see what people are saying about the game. We use this as a guide to make sure we are heading in the right direction for future episodes. Luckily our feedback has been mostly very positive with many people claiming that it is the best mobile game, and in some cases the best game they have ever played. This is astonishing to us because we’ve been playing games our whole lives and to think that some people rank us that highly is a huge honour. Almost all of our user reviews ends with some variation of, “can’t wait for Episode 2.”

Despite spending 12 – 16 hours on the game every day, we do not want to rush it and release a sub-standard game. We have a vision of what we would like to achieve and we are going to try our hardest to achieve this.

Read On For Part Two

Any game that involves social interaction and a constant need to follow the situation requires time, more so than most. In the case of VS4D, based on the upcoming feature film ‘John Doe’, time plays a large part in how the game operates. From taking down small time criminals to building a clan worthy of wielding power, you’re going to need to put in as much effort as you can to get the most out of it.

You’ll start by creating a character, choosing from a number of facial characteristics and clothing for your mugshot. In my case I started by searching out my own image (the lads at Divisive were more than happy to include my unusual mug in the game … I can only imagine how many people have used my nose!) before trying out a few more outlandish matches later on. The likelihood of coming across another player with the same features as you is highly unlikely, though you can always choose to cover your entire face with a mask or similar at a later date.

VS4D is split into a number of different areas. You’ll start by taking out small timers and local citizens who you believe are causing trouble. The game will do its best to describe each situation, but it’s completely your decision whether you take any action and, if so, what action that may be. A warning here or there might sway a few people, but taking bigger risks or causing more damage may result in bigger XP or cash rewards.

Your character will continually upgrade over time, improving certain statistics that will later decide how effective your decisions may be. But your vigilante means nothing unless you choose a clan, which is where the social aspect of VS4D comes into play. Once you’ve requested to join a group, you’ll then be able to talk amongst yourselves within a separate clan only chatroom. If you do get lucky and join a talkative team, you can then arrange between yourselves what you’d like to do.

Rival clans, i.e. other players, will then try and take you out if you find yourselves growing in stature, so maintaining a level of communication is vital to your clans success. If one of your team is under threat, he can shout out to the rest to defend him against he incoming attack. Everything is timed, from a few seconds for earlier quests to a few hours for the more difficult challenges, such as taking out a higher level character or indeed defending against a rival gang.

VS4D feels more like a text based adventure mixed with a non-fantasy tabletop RPG. Interactions are played out through simplistic but well drawn menus, from choosing your clan colours to purchasing new equipment or targets within the map screen. When you do decide to take action, the event will play out in a short animation mimicking a motion comic before displaying your results. Your choices change the way your character survives and evolves, along with the kind of success your clan can achieve.

Impressively, you can continue the same game across different platforms (although the Facebook edition has yet to be released). This allows a continuous level of interaction, as soon as something happens in the game your phone app will relay the message during work hours, before you sit down and coordinate your next move at home on the couch via your iPad. Once the Facebook version comes online, the possibilities of the game are numerous.

VS4D’s setting mixes its comic style art with partial realism (you’ll see information popping up ranging from lowly drug dealers to family members caught in the crossfire and lives struggling to survive every day events) and some times it can be a little unnerving. It’s important to note that you can’t just take everything you see out, otherwise the chief gang will quickly put you in your place. There’s a sense of right and wrong here, you can’t just rely on random attacks. Choosing your targets wisely and using the right methods will gain the right level of awards without drawing too much attention from the in-game rival, though real world players won’t see things the same way.

That’s the beauty of Vigilante: Speak for the Dead. Each experience will vary depending on how deep you go down the rabbit hole. Join the right gang and you could climb up the ladder or be part of an endless war, back and forth. Though there are a few technical glitches here and there, with a little instability depending on your internet connection, there’s nothing here that’s game breaking or annoying.

My time with the game has so far been within Australia itself, but it’ll certainly be interesting to see the what player interaction the world over might do to the landscape. Divisive have also built a strong support base so far, with the hope that fresh content and updates will constantly stream through. As it stands now, Vigilante: Speak for the Dead is a well thought out and intelligently designed social experiment with the potential to grow significantly.

The first revolves around a settlement between Apple and upwards of 23 million iTunes account holders who believe that certain in-app purchases were made by their children without consent or understanding. The second is the controversial release of Real Racing 3 which, according to reports, has upwards of $500 worth of micro transactions.

It’s a dangerous pattern that’s quickly taking a hold of the market, developers and publishers selling additional items and collectables within their games or promising unlocked content for an added price. Sure it isn’t new, but the somewhat farcical side of the business is starting to show its face, something that the industry can’t afford to have floating around for too long.

There’s nothing wrong with paid content, well produced downloadable extras done can add something meaningful to the existing product and are well worth both the effort and the loose change. But when a game offers a quick fix for your troubles or a minor change to your characters clothing? That’s something that I’m not a huge fan of at all. It’s like asking me if I want butter with my toast and then charging me a dollar for it.

Real Racing 3 (RR3), a series that has garnered a lot of praise over the years, had a ton of hype surrounding this second sequel. Though the previous two titles were paid apps with plenty of in-game content to keep the masses enthralled, RR3 has turned things upside down by providing a free app for download before enticing you with a number of upgrades, unlockable cars and car parts among many other options.

Like most freemium titles before it you can unlock just about all of the content over time, though the number doing the rounds right now puts it at well over 400 hours of play time in order to do that. If you can’t wait that long and you’ve got $500 stashed away for just such an event, you can purchase everything you need straight up, but how is that fair? I can appreciate having to work for the stuff you want, racing games in particular are synonymous with just such a concept, but 400 hours? $500? That’s crossing a line that should never have been crossed at all.

Another example is the puzzle game Candy Crush Saga. On its own it’s a solid piece of entertainment, but take a look closely at its freemium concept. The game allows you to purchase more powerful special items to help you along, sure, but it’s the opportunity to purchase more moves in order to finish a puzzle once you run out of existing chances that you start to realise how devilish the concept is. You run out of moves in any other game and it’s over, but here you can pay as much as you want until you finish.

The ability to purchase new content should be a rewarding experience, like downloading new puzzles in Puzzle Retreat or a completely new chapter of Forever Lost. To make it all about an easier way or even a cheaters way to victory? That’s something I can’t agree on. It’s almost like enticing a player or even a child to gamble for something bigger and better, pulling them in with the wondrous word ‘free’ then throwing endless opportunities to buy items without having to work for it.

Which brings me back to the settlement between Apple and its users. A number of games on the App Store or Google Play right now are aimed at a younger audience (Smurf’s Village for example), but what’s scary is the number of said games that include in-app purchasing. The player can easily tap a button or two and, before they know it, own a bunch of new content without realising how much they’ve spent on it. A young child won’t understand the difference, they think it’s part of the experience to unlock something new in order to get what they want.

I really do hope the two above news pieces sink in, that the myriad of developers who think they can ‘scam’ their way into a few extra dollars for an easy way out think again before uploading their next project. If nothing else, we need to reconsider both the importance of in-app purchasing and create a more balanced and natural way to incorporate them without it feeling like we’re paying for something we should already own. In the case of Real Racing 3, sometimes it’s better to be a $5 app than nothing at all.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or via our official forums.

Year Walk (iOS) by Simogo

The impact that Year Walk may have on the portable landscape could be far reaching. Its stunning artwork and eery atmosphere are like nothing else on the platform, or any other system right now. This is a must play, not only for gamers looking for something new but for those who truly believe that video games can be considered works of art. This, folks, is exactly what they’re talking about.

Honourable Mentions: Major Magnet (iOS) by PagodaWest,  Penumbear (iOS) by Taco Graveyard

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