iOS and Android gaming

[ReprobateGamer]

Well you've got much further than me! I think my record is level 41 or something! Seems like there might be more after level 50, like a new chapter but not sure yet. Yeah that flytrap enemy is a little cheap. It's pretty fun though, glad you enjoyed it!

If you click on the first world, you can then scroll through to see what the other worlds are, though you have to play through the previous world to unlock. There's ten available so for the enthusiast there seems to be a fair amount of choice and I've had a number of weapon/armour drops so you can play around with those.

I'm not that enthusiast so have taken the decision to delete it BEFORE I play it a little too much and ruin my experience - played in total for a few hours and got near the end of world two - it's requiring more time than I'm wanting to give to a mobile game.

I've downloaded Mini Metro in it's place so we'll see how that one does. Very nearly forked out for Final Fantasy Tactics but reviews imply that the game is locked to one device (!) I understand that save data may not have a cloud save but if the game can't be re-downloaded without being a fresh copy, that's another thing. Something I need to check as I think that sort of game would work well.

[Flabyo]

If you want to play FFT and have the means get the PSP version, the iOS one is rough.

[Alex79uk]

Yeah the mobile ports of Square games are expensive and not especially good. I tried FFVII and IX and had issues with both. The one device thing seems highly unlikely though.

Although...

... it's requiring more time than I'm wanting to give to a mobile game.

Maybe FFT isn't the best choice!

[ReprobateGamer]

The issue with Archero is that you need to make your way through 50 levels in one sitting to open the next world ... I was making the presumption that as FFT would be more narrative driven so would be easier to chip away in the 5-10min blocks that mark the majority of my mobile gaming time.

[countstex]

The bonfire: Forsaken Lands is now in beta on Android. It's been on iOS and Steam for a while, but the Android version is finally here. Well worth a look if you like a bit of city-building/survival. Looks great too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ebonfireFL

[Alex79uk]

Hoping someone can help, I can't remember the name of a game.

You know those mobile games where you fire an increasing amount of balls at blocks which require differing amounts of hits to clear - there was one that people kept recommending a while back. Not necessarily on here, but on a couple of podcasts. It's a paid premium mobile game, and I can't remember what it was called.

Any ideas? Ta!

[Flabyo]

There’s hundreds of those now. The only one I can remember the name of off the top of my head is Piffle, but it probably wasn’t that.

[Alex79uk]

Hmm thanks but yeah it wasn't that one. All I remember is that the blocks weren't just squares, they were all sorts of Tetris like shapes. It had almost a campaign mode to it as reviews said it was great, but short. I remember IGN podcast mentioning it a couple of times.

[Alex79uk]

It's Holedown!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... games.bore

All I needed to do was scan back a couple of pages on this thread

[Alex79uk]

I had about £18 of Google Play credit built up from surveys so spent it on a few games. The first one is called Part Time UFO, and it's brilliant fun. Made by HAL Laboratory, who were jointly responsible for some Kirby games, Earthbound and Super Smash Bros, you can really see the Nintendo pedigree here. You play a little UFO with a crane machine part attachment, and it's a physics based game in which you have to complete jobs moving items around the world. It was £2.99 and definitely worth the cash. Have a look if you think you may be interested.

[stvnorman]

I’d forgotten about Part Time UFO. It looked really cool. Will have a look for it now!

Journey is out on iOS today at £4.99. Seeks to be fairing okay on a touchscreen from what I’ve read, but when PS4 controller support comes with iOS 13 it will be a must-have if you’ve not got it on PS3 or 4. Absolute work of art!

[stvnorman]

I did mention it elsewhere the other day, but it fits here too - Konami quietly released a Picross game called Pixel Puzzle Collection on iOS, spanning their 50 years of gaming. It’s free with the odd static ad for anniversary collections, PES, etc. after you complete a puzzle. There’s about 500 puzzles of increasing complexity. I’d never played one before but there’s a great tutorial for beginners, and if you’re into retro gaming you’re in for a treat! I’m at 16% complete after I reckon 7-8 hours, so it’s pretty good value too!

[James]

Konami quietly released a Picross game called Pixel Puzzle Collection on iOS, spanning their 50 years of gaming.

Several of the team, including myself, have been playing Pixel Puzzle Collection. I've been putting quite a bit of time into it over the past month or two; you're right about the value - there are dozens of hours worth of puzzles in here!

The game ramps up nicely, and holds some pretty tough puzzles for the final 20% or so. I've just come across the first puzzle that can't be solved without guessing, and will be breaking out graph paper and a pencil to tackle that one tomorrow.

[stvnorman]

Glad to hear it! I came across it in Retro Gamer recently, which was the first and only time I’d heard of it.

You can always solve it without guessing! Can’t wait to find out if that’s true too!

[ReprobateGamer]

Konami quietly released a Picross game called Pixel Puzzle Collection on iOS, spanning their 50 years of gaming.

Several of the team, including myself, have been playing Pixel Puzzle Collection. I've been putting quite a bit of time into it over the past month or two; you're right about the value - there are dozens of hours worth of puzzles in here!

The game ramps up nicely, and holds some pretty tough puzzles for the final 20% or so. I've just come across the first puzzle that can't be solved without guessing, and will be breaking out graph paper and a pencil to tackle that one tomorrow.

For those on Android looking for a Picross fix without a boss timer, I can recommend Picross Luna 2. A lovely pastoral art style and multiple control types so whether you are playing on a phone or a larger tablet, you can pick the most appropriate input method.
There are some ads but you can skip pass them after at most a few seconds and once you hit 90% completion, the ads go away!

[James]

You can always solve it without guessing! Can’t wait to find out if that’s true too!

It should be, but I could've sworn I'd run out of known cells to fill/clear. Turns out my fuzzy, late-night brain missed one (admittedly easy-to-miss) box that I could clear. Needless to say, having solved it with a guess, I went back and cleared it without guessing, just to be sure.

I'm now at the point where I only have boss puzzles left, and (as ReprobateGamer says) that means waiting 3hrs in between puzzles. Not ideal, especially as I tried to pace myself, but I'll be clearing those at a more steady rate now.

[Alex79uk]

Well I've just downloaded it too after all this chat! I've only played a little Picross before, years ago, and can't remember a jot about how to play it!

[James]

Well I've just downloaded it too after all this chat! I've only played a little Picross before, years ago, and can't remember a jot about how to play it!

Pixel Puzzle Collection has a pretty decent tutorial and then ramps up the difficulty in a steady fashion. Needless to say, feel free to ask for help if you run into trouble, but I'm sure you'll be fine!

[The Freeman]

I've been playing Golf Peaks which is a clever (meaning difficult!) golf-themed diorama puzzle game with some simple card mechanics to boot. It's only a couple of quid. Graphics and sound are simple but it's a well presented game. No micro-transactions or any of that nonsense. It reviewed very well and was awarded a gold medal by Pocket Gamer. Check it out.

[The Freeman]

I've just realised that my very first post on this forum reads like spam. Apologies. I just get a little too enthusiastic when I find a good mobile game because the Play Store is like wading through a mile of shit.