The Shadowrun series started life in the good old 1980s as a tabletop game, and moved onto consoles in the '90s via the SNES and Mega Drive. More recently, our iPads were treated to the isometrically viewed, tactical RPG in the form of Shadowrun Returns.
Known for its mash-ups of real-world and fantasy settings, and its deep, engaging storylines, the series seems to be going from strength to strength following the release of the Shadowrun: Dragonfall expansion on PC, Mac and Linux earlier this year.
iPad gamers have been forced to sit on the sidelines whilst others enjoy this latest instalment, but not for long. This weekend developer Harebrained Schemes announced it is targeting October for an iPad release of Dragonfall as a standalone Director's Cut experience. Happy days!
Now would be a good time to immerse yourself in the cyberpunk, turn-based tactical RPG world of Shadowrun Returns in preparation for Dragonfall. You can grab it right here.
It's a great time to be gaming on an iPad, with the recent release of BioShock, and the imminent release of iOS 8 - which we're anticipating will bring with it all sorts of gaming goodies, ports and surprises. Stay tuned folks, Q4 2014 is going to be huge for iOS gaming.
For now, check out the PC trailer for Shadowrun: Dragonfall Director's Cut below to whet your appetite.
Last week on Grab It, we released a video reviewing the best games available on Steam Early Access this month - you can watch it below. One of those games was the frustratingly addictive management game Prison Architect, by the developer behind Darwinia and DEFCON. Yesterday the guys at Introversion Software rounded out their monthly update video by announcing that they intend to bring Prison Architect to tablets. "Intend" isn't particularly definitive, but there is a link at the bottom of the page to the company's survey where they are probing the waters.
I have been playing Prison Architect since it hit Early Access, so I've never really considered the possibility of a portable version. But every now and then I suddenly want something I never knew I needed, like that feeling you get during the Steam Summer Sales or anytime apple announces a new iPhone. That feeling has come again with the unexpected bombshell of a Prison Architect game on tablets - I must have this game on my tablet.
So if, like me, you want to care for digital prisoners on the train like some homicidal Tamagotchi, let Introversion know and whet your appetite on the video below.
News broke last week that Team Meat were developing a "live-action" stealth game for iOS, called A Voyeur For September. A pity for the indie darlings that the internet leaves no stone unturned in the exploration of new announcements, as fans soon suspected a hoax. Suspicions of an undercover Meat Boy title were confirmed at PAX Prime today when Team Meat announced Super Meat Boy Forever for the iOS.
Super Meat Boy Forever is not a port of the 2010 hit, it will feature six new chapters, in addition to an endless runner mode with levels that randomly generate after each death. Edmund McMillen of Team Meat has emphasised that Super Meat Boy Forever won't be a simple endless platflormer, won't have a one button control scheme and will be free of pesky in-app purchases. Here is a snippet of what one half of Team Meat, Tommy Refenes, has to say about the announcement:
"It's not a little iOS throwaway game. There's a certain flavour to iOS games where it's just enough and there's not a real complete, cohesive experience. [SMBF is] going to have cutscenes and bosses. It's going to feel like an actual game and not a time-waster. There are tonnes of iOS games that aren't time wasters, but most of the little platformers and auto-runners are gimicky and strange, whereas we want to give you a challenge."
Team Meat are making a point that this game will be worlds apart from its App Store cohabitants, such as Jetpack Joyride, but the question still remains, why the sudden change of heart for a company that considers the App Store as the "tiger handheld game of our generation?"
Super Meat Boy Forever will hit tablets and PC in 2015.
Writer: Brodie Fogg
If you were wondering who we are, we’re a AAA digital magazine that you can pick up for US$2 on the App Store anywhere in the world to get dedicated coverage of the indie iPad gaming scene. We’re trying to not only push the boundaries on what a digital magazine can be by making the reader experience feel like playing a game with dynamic and interactive video, audio and animations, but we’re also full of hours and hours of exclusive developer interviews, footage, images, insights and more. Below you will find links to each edition, including our FREE sample. - Episode 1 - Includes The Making of République (*free sample issue) - Episode 2 - Includes The Making of Oceanhorn - Episode 3 - Includes The Making of Monument Valley - Episode 4 - Includes The Making of Last Inua - Episode 5 - Includes The Making of World of Tanks Blitz - Episode 6 - Includes The Making of Magic 2015 - Duels of the Planeswalkers - Episode 7 - Includes The Making of Tiny Troopers Alliance and Midnight Star - Grab It Presents Nihilumbra - Classics Collection
Square Enix has been very active in the iOS scene, porting its vast array of classic old-school JRPGs to the format over the last few years. Today we got word that the famed Dragon Quest series will be going back to its roots for the next run of ports. The original Dragon Quest will be hitting the App Store within the next few weeks, with Dragon Quest 2 and Dragon Quest 3 following before the end of the year. It represents an exciting opportunity for RPG fans to connect with some of the genre's foundation experiences. In the interim, there are plenty of classics from the studio to enjoy below:
Kukouri Games and Chillingo today announced a very exciting third entry in the blockbuster Tiny Troopers series. Called Tiny Troopers Alliance, this spin-off from the main series' lineage takes the entire experience online. While you'll still get to enjoy your cute cartoony soldiers dying in rather violent ways - something of a hallmark of the series - you'll also need to get deep into base building, resource management and base defence, while plotting attacks for the good of your own world, but also the greater push of your Alliance of fellow players. We've been playing an early build, and it's pretty awesome fun, offering more strategy that the previous games, while still keeping the action close at hand.
Perhaps just as exciting - or at least we like to think so - Grab It has been working behind the scenes with Kukouri founder Kim Soares and publisher Chillingo to create an in-depth making of feature for the upcoming Episode 7 of Grab It. We go deep into the foundation of the studio and the origins of the Tiny Troopers series - which now lays claim to over 7.5 million downloads! - as well as featuring some snippets from the soundtrack, art and video content. We'll keep you posted on a release date for both the game and Episode 7 shortly. Be sure to sign up to our newsletter to stay on top of any news.
In the interim, check out the first two Tiny Troopers games and the trailer for Alliance below. You may also enjoy one of our previous extensive making of features.
Have you collected every episode of Grab It? - Episode 1 - Includes The Making of République (*free sample issue) - Episode 2 - Includes The Making of Oceanhorn - Episode 3 - Includes The Making of Monument Valley - Episode 4 - Includes The Making of Last Inua - Episode 5 - Includes The Making of World of Tanks Blitz - Episode 6 - Includes The Making of Magic 2015 - Duels of the Planeswalkers - Grab It Presents Nihilumbra - Classics Collection
It's no secret to parents across the world where the next generation of gamers is heading - it's tablets. Prying your retina screen away from young eyeballs is a quest all of its own. Activision know this, so the mammoth publisher has just announced that the next (and fourth) entry in its Skylanders series, Skylanders: Trap Team, will be coming to the iPad (Android and Kindle, too) on the same day it launches on consoles - October 10. Not only that, it will be the full experience; not a dumbed down version. It will come with its very own version of the new Traptanium Portal, and all 175 figurines will work with the game. There will also be two digital characters that can be played without a figurine - a smart move given the mobile nature of the tablet format.
Intriguingly, the jam-packed starter kit comes with its own Xbox One-like Bluetooth controller. As well as confirming the game will be MFi ready, it could bring a stack of console-like controllers into the tablet market, benefitting all titles. The game is set to be touch-controllable as well, so it will be interesting to see how that holds up given the clear emphasis on using a traditional controller.
We've played Skylanders: Trap Team and it's a far better sequel than the convoluted third entry, Swap Force, which had you connecting different Skylanders together. The next entry's big hook is the ability to capture enemies of the Skylands (using the collectable traps that slot into the portal) and then turn them into playable characters. At its core, however, it remains a lush 3D adventure experience mixing combat, light puzzle solving and exploration, with plenty of kid-friendly storytelling in between. It's great to see the series coming to tablets in full force - try getting your ipad off your kid now!
I love it when my favourite PC and console games get ported to the IOS. As tablets and phones grow in technical might, their popularity and versatility are luring evermore ambitious ports to the platform, opening up mouth-watering possibilities for the future. 2K games, one of the famous subsidiaries of development giant Take-Two Interactive - who has already managed to bring the enormous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to iOS - has announced an App Store port of it's critically and commercially lauded first-person shooter BioShock.
For those unfamiliar with BioShock, it's a rare brand of shooter that emphasises atmosphere and storyline, as well as introducing original gameplay mechanics that have helped evolve the entire genre. BioShock is truly a masterpiece and as such I am incredibly excited to see it ported to the tablet. Unfortunately, it won't be the same experience as the original as the game's visuals take quite a hit, but I feel that taking a title of this magnitude and releasing it for iOS could be a big boost to demonstrate the capacity of the device to handle a similar, wholly unique series in the future.
Perhaps more importantly, it will show that titles from the most recent X360 and PS3 generation of consoles - at least those from early in the cycle - are portable to iOS. The floodgates could open. And surely 2K Games itself - who published titles like Borderlands, The Darkness, Mafia and Spec Ops: The Line, and has already released an excellent port of XCOM: Enemy Unknown on iOS - will greenlight more ports if BioShock sells well.
If you missed the original, or just want to re-experience the game, then you'll have an opportunity to dive into the eerie and haunting world of BioShock later on this year. In the interim, GTA: San Andreas and XCOM: Enemy Unknown are well worth checking out, and you might also enjoy our article about the creator of BioShock, Ken Levine Jumped Off A Sinking Ship.
Writer: Max Joseph
Have you collected every episode of Grab It? - Episode 1 - Includes The Making of République (*free sample issue) - Episode 2 - Includes The Making of Oceanhorn - Episode 3 - Includes The Making of Monument Valley - Episode 4 - Includes The Making of Last Inua - Episode 5 - Includes The Making of World of Tanks Blitz - Episode 6 - Includes The Making of Magic 2015 - Duels of the Planeswalkers - Grab It Presents Nihilumbra - Classics Collection
Indie developer 7D Studio is working away on the intriguing third-person shooter (currently called) Monkey in Space Project, with plans to take to crowdfunding platforms to complete the title in the near future. As you will see in the trailer below, a working demo is already in existence, and it appears to offer a deep sci-fi tale about a government agency training up monkey soldiers to tackle threats in space (yeah, that won't go wrong), while the website promise plenty of puzzle elements amongst the exploration and shooting.
7D Studio released its first iOS game, the brawler Libertad Sublime, a few months back, and also has a horror game and a platformer in the works. We'll keep you posted on any developments.
Donut Games' company logo - depicting a coffee and a doughnut - perfectly sums up the niche the developer has carved out for itself on the App Store. Combining the key ingredients of short five minute casual gameplay experiences and its now iconic cartoon art style with a light, fun, often surreal twist, you always know what you are getting with a Donut Games title.
The company is prolific in its releases, with dozens of games to choose from. A personal favourite of mine is Traffic Rush - a perfectly executed little time-waster concerning a four-way intersection and vehicles of different speeds that you must control to ensure their safe passage. A new mode with the same idea, but swapping out cars and roads for trains and tracks, has been added to the game as well. Great high score chasing fun.
This week, however, saw Donut Games venturing out of its five minute casual comfort zone to release a larger 2D action platformer, with elements of puzzle solving, loot collecting and exploration. Check out the trailer below for a look at the many gameplay mechanic ideas that have been squeezed into this excellent looking adventure.
There is a distinct Indiana Jones flavour that is hard to miss, complete with hat, whip and Egyptian tomb-plundering, while the level design is classic Metroidvania.
If you're keen to jump straight in, you can grab the game here. For a 2D platformer with a focus on exploration, but with a Western setting, 2-Bit Cowboy is another easy recommendation, and just had an ad supported free version release also.
Guerilla Tea Games was a star of Episode 5 of Grab It. The indie developer from the UK blew us away with its revolutionary title Play to Cure: Genes in Space, whereby you can help scientists in the real world cure cancer by shooting at asteroids and flying through space in an imaginary one. It’s brilliant and the developer gave us the full rundown on how they did it in our feature story, which you can pick up here.
Now that it has cured cancer, the developer is keen to help you find your rhythm in a visually rich tap-fest for high scores. The game, Incandescence, is said to test your stamina and your rhythm, as you tap a mystical prism at the right time to link together a high score. However, the higher your score, the more the visual effects ramp up in an attempt to distract you from the beat.
It sounds a world away from the scientific wonderment of Play to Cure, but it also sounds like decent fun. It’s coming to iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 "soon."
