While fans await the opening of The Hunger Games movie this weekend, the iOS and indie game world was awaiting The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, thanks to the all-star list of talent working on it, spearheaded by the talented Adam Saltsman of Canabalt fame, who’s also working on the fascinating upcoming game Hundreds.

It’s an auto-runner, but also an action game. It’s not an endless runner though, as there is an actual end to the game that comes once the first section ends. Players control series heroine Katniss Everdeen, who’s running through the forest, hunting down the giant hornets called tracker jackers that can hurt her. When she gets hit by a projectile or by hitting one of the hornets, she gets stunned and slows down, but doesn’t die, though if she gets hit again while damaged, it’s game over. Players can swipe up and down to switch between the two levels, and tap on the edges of the screen to fire in that direction at the hornets.

The controls work very well – I felt very confident that my inputs meant what they were supposed to do, which is very important for a game with gesture-based controls. The art sets a great mood, and the animation from Paul Veer is useful, as when Katniss’ next arrow is ready, there is a clear animation to show it, which can serve as a clever timing mechanism. Danny Baranowsky’s soundtrack is great as well. The game has a lot of depth to it – there’s timing involved in level switching, and in making strategic decisions for which enemy to attack.

Not a lot is actually explained – why are some enemies worth more points when killed than others? What triggers the switch from the forest section to the industrial one? While the game seems content to let the player discover on their own, it is somewhat confusing. I would love to see the concept expanded out a bit, as there’s definitely room for additional modes and/or challenges. It is more complex than Canabalt which was a ‘simple’ game, so this complaint may be a bit silly. Some of the graphical elements don’t look as good when scaled up to the iPad or the iPod touch Retina Display, such as the score display.

Of course, this is a free movie tie-in game, but it is a darn good one. It’s free as in beer too, no in-app purchases here, just some promotional links to other Hunger Games material. The expectation was that this game would be a cut above the average movie tie-in, and the odds were in our favor. This is definitely worth the download.

We had the chance to sit down with Adam Saltsman last week at GDC to ostensibly talk about The Hunger Games, the upcoming movie tie in game from Semi Secret Software`, the folks that brought us indie darling and commercial hit, Canabalt as well as Gravity Hook.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

Lucky for us, Adam may be the nicest crazy-smart person around. He seemed genuinely upset that he wasn’t able to talk The Hunger Games (maybe next week, he promised us), but also equally enthusiastic about the game he’s currently developing with Greg Wohlwend, the developer behind Solipskier, another critical darling of the iOS gaming scene.

Currently named Hundreds, the game app is a mathematical, physics, puzzle…er…thing. It’s beautifully designed with lots of red and white, with levels chosen by swiping a finger across a matrix of white dots.

Once inside the chosen level, the player must figure out how to grow the number circles to add up to 100, without touching each other, obstacles, or more vicious extra pieces. Each level is a mini-education in itself, as Saltsman spends an inordinate amount of time creating each level so that it can be figured out without a tutorial or instructions. This has got to be difficult, especially when we’re talking about the hundred levels or so included in the game.

We played a few levels with Adam looking over our shoulder, and I remain impressed with the advanced level design and brilliant unspoken, unwritten pedagogy built into each one. Saltsman showed us his notebook full of illustrations and written notes about the levels to be included in Hundreds–this is a man who is at the top of his design game, and it shows.

While we learned nothing about The Hunger Games app on our visit, we came away with a new appreciation for game design and this genuine, kind human being with a notebook full of awesome and a new baby. Thanks again, Adam, for a lovely chat.

With the Hunger Games movie coming this March, plenty of opportunities for licensing are sure to come up – and one has. Lionsgate has commissioned a Hunger Games iOS game to release alongside the movie this March. However, this is not just any licensed title: Adam Saltsman of Semi Secret, creator of Canabalt, has announced that he is working on The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire. The game is not just Canabalt with Katniss running across Capitol rooftops, it’s an original title that will be optimized for touchscreens, focus on “marksmanship and strategy,” while still having a running character.

Adam Saltsman has assembled an indie dream team of sorts to help make it. Doomlaser, primarily known for their Flash games, are currently helping to design and program the game from scratch. The art is being designed by Paul Veer, who did the graphics and animations for Super Crate Box, and this game appears to be using a pixel art style as well. The music is being done by indie composing superstar Danny Baranowsky, known for the soundtracks to Canabalt, Gravity Hook HD, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, and more. A trailer will be released soon, so more about this intriguing title will be sure to come out soon.