Game titles nowadays are often just so ambiguous. Boss Battles from Backflip Studios doesn’t muck around with any kind of ambiguity in its title. This is a shoot ‘em up that is pretty much all about the boss battles. There are eight different bosses to take on, each with different attacks and weak spots. When a boss is defeated, the player nets a bounty of gems for the conquest, which can be spent on ship upgrades such as support weapons. Repeat battles get more challenging, but also more lucrative. Defeat will come to the player often, so thankfully each boss fight begins with a wave of normal enemies that are just there for collecting gems, which go toward upgrades. The game is free to play, supported by ads and in-app purchases of additional gems. This all goes without mentioning that the protagonist is a squirrel with a commanding officer who is a bear. Why? Well, why not?

FREE!

Boss Battles

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-09-29 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Boss Battles HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-09-29 :: Category: Games

Backflilp Studios have been quite prolific on iOS and Android, with a variety of both paid and free releases for both platforms. In fact, Backflip has just announced that they have reached 100 million downloads of their games across all platforms. This is helped in part by their domination of the top charts, like how they currently own 3 of the top 30 free iPad app slots, topped by Strike Knight HD currently at #1. The numbers look to only increase, as Backflip is preparing a “Summer of Free” promotion. The recently-released Strike Knight HD is part of the promotion, and three more titles will be coming out as part of it. Backflip Solitare, releasing in early July, is a take on the classic card game, featuring a focus on stylish graphical effects and the collection of in-game currency for prizes. Boss Battles, launching in August, is a top-down shooter where a bounty hunter with an upgradable ship takes on continual waves of bosses, one after another. Oh, and did I mention that the bounty hunter is a raccoon? This should promise to be a comical and irreverent experience.

However, the last piece of the “Summer of Free” promotion is the newly-released puzzle game Shape Shift. This goal of the game is to match 4 pieces of the same color together. The user can swap any two pieces around on the board; the caveat is that the pieces must be of the same shape. This is where the challenge comes in, as pieces must be recognized for their center shape as well as their color; it’s a similar challenge as to the mental exercise of trying to name a color based on the actual word presented, instead of the actual color of the word. The game features no external time limit pressuring the user; the game only ends if one of the bomb pieces isn’t removed before it detonates in a certain number of turns in the game’s Classic Mode. The Zen Mode allows users to play endlessly, with no bombs or limits affecting play. The games are ad-supported, with the ability to pay $0.99 in the app to remove the ads. The game also comes with Game Center support for leaderboards. Shape Shift comes in both iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions, and is available now as a free download. Check out a gallery and trailer for the game below.

This isn’t the end of Backflip’s release plans, as they plan to update Strike Knight with Retina Display support soon, and will release the game on Android. There are other unannounced free games in the pipeline, as well as a paid version of Ragdoll Blaster 3 coming down the pipeline.

FREE!

Shape Shift

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-06-07 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Shape Shift HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-06-07 :: Category: Games

Backflip Studios, makers of popular casual hits such as Ninjump Deluxe, Paper Toss and the Ragdoll Blaster series, anounces Shape Shift, a puzzle game that promises to be colorful and addictive.

Looking at the screenshots, Shape Shift will look very familiar to many puzzle fans, certainly bring about memories of the Bejewelled series, but no doubt Backflip Studios will use their addictive magic to ensure it’s a classic. Players are set the task of swapping tiles in order to clear the board. To mix things up a bit, players have to eliminate bombs along the way and create huge chains to accrue more points.

Shape Shift might be familiar but it looks set to be addictive nonetheless. Even better, it’s a free download with both iPhone and Ipad varieties available! The only price is that of ad support but players can always pay $0.99 through an in-app purchase to remove these.

Check out the gameplay video and screenshots below for more details.

FREE!

Shape Shift

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-06-07 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Shape Shift HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-06-07 :: Category: Games

Hail to the king, baby! Backflip Studios are bringing the cult Evil Dead franchise’s 3rd installment Army of Darkness and Bruce Campbell’s famous protagonist Ash to the App Store with Army of Darkness: Defense. This castle defense game puts you in control of Ash as he tries to defend a medieval castle from the armies of the undead, known as the Deadites.

The game, created in partnership with MGM Studios, and based upon the movie of the same name, features over 150 lines of dialogue from the movie. The camera focuses on Ash as you play, but features otherwise traditional castle defense gameplay, as you have to summon and upgrade troops like peasants, swordsmen, spearmen, archers, and even Arthur to help you protect this castle. Ash can be upgraded to help dispatch the undead using gold you collect or pay for with in-app purchases. Backflip insists that these in-app purchases are purely optional, and just there for users who want a quick boost. You can upgrade your health, damage, chainsaw, broomstick, iron glove, and various spells with the gold you collect. Oh, and you can upgrade your castle with the Necronomicon itself to help protect you from the Deadites, including evil Ash.

The game will release on May 12th, and will cost $0.99 for the iPhone/iPod touch version, and $2.99 for the iPad version. Backflip promises that the game will be perfectly accessible even to those who aren’t familiar with the franchise at all, although there is plenty of fanservice for those who are familiar with the franchise. As Backflip CEO Julian Farrior puts it, “We’re excited to be partnering with MGM on this project and to say that our studio is a fan of the Army of Darkness film would be a gross understatement. This has truly been a labor of love where we have had the joy of working with some of the best movie dialogue and characters out there. Our goal was to create a truly compelling mobile castle defense game and layer it with this rich and whimsical IP that already had a mass following. We think this game will be fun for the AOD fanboy and newbie alike.” Backflip has a tradition of addictive games, with 95 million downloads of their titles across iOS and Android, and this shows promise to be part of that tradition. As well as this game, Backflip is launching several new free games in May and June, and Ragdoll Blaster 3 is currently in development. Check out some screens and a trailer of Army of Darkness: Defense below.

Backflip Studios, of Ragdoll Blaster, Harbor Havoc 3D, and Paper Toss fame, has been making a living on creating short, arcade style games that are extremely fun and impossible to put down. Being the holiday season and all, they have some new apps coming out that will certainly waste away your precious moments in blissful fashion.

NinJump Deluxe: Endless high score games seem to be a dime a dozen in the App Store, but Backflip studios really hit gold with NinJump. Being a free game, I wasn’t all that excited about the launch, but the unexpectedly deep match-3 elements along with the fantastic graphics and sound made the my favorite high score game of the year. The new edition of the game, NinJump Deluxe, is an extension of the original that gives you two entirely new levels and a slew of new enemies, including pirates, sea monsters, and bee hive throwing monkeys. Unlike the original, the deluxe version will sell for 99 cents, but will be updated with plenty of new content in the future.

Backflip Slots: The first in a series of “Backflip Casual” games that aim to “deconstruct, reinterpret, improve and add some much-needed pizazz to some old favorites,” Backflip Slots is a typical slots game with a few twists. Like most casino games in the App Store, Backflip slots allows you to win and collect prizes, but these prizes have an impact on the game and can skew the odds in your favor. With great looking graphics and endless amounts of gameplay, Backflip Slots is sure to please any casino gamer looking for a quick fix.

Both games launch today (12/16), so be sure to pick up the latest and greatest from Backflip Studios. Happy holidays!

Backflip Studios are going all-out in unleashing their lineup of freemium games onto the App Store. After launching Buganoids on both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad last week, Backflip Studios is now going through their back catalog of games released this summer, with NinJump now getting an iPad version, appropriately called NinJump HD.

NinJump HD is the same game as the iPhone/iPod touch version, just now with graphics and gameplay optimized for the iPad. The game really does look much more detailed and crisp than the original version did scaled up to 2X. As well, for players who may have been playing on their iPad and may occasionally have missed a jump due to tapping on the blank part of the screen in 2X scaling, you won’t have this problem any more. While it may have been coincidental, I set a new high score the first time I played the iPad version.

Speaking of high scores, the game is similar to Buganoids where high scores are synchronized between the two versions, so you can track your high scores on whatever device you play on, as long as you use the same OpenFeint login. All the OpenFeint leaderboards are the same as the iPhone version, as evidenced by the over one million entries present before the iPad version was publicly available.

NinJump HD is currently free (with the possibility of being a paid download in the future, according to Backflip Studios), with $0.99 in-app purchase to remove ads, similar to other Backflip Studios freemium games. However, the game may go to paid at some point according to CEO Julian Farrior, so downloading it now is recommended. The gameplay is the same great addictive ninja jumping action that the iPhone version presented, just now in iPad form.

Backflip were also kind enough to drop some details on the future of NinJump. First, Android will be getting a free version of NinJump later this year. As well, a new paid version of NinJump will be released, expanding on what the original free version presented, featuring “new levels, enemies and other content, with plans to add frequent updates on a regular basis” according to Backflip Studios CEO Julian Farrior. NinJump fans could have a lot to look forward to in the coming months for their ninja jumping game of choice.

FREE!

NinJump - HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-23 :: Category: Games

Backflip Studios has been extremely successful this summer with their free game sales. Paper Toss, an older classic, has been installed 24,000,000 times, Strike Knight has been installed 4,000,000 times, and Graffiti Ball has been installed over 1,000,000 times. The next free game, Ninjump, definitely has the makings of a huge success, and according to Julian Farrior, “showcases some of our strongest work to date.”

Ninjump is a high score climber with a pseudo match 3 twist that has you, as a ninja, climbing up the walls on the sides of the screen while dodging protruding objects and attacking things in the air. Because your ninja is always climbing upwards, the only thing that you have to control is jumping across to the other side.

As you climb, there are all sorts of obstacles in your path, such as protruding building parts, other ninjas, squirrels running from side to side, and birds. Dodging everything in sight isn’t the name of the game though… you are a ninja, and ninjas fight. As you jump through the air, you attack objects that are crossing (squirrels, birds, ninja stars, and dynamite). If you hit three in a row of the same object, you get a hugely animated mega jump that sends you way up the screen.

As with all of Backflip Studios apps, Ninjump has some great graphics that go along with the sweet ninja soundtrack (sweet ninja soundtrack not included in all Backflip games). If you’re looking for a simple game to play on the go, check out Ninump, it’s extremely fun.

By the way, my high score, as of Aug. 11, is 6515. I’m sitting pretty at #12 on the leader board, but I can’t be too happy because the game hasn’t been released yet as of this writing.

FREE!

NinJump

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-08-12 :: Category: Games

It seems that nobody ever realizes when they are in the midst of a summer of… anything. The Beatles kicked off the “Summer of Love” in ’67, and I’m sure that there were some that had no idea. Bryan Adams probably didn’t even think about the “Summer of ’69″ until years later. Same with the “Summer of Sam”. I mean, who saw that one coming?

Well today I want to let you know, on this mid-summer day, that it is the “Summer of Free”. No, don’t go to the Apple Store now expecting a free iPhone (although if you do, please record your experience, I’d love to see it), just go download one of the many free games that Backflip Studios has released this summer. Titles include the “probably already owned by you” Paper Toss (22 mil downloads and counting) and Strike Knight (3 mil in less than a month).

The newest free title is called Graffiti Ball. It looks to be a fairly exciting physics game, especially if you can draw, but what makes it special is that it marks the first time that Backflip Studios has used iAds. Look, just because the game is free doesn’t mean that they can’t make money… and hey, if it’s not your money, then what’s the harm? Check out the demo video of Graffiti Ball below. Enjoy!

FREE!

Graffiti Ball

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-07-08 :: Category: Games

At GDC this year we got a chance to take a look at a new game from Backflip Studios, Strike Knight. The game is a recreation of shuffleboard-type bowling you used to find in bars in decades past. The device in the app has a blue knight that never fails to make fun of missed shots.

The game offers both single player and multiplayer (pass and play) bowling. Take a look at the video for an idea of what the game looks like and how it plays.

Strike Knight will be submitted to the App Store next week, we should see it shortly after that.The game will be released free (ad-supported) much like Backflip Studios very popular Paper Toss.

Take a look at some screen shots after the jump.

Continue reading First Look: Strike Knight from Backflip Studios »

As you probably already know, GDC or the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco is an annual conference at which game developer get together to share development, tools, tips and technologies. This year, independent development companies Semi Secret and Backflip Studios were quick to share just how successful their dive into the App Store has been. Between the two of them, they have 8 paid applications on the store.

Yesterday, co-founder of Semi Secret, Eric Johnson revealed to Pocket Biz that the company had sold 115,000 copies of their popular side-scroller adventure Canabalt. Whats interesting though is these download statistics he said were based upon Canabalt selling at the $2.99 price point over 5 months. He was also quick to estimate the ball-park piracy rate of Canabalt, which he put at 20 percent over those 5 months.

Similarly, Backflip Studio revealed it had generated $2.5 Million in around nine and a half months of being on the store. The company stated these figure were based on enjoying a staggering 22 Million downloads overall, revealing 17 Million of those came from just one of their App Store titles – Paper Toss. On a side note Backflip also announced mobile advertising is making them a substantial $1 Million in just six months and $379,000 in December last year, alone.