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The Sandbox Gets Another New Campaign and New Forces of Nature

Posted by Jessica Fisher on May 20th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: CREATE :: Read Review »

The Sandbox, by Pixowl, has a new update that introduces the new Ecology 2 campaign, along with some other stuff (naturally).

Jones, the Relic Hunter, Joins The Sandbox in a New Update

Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 17th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: CREATE :: Read Review »

The Sandbox­, by PIXOWL, has gotten a high-adventure loving, relic stealing update that introduces a new characters: Jones!

You can send Jones to explore ancient Mayan temples, armed with his trusty whip and boomerang. The update includes 15 new elements and 1 new platform-oriented campaign that's 12 danger filled levels of snakes, Mayan guardians, piranha, and killer bees.

There are a ton of other new things to discover in the update to The Sandbox.

Craft and Control Contraptions in The Sandbox's New Brainiac Update

Posted by Jessica Fisher on September 4th, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: CREATE :: Read Review »

Pixowl Inc. has brought us not one, but two new campaigns in the Brainiac update for The Sandbox.

In this new update you now have access to machines such as the Spaceship, Plane, and Kamikaze Drone, and can assemble your own controllable contraptions. You'll also be able to make doors with gate controls and can devastate your pixel worlds with the Rocket Launcher. The two campaigns have 17 new levels to solve and teach you how the mechanics of the Brainiac work.

The Brainiac update for The Sandbox is available now.

Get Your Pixels Ready, The Sandbox Has Been Updated With New Levels, Music, and More

Posted by Jessica Fisher on July 17th, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: CREATE :: Read Review »

A new update of The Sandbox by Pixowl Inc. is now available on the App Store. The crazy little pixel puzzle/creation game has added a whole new campaign with 9 new levels to play.

Players will be able to place buildings everywhere in their worlds. The Bakery, Restaurant, Space Colony, Jewelry, and Tree House are available from the Elements menu. Players can also use the new "Top Games" button to play mini-games created by other players. The update comes with some optimizations for video replays, new music, a new app icon, and various bug fixes and level corrections.

You can pick up the 1.995 Update for The Sandbox for free on the app store.

Colourfill Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Angela LaFollette on April 9th, 2014
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: CHALLENGING
A retro color-matching arcade game where players must capture enemies by filling the screen with the appropriate colors before time runs out completely.
Read The Full Review »

Createrria Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Arron Hirst on December 10th, 2013
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: GET CREATIVE!
Rather than arriving as a game itself, Createrria is aiming to give gamers the necessary tools to create their very own platformers. The premise is great, but it could do with a few more creation and customisation options.
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Gun Runner Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jason Wadsworth on May 25th, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: RUN AND GUN
The name says it all. This clever homage to classic side-scrolling shooters is easy to enjoy but hard to master.
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OH! Cube Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jason Wadsworth on May 23rd, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: CUTENESS CUBED
Taking the picross/nonogram puzzle genre into three dimensions in an adorable way.
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The Sandbox Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Rob Rich on May 16th, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: CREATE
Create or destroy pixelated worlds, electrical devices or perpetual machines in this open-ended playground.
Read The Full Review »

Rogue Ninja, A Ninja-themed RPG

Posted by Kevin Stout on April 12th, 2012
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Rogue Ninja is a pixelated, dungeon crawler RPG with some seriously old-school RPG looks.

The game includes random dungeons (a great replay value element for any game), tons of items and monsters for players to encounter, chiptune music, and a Japanese-themed ninja world.

The interface is obviously tailored to look as retro as possible with an eight-directional D-pad with a center button, a large attack button (denoted by a swinging sword), “skip,” a loot bag, and what appears to be a ninja star button. Dungeons include the traditional mini map with colored dots telling players everything they need to know about the dungeon.

Rogue Ninja is currently on sale for $0.99, $2 off in celebration of the release of the game. Rogue Ninja is developed by Q-Cumber Factory and was released just last week.

The trailer below shows plenty of ninja star-throwing, sword-slashing gameplay.


Captain Nova Takes Off for the App Store

Posted by Kevin Stout on April 11th, 2012
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Retro-looking games are always a fun distraction from the high-end graphics and expensive production of games from big developers. Captain Nova is one of those old school-style games.

Captain Nova has crashed on a strange planet and lost pieces of his ship all over the planet’s surface (this reminds me a bit of an old Sega Genesis game, Toe Jam and Earl). Of course, the planet is filled with all kinds of evil creatures that want to prevent the captain from retrieving his lost spaceship pieces.

The game includes 30 challenging levels and an original soundtrack to accompany the game. The game looks like it’s setup in the standard, 2D platformer style with a D-pad for movement and a single button (the “A” button in this case) for actions. The captain collects gears on the various levels and looks to pick up power-ups like a cups of coffee. Apparently Captain Nova likes his caffeine.

The game is going for $0.99.

Night Shift Review

By Rob Rich on December 29th, 2011
Survive the Night Shift in this retro side-scrolling survival horror romp.
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Rocket Riot HD Review

Posted by Rob Thomas on November 11th, 2011
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Developer: Chillingo
Price: $0.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 4S

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar

[rating:overall]


After launching on Xbox Live Arcade in 2009 and making the long, slow burn over to the Windows Phone 7 platform in 2010, Codeglue’s twin-stick shooter Rocket Riot has finally landed on iOS, courtesy of Chillingo.

I could make an attempt to explain Rocket Riot’s “story’ to the reading audience out there, but by the time I finished relating this nonsensical tale of stolen legs, blocky pirates and butt-mounted jetpacks I would likely have been hauled off in a straightjacket, thus rendering me unable to finish the review proper. So let’s just say some crazy stuff happens that requires the player to hoist a bazooka, strap on one of those jet-butt devices and blow the living crap out of, well, everything.

Seriously. Everything.

The game’s stages, presented in a very neat, pseudo-3D style, are all fully destructible, with bursts of pixels cascading as each rocket tears chunks out of the surrounding structures. However, there’s more incentive to smash these levels to bits than mere visceral thrills, as hidden inside the various environments are a variety of power blocks. I hesitate to call them “power-ups,” though, as roughly a quarter of the 20 blocks offered have detrimental effects and another quarter are mere cosmetic effect changes (rainbow particle effects, firing soccer balls instead of rockets, etc.). Just keep in mind that the blocks are mostly color coded, avoid the red ones, and things should be okay.

Three different control schemes are offered, but I found the onscreen virtual stick setup to be the best, most intuitive option. The movement controls are carried out relative to wherever the player’s left thumb plops down and although the right side is limited to a defined circle for aiming and firing, it’s so generously sized that I never found myself scrambling back to reposition my thumbs. It just works, transparently fading away to the point where I forgot that the controls were even there. And that’s always a good feeling.

Objectives shift over the variously themed stages by including different match types. Most of the time players will be blasting a set number of enemies in arena deathmatches, but the pacing occasionally gets changed up with detours through Destroy the Object levels or a quick Rugby Riot match, which requires a number of goals to be scored by carrying a ball through goal posts. Nothing hugely innovative or different here, but it serves as a nice palate cleanser for when just blasting hordes of pirates/zombies/what-have-you gets a little old.

While the omnipresent theme song may get a bit grating and it sadly lacks the multiplayer modes of the original Xbox version, Rocket Riot still serves up plenty of good, mindless, destructive fun and bizarre quirky charm. Warm up those jet-butts and check it out.

Make Surreal Images and Learn About Color With Pixl

Posted by Rob Rich on September 2nd, 2011
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Remember those posters that were pretty big in the 90's? The ones made up of a bunch of teeny tiny images that, when positioned correctly, created a slightly abstract-looking larger image (i.e. Star Wars stills created a portrait of Darth Vader)? Pixl is a photo app designed by Innoiz to do something very similar, just without the pictures-within-a-picture concept.

With Pixl, users can take existing photos and run them through a filter with variable settings that will reduce all of the textures and shades down to basic shapes and flat colors. In other words, instead of using a full image that's predominantly blue (for the sake of argument) as blue for a larger image, it creates a blue box or circle for the same purpose. It's the same basic idea, though. In either case, it results in a stylized abstraction of the image.

Users are also able to take images from within the app, so if they're out walking and see something that would make a good Pixl image they can open it up and get right to work. Photos can then be saved for later viewing in both portrait and landscape orientations. It sounds a little like a gimmicky photo filter app, and depending on the user that might be all it amounts to, but it can also be an incredibly useful learning tool.

Specifically, Pixl seems to be designed more for artists or art students than for someone looking to mess around with their vacation photos. In breaking an image down into basic shades, it allows users to study the way colors react to one another when in close proximity. It also makes it easier to scrutinize color values without visual distractions like texture to get in the way. In short, it's Color Theory.

Anyone looking to have fun making the pictures on their phone look artsy, or those who could use a little help with their swatches, can download Pixl from the App Store right now.


Raging Robots Review

iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
By Jason Wadsworth on August 10th, 2011
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: REFLEXES A MUST
Keeping herds of robots corralled is the name of this game, and the retro style is only the icing on the cake.
Read The Full Review »