Fantastic Friday Freebies
Something magical is sweeping through the App Store this week, because some truly knockout titles are going free! First up is Foursaken Media’s Mad Chef, the kooky crossover of restaurant sim and first-person shooter that earned a near-perfect score in our estimation.
Hold on, there’s more gaming goodness where that comes from: Image & Form’s line-drawing RTS Anthill is also free for the nabbing! Again, this is one we’d recommend at any price.
It’s not over yet! Check out Munkadoo Games’ Bouncy Mouse, which is celebrating a Valentine’s Day-themed update containing six new levels and new tunes to go with them. This cute ‘n’ cuddly action/physics puzzle hybrid is one for all ages.
Attack of the Sales
And then there are those titles that haven’t quite gone free, but where the sales are so deep they still feel like Valentine’s gifts to iOS gamers. Take Alphadia (Our Review), for instance, which is currently $0.99 versus a usual price of $6.99.
Also deeply price-slashed is Pocket Academy (Our Review), which is three-quarters off at $0.99.
If you’re a sci-fi buff and you haven’t experienced the adventures of Keith T. Maxwell in Fishlabs’ Galaxy on Fire 2 (Our Review), you should probably go do that now since it’s half off.
Looking for a great TBS on the cheap? Check out Time of Heroes (Our Review), currently two-thirds off at $0.99 for a few days.
If you’ve been waiting for a sale on Ash II: Shadows (Our Review), now’s the time! The Gold Edition is half off, and with new episodes set to flow in that’s a lot of game for a low price. The Silver Edition, by the way, is only $0.99 right now.
And finally (no pun intended), Bean’s Quest Final (Our Retroview) is on sale for the platformer fans out there.
Alawar Celebrates Valentine’s Day with Robber Rabbits Update, Sales
Alawar Entertainment were in touch to let us know that they’ve just overhauled Robber Rabbits (iPad; iPhone) with 96 Valentine’s Day-themed levels. Proclaimed “the cutest robbery ever,” this one has the player helping a pair of cotton-tailed thieves snatch ice cream, physics puzzle-style. Check out a gameplay preview in this week’s video gallery below.
In addition, Alawar’s throwing a widespread sale that will end after Valentine’s Day. We especially recommend checking out Shake Spears! (iPad; iPhone) and Farm Frenzy 3 (iPad; iPhone), which are real steals going absolutely free right now.
The Birds and the Bees — and the Lab Equipment
See, this is the difference between American culture and Chinese culture. Over here we answer prickly obstetric questions with stories about magical Stork visitations; over there they make mobile games about in vitro fertilization. Thus Super Glue Studio (developers of Clay’s Reverie) have brought us possibly the weirdest puzzle game ever in Tube Baby, which is going for $0.99 after receiving ten new levels. Other than the premise, what’s most interesting about this one is that it makes use of tilt and slide controls in a way that’s highly reminiscent of Clay.
Greedy Bankers Set to Re-Launch
This just in from Alistair Aitcheson, creator of Greedy Bankers (Our Review):
“Greedy Bankers is going to be re-launched for free in the App Store as Greedy Bankers: Bailout! The current game mode (Arcade) will be completely free for all players. I will also be adding the ability to start later stages in the game (with the best score you’ve achieved at that point already in your bank), bombs to get rid of the pesky robbers, and a brand new soundtrack from musician Thomas Parfitt.
Players will also be able to unlock two new game modes by in-app purchase. Mystery Mode sees the colours of the gems hidden, and turns play into a mind bending game of memory. Bailout Mode gives you two minutes to make as much as you can, dropping in valuable multiplier gems and providing short bursts of highly strategic play.
The new game modes will be available automatically to owners of the existing Greedy Bankers game on iPhone.”
Kale in Dinoland Soundtrack Releases
We’re still eagerly waiting to play the final version of Kale in Dinoland, but now we have the soundtrack to tide us over at least! Yup, this is about as authentically retro as game soundtracks get, folks. Be sure to check out the interview we managed to conduct with the reclusive Rotting Cartridge team before they stole away to their top-secret lab to put the finishing touches on this one.
Pizza Vs. Skeletons to Release February 16
Riverman Media were just in touch to let us know that the release date for Pizza Vs. Skeletons has been pushed ahead to February 16! Check out our interview with the two-man dev team to find out more about this deliciously zany title in the meantime. Now let’s leave you with the game’s hilarious release trailer!
Are you an iOS videogame developer or publisher with a cool update, video, or other news that you want to get out to the masses? iFanzine probably has an eye on you already, but don’t hesitate to get in touch via our Twitter feed or Contact page. We want to fill our iFriday Roundups with all your beautiful stuff!