iPhone Quick Hits: Talking Carl, Gravity Sling Deluxe, Zlider, geoSpark 1.1
by Carter Dotson
Talking Carl by Awyse | $0.99 (Temporarily Free)
This digital toy lets you play with a little red dude named Carl, who you can interact with, and can even say stuff to him and have him repeat it back in his silly little voice. This is more of an app for kids than it is for adults – you might wind up picking it up for a few minutes, laughing at it, and then not touching it again, but little kids might have hours of fun playing around with Talking Carl. For free, it’s worth a download. At the regular price, know that you’re getting a silly little toy and not much more than that.
Gravity Sling Deluxe by Riptide Games | $0.99 ($2.99 regular price)
One of the progenitors of the freemium model on the iPhone now has a full-fledged release, as discussed on The Portable Podcast Episode 11. The big additions are the two new level packs including new levels with moving planets. The moving planets are a real challenge as now timing is a factor, you have to launch when the planets are in a good alignment. It adds a new dimension to the game that’s well worth checking out. If you have the free version, the two new level packs are $0.99 each, but the Deluxe version is currently $0.99 (regular price $2.99), and would include any potential updates to the game. That would potentially include the level editor, which I have gotten to play around with, which is really cool, as you can create pretty much any kind of level within the game parameters that you want. Gravity Sling Deluxe or the free version with paid levels is worth checking out, if only for the promise of awesome user-created gameplay in the future.
Zlider by Moyo Studios | Free with $0.99 In-App Purchase Level Packs
While the jury’s still out on whether the freemium model can be viable for those releasing games on the App Store, at least we’re seeing companies try something new, and Zlider falls under that category. This game has you sliding red and blue gates up and down while what appears to be a flaming energy ball travels along a wire, and you have to move the gates around to make sure the energy ball makes it through safely. Complex gate patterns as well as points where the wire splits make the game challenging. The game comes with 4 free levels, and a 20 level pack for $0.99 – the free version isn’t bad, but a couple more levels to help get the player hooked like Gravity Sling has wouldn’t hurt either. Each individual level of the 4 available takes more time than Gravity Sling’s 19 free ones to finish, but there’s just not enough there for me to make a judgment on whether I want more or not.
geoSpark 1.1 by Creative Thought Games and Imangi Studios | $0.99
One of my favorite iPhone games of the year got an update on Sunday night, bringing re-balanced gameplay, new spark types, as well as a game-changing powerup: the 1up. When you have it, it will reset the board if a spark collision occurs, making your sessions last longer than ever. My first game on 1.1 got me a new high score, but other people were doing better as well. The 1.1 update has its own leaderboard, as the 1up does make things substantially different, as now the game is far more forgiving than it once was. You have room for error with the 1ups, but the desire to not lose them and to not fail out still is strong. Of course, as a late-night session with the game taught me, your sessions will last longer and your scores will be higher, making this game even more of a timesink than it once was. Scary.
