A luxuriant abstract 3D puzzle game, wherein the player explores many different rules and mechanics over 17 diverse worlds, each with their own objectives.

What We think

English Country Tune is a deviously diverse puzzle game that is eerily soothing, even as the confines of your logical mind are being dashed on the rocks.

Gleaming the Cube

Nominated for Excellence in Design for the 2012 Independent Games Festival, ECT takes the player through a bevy of different puzzles, each encased in one of the various worlds that make up the larger universe. Completing all of the puzzles in a world will open up the adjacent worlds, thus unlocking new challenging types of objectives.

The core mechanic of the game involves moving a two-dimensional square across various three-dimensional grids. Using the directional keys, the player must manipulate the targets to the end points of the each stage. The initial challenges include moving “eggs” into incubators. Unfortunately, the eggs only exhibit gravity as a defense mechanism, and will “drop” drop in the direction that would be considered down from the last motion of the player. It is every bit as confusing as it sounds, and having the 3D grid shift around drastically to track the player tile can make it easy to lose track of direction.

Up So Floating Many Bells Down

Worlds unlocked later on will require the player to move “whales” around by the beams of energy they emanate, as opposed to moving the whale itself. Players familiar with block-moving puzzles already know that corners are to be avoided, but as it is not the block itself that is being moved, taking a second to reflect on ECT’s added physical rules will help to alleviate undue frustration. Other challenges will require the player plot a course without boxing himself in. Eventually, the puzzles will require the consideration of many rules at once. Here, the game is at its best, and its most maddening.

Fortunately the player has access to an “undo” key, and it is possible to move the camera around the puzzle before taking the next step. Trial and error won’t always immediately present a solution, but it often beats resetting the stage.

Songs to Gaze into a Microscope By

Though the soundtrack is airy and calming, there is also nothing overly glamorous about the overall presentation. The tunes brought back memories of Jenova Chen’s Fl0w, as did the seemingly petri dish-like particles that float by in each stage. The musical ambiance is a nice switch-up from the deluge of 8-bit chiptune tracks that have been accompanying many puzzle games of late.

The three-dimensional stages are crafted well, but do little to jump out from the screen. The models respond well to rotation and can spin around rapidly, but this can be a blessing wrapped in a curse, depending on the stage.

The Jig is up, but up is down(??)

Ultimately, English Country Tune is a wonderfully innovative puzzle game, even if the difficulty can seem unrelenting at times. Players who can stick through the frustrating bits will uncover a seductively complex blend of puzzle styles. There is nothing in the way of bonus material, so the gratification of knowing a sinister puzzle has been bested will have to suffice as its own reward. That said, players who manage to wrap their heads around this heady collection of trials will likely come away with all the satisfaction they need.

English Country Tune official website

English Country Tune on the iTunes App Store

PC/Mac: USD $9.99
iPhone/iPad: USD $4.99

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Battleground Defense is a casual game which integrates the classic tower defense game play with modern warfare.

What We Think

As far as tower defense games go, Battleground Defense is fairly run-of-the-mill: nine levels offer increasingly challenging routes for a series of jeeps, trucks, armored vans and jets to navigate from an entry to an exit point. At your disposal are a fast-firing gun, a slower but more powerful canon, a rocket/air-to-surface missile launcher and an “EMP” that essentially slows the incoming enemy.

As the genre goes, all units can and should be upgraded to their more powerful counterparts, and spending money on these expensive upgrades must be managed carefully – will you forego adding more low-level units in anticipation of saving up to afford their more powerful counterparts?

For the most part the game is well balanced and we did enjoy playing through it. The sound effects were appropriately metal-pounding to give a sense of satisfaction as we hammered incoming units.

We did note, however that this game is a major battery sucker and after two or three levels, not only did our iPod Touch 4th Gen heat up, but it actually went from a fully charged battery to about a third of its capacity.

On the iPod, chubby fingers will have a tough go at hitting the upgrade arrow on any given unit in the heat of battle, but surely this will play far more enjoyably on an iPad.

Furthermore, we expected the enemy units themselves to develop as we progressed through the levels, but no such luck. The final stage was populated by the very same bad guys that charged at the first stage. No new bosses, not even a reskin. We battled our way through nine levels in just a few hours with no real surprises.

That said, Battleground Defense kept us going through to the end and offers a solid enough diversion for iOS devices. Some variety and additional levels would do much to make it something we would be happy to recommend.

Visit the Official Site for Evelyn Software Labs

Get Battle Defense at the iTunes App Store

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Click here to view the embedded video.

FEATURES:
- iPhone4 retina display with high resolution graphics
- Capture and train various type of spirits. Each spirit is equipped with unique skills.
- Quests and boss fight! Defect and capture the powerful bosses.
- Freedom on training. Train your guards wisely and make them as powerful as they can!
- Player versus player group fight!
- Advance to become more powerful summoner by leveling and gaining reputations!
- Acquire the skills to transform your guards!

What We Think

Pocket Summoner is a Pokemon-inspired PvP online Freemium game that awards those willing to open their wallets, but that offers sufficient “non-paying” adversaries to grant much idle time spent going back and forth obsessively as you aspire to level up and unlock new PC’s, known as “Guards” to distract you from real life affairs.

Yes you read that right – this is an online game for your iOS, meaning it requires a consistent internet connection to play, so unless you are on a 3G/4G capable device, or an iPod Touch with Wi Fi nearby, you will be unable to play the game at all.

Pcoket Summoner consists of building up a stable of warriors, herein named Guards, to protect you, but really they are just meant to duel with other players, in sets of three. There are no modification or spell cards, no environment cards – just the three guards you choose to put in your stable.

Experience points for leveling up your guards are earned through the simple act of engaging in combat (you are rewarded “EXP” either way, though a win results in earning REP points), or through completing “Quests”.

Quests involve little more than ticking their progress meter along until your time-restored allotment of Quest Points has depleted. There are no decisions to be made, or dialogue trees or even story to speak of. Just a list of named locations that contain a series of progress meters to which you spend your Quest points. You have a finite number of quest points that, once depleted, only time will restore.

As you wait for new Quest Points to accrue, you can switch back to PvP mode and beat down some other Pocket Summoners – usually those at your level or below since aside from some tight optimizations, you really don’t stand a chance against mozzies beyond your current advancement.

After level 15 or so, the game becomes a serious grind as you repeat quest after quest (typically the most recent you can handle at your level without getting your ass handed to you, that offers the highest return on experience points) and thus becomes quite repetitive and more of an OCD ritual than anything else.

One fun and mildly creative/interactive feature of the game (and maybe I am being generous in calling it a feature) is the ability to name each of your guards as you please and so, as you encounter the archetypes you can customize them to reflect your personality. This can be telling when you see what your opponent has chosen as the name for their guards when you go into combat, giving a sense of their character and possibly even play style.

Additionally, you are able to click a potential opponent’s Guards and see how they have configured them, offering you clues to how to designate your own skill points as you configure your pawns.

There is not much to the special skills that any Guard offers beyond a list of up to three that are unlocked at their respective level progressions. The problem with this is that there is little strategy involved beyond disseminating skill points as you level up. Eventually, a character can become obsolete, leaving legitimately strategic tactics by the wayside.

I found that putting beaucoup points into your SPD (attack initiative) and MATK (magical attack) skills tends to be par for the course. Most adversaries that were whupping my behind were usually loaded up in these areas to the degree that their level advancement allowed and so we can see something of an exploit in the core balance.

Of course additional points can and should be added to your INT (better chance to use special skills) and MDEF (magical defense) skills where possible, but really it boils down to who hits first, who hits more often and how hard they hit.

Every day that elapses you earn a daily bonus which amount is determined by your current level, thus again, without doing a thing you accumulate bucks to spend for upgrading your character skills. Let us not forget, however, the Freemium component of this title that will require real dollars to get the core components for upgrading your guards to their full potential.

To give you a sense of the pricing you will face to get the upper hand, here is the menu:

Instant $10,000 cash$0.99
Refill energy (EN) and stamina point (SP) – $0.99
3 Gold Coins – $0.99
300% regeneration rate for 3 days – $3.99
300% regeneration rate for 30 days – $12.99
300% regeneration rate for 7 days – $5.99
200 Gold Coins – $18.99
50 Gold Coins – $8.99
Instant $100,000 cash – $7.99

Again, I should disclaim that I managed to get a solid month and a half of moderate time-sucking enjoyment out of this title without spending a cent, but if you mean business, you should take heed of the expense.

Pocket Summoner offers hours of distraction at a price that can’t be beat albeit with limited variety and a lopsided pay-for-the-advantage model. Crisp, endearing graphics and a well-populated, enthusiastic online player base, along with an advanced guild/clan mode set it apart from the pack, though questing is overly simple and sound design is provisional at best.

Pocket Summoner is worthy of an install, though it may eventually become little more than a glorified interactive screen saver without a serious investment of time and/or real cash. I give it an extra half star because I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t constantly going back for another round in the deceptively simple title.

Get Pocket Summoner at the Apple App Store

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Epic Adventures of Milton follows Milton, a blue critter from a tiny village unimaginatively and inaccurately called Town, who is on a quest to find the Princess of his Heart. To find her, he must travel through six treacherous and exciting worlds.

What We Think

Though not without its charms, Milton leans too heavily on basic accelerometer and touchscreen tricks.

What Dreams May Come

Milton is a determined little biped. He is haunted by dreams of a gorgeous blonde who appears nightly while he slumbers. He decides that the frequency of the dreams must indicate some awaiting reality, and sets out to find (quite literally) the girl of his dreams.

Tip Generously

To control Milton, players must rotate the screen left or right. With the ground listing away beneath him, he will start to walk in the player-indicated direction. Tapping the screen will cause Milton to jump, and the height is determined by how long the screen is depressed.

Jumping on enemies will not bring about the tried-and-true Mario dispatch. However, Milton can also shove boulders he encounters by leaning into them. These can either be used as stepping stones. If shoved off a ledge with the right timing, they can also be used to crush enemies from above.

Smaller rocks will be picked up by Milton as he runs past them. A tap on the screen while running with a rock will cause Milton to throw it in the direction of his momentum. Done properly, this can clear enemies from Milton’s path.

Avoid/trounce all enemies and reach the level gate to proceed to the next stage. Each conquered area brings Milton one step closer to girl that stalks his subconscious.

Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200 dollars.

TILT! TILT!

This game falls into the same trap that claims so many titles that employ accelerometer-based controls: the control scheme ends up being just too damned sensitive. Holding the screen perfectly still is tricky, especially when even the slightest shift in position can send Milton screaming into a crushing abyss.

Limiting Milton to one move per tap is also a questionable design choice. Should he have a rock in tow, the screen-tap jump mechanic is switched out for the rock-throw mechanic. Milton will not be able to jump until he has dispensed with his ammo. Being able to pull off a jump-throw maneuver would open up a lot more possibilities, game play wise, and generally would make for a less awkward experience. As it is, rocks will only weigh Milton down.

Epic? Curious…

The graphics appear to be hand-drawn, but not in that King-of-Fighters XII sort of way. The backdrops, though more detailed than the foreground effects, are unchanging between stages, and only manage to underline the lackadaisical sprites and platforms. Level designs are fairly basic, sometimes containing shortcuts that are far too obvious to be rewarding. At least there are some charming story interludes that add a good dose of humor between levels.

Not the most masterful use of controls in an iOS game, but for the price, it can keep platform gamers happy for a spell.

The Epic Adventure of Milton is available at the App Store for USD $0.99

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Protect your hot-dog against the horde of mutant sheep. Smash them with your finger before they’ll get your food!

What We Think

The graphics may make retro games seem progressive, but this gruesome little title is still a lot of fun to play.

Ketchup on a hot dog? Eughh....they can have it...

A Wiener is You!

The story is as old as time itself: Mutated sheep have spied a hot dog that is sitting in the middle of a blank expanse. If they aren’t stopped, said wiener will be savagely consumed. From a top-down view, the player must protect the fated sausage by tapping sheep as they appear on the screen, detonating them into a million bloody, sheepy bits. Should even one critter penetrate the defenses, it’s Game Over.

Starting slowly, sheep will appear from different parts of the screen. These can be easily thwarted. Once the guts start to litter the screen, and the flock becomes more ravenous, they will begin to attack faster, and in large waves. Keeping up can be difficult, but dragging a finger across the screen also works and can be used as a more direct way to hit the sheep nearest the dog. Each squished barnyard baddy nets a point for the player, and the game will track the high score.

You simply must try my seven layer sheep dip!

A New Fleece on Life?

The graphics hearken back to the days of Intellivision games (and if you are reading this and can instantly agree, you probably feel pretty old right now). The onscreen pause icon takes up too much of the upper left, and sheep coming in from that corner of the screen can’t be killed until they clear the icon, lest the action be suddenly paused. For a game that requires quick reflexes, the frequent breaks in the flow can be highly flustering.

There is nothing to shoot for in the game, save for netting a higher score. Still, the exaggerated splatter of pixelated sheep guts, canned sheep sound effects, wildly catchy chip-tune and the insane pacing of the game all come together to make a quick and easy action title that is likely to put a silly grin on the player’s face. It’s also completely free.

Download Attack of the Mutant Sheep at the iTunes App Store

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Click here to view the embedded video.