Let me make one thing known – I’m into the old school games; back in the old Atari, Sega Genesis, and yes Nintendo64 days – that’s when I shined playing video games. Some of this stuff today is hard for an old guy like me to grasp.
Now, with that being said, I’ve recently come across a game in the iPhone App Store that I can understand. Scribattle is a fast-paced game where you must help your stick-man warriors defend their planet from a hostile alien invasion – the aliens are known as Scri (you get it? Scri…battle); keep up folks.
The way you play and defend your beloved planet is by using touch controls on your iPhone to shoot missiles from your 3 stationary stick-men. Back to my old school statement, think of it as a cross between Space Invaders and Missile Command.
The developers of Scribattle have integrated a ton of usability within this game:
- Hand-drawn look (gives you that paper napkin, retro feel).
- 50 levels of action
- 4 types of creatures each with their own unique attack patterns and strengths
- Integration with the Yoo-Mee social gaming platform. This may become more appealing if it integrates into the Game Center that’s part of iPhone OS 4.0
- Multiple levels of difficulty
Check out this quick video of the game in action
Rebisoft is the company that developed Scribattle, they are an IT consulting firm based in Sweden. When they’re not training or mentoring people on object oriented software development, they’re creating games. (Man, I want a job there!!)
Overall, I found the game enjoyable. I was able to get through a few levels and save all my planets after I figured out the best rapid fire finger gestures. There was enough of a challenge when the different types of alien dudes came out. So that kept me from getting bored with it.
I realize it’s meant to be a draw to the game, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the hand drawn-look. But you decide for yourself. There are 2 versions in the App Store; one for $2.99 and a free Lite version. The only difference is that the Lite version has fewer levels and, according to the description a “simplified gameplay.”
Another thing that I think is awesome is that Rebisoft has opened a merchandise store on CafePress with items that have the little aliens on them – brilliant marketing. I want a coffee mug myself.
