While many iPhone devs probably haven’t struck it rich (just as many of the apps flooding the store haven’t yet been strike-it-rich worthy), quality products that find an audience are still proving to be massive income sources for some developers reports Fake Steve Real Dan Lyons in Newsweek:

Greenstone, 41, has been writing games for Apple’s computers for 21 years. But he says he’s never seen anything like the iPhone apps phenomenon, which this year will deliver $5 million in revenue for him. “It’s crazy. It’s like lottery money. In the last four and a half months we’ve made as much money off the retail sales of iPhone apps as we’ve made with retail sales of all of the apps that we’ve made in the past 21 years—combined.” Business is so good that Greenstone won’t even bother writing for the Mac anymore.

Daniel wrote in to let us know the obvious: Apple rejected iBoobs from the App Store. Duh or d’oh, we guess, depending on your point of view. Did the dev think Pull my Finger made this okay? Cheer or jeer the video if you have to.

Tapbots developer Paul Hadda, whom TiPb interviewed a while back and whose awesome WeightBots app has just hit version 1.2, made a nasty discovery when searching the App Store: keyword spam:

I searched around for other high profile apps and found quite a few developers have chosen to SEO optimize their app description. So first we have apps naming themselves with blanks at the beginning to take advantage of alphabetical listing in the store. Then we have apps going from Free to Paid to take advantage of the top 100 list. And now this SEO hack, what’s next?

Since astroturfing and mechanical turk paid ratings are already taken, we’re betting “you may have already won…” scams, but who knows?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

State of the Apps: Dev-Cash in Hand, Keywords Spammed, iBoobs banned, Approval Process Jammed

Enigmo is a 3D puzzle-based game for the iPhone developed by Pangea Software that has been met with rave reviews, even earning a “Best iPhone Game” at WWDC 08. The basic premise is to put water droplets in the water container, oil droplets in the oil container, and lava droplets in the lava container using the specific materials given to you. The materials can range from sponges, springs, slides, or even laser guns and it uses basic physics to determine where each droplet will land.

Enigmo is already a popular game on the Mac, but does it translate to the iPhone? Is it worth your $9.99? How does it perform?

Read on for the rest of the review!

Overview

The basic premise of the game is to put 40 droplets of whichever substance (water, oil, lava) into their respective containers. When I first saw it demo’d, I saw the immense potential in this puzzle-based game.

There are various tools you can use to accomplish the mission of filling the droplets in the containers. What’s great is that the water reacts to the item like it would in real life. Specifically, sponges would soak up the water and drip at a constant rate, slides would allow the water to slide down, and well, laser guns (if they were real, they’re more like super soakers) would shoot the water as if the droplets were bullets.

So you get the basic idea, water drips and you navigate those droplets into the container.

The Look

Honestly, Enigmo isn’t a graphically intensive game. There aren’t environmental concerns or realistic textures; obviously it won’t be confused with Gears of War. With that said and for the type of game it is, Enigmo still looks great. The 3D animation is similar to its desktop counterpart and there is never any hiccup in processing the graphics. When playing Enigmo, you can feel the iPhone’s slick graphical prowess, the animation just feels ridiculously smooth.

Luckily, the good doesn’t just end there. The physics in Enigmo is what drives it. Each water droplet reacts as expected and the items attempt to mimic reality—placing an item in one spot is entirely different than placing the same item in another. Because this game is physics based, it is crucial that Pangea nail it—good thing they passed the physics test with flying colors.

My only complaint with the look of the game is that it gets a bit dark in certain spots which is forgivable because the look is supposed to mimic the inside of a water pipe. Also, the introduction screen can be improved; it simply does not do the game justice. (Just look at how bland that looks!)

Gameplay

Because Enigmo is a puzzle-based game that uses physics as its main control, it comes with few instructions other than to put 40 water droplets into the container. The entire is game is essentially trial and error, you see what works and what doesn’t and then adapt to it.  It would have been nice if the developers included some hints to certain levels. For example, if you beat one level in a certain amount of time you would earn a ‘hint’ which you could then use when you are stuck. It could clue you in to where to put a particular piece or what have you. 

The basic controls for the items are dragging and dropping wherever you please. Pinching or pulling the screen will result in zooming in or out. You are also able to twist the item at a more precise angle when dragging the aiming circle outwards. Double-tapping an item will result it being sent back to your inventory bar. You can pause or end the game by double-tapping the screen.

The secondary goal to the game (the first being getting the droplets in the container) is to do it as fast as possible. Each level starts with a predetermined point value and it quickly counts down until it hits zero. When it hits zero, it essentially means you have gained no points. This scoring system is a bit odd because at the more difficult stages, it seems as if the counter is going much too fast and you can’t possibly see how it is feasible to earn points in your first attempt. I assume that the points are geared more toward replay value because completing a difficult level is already rewarding enough.

Enigmo allows 5 different saves and you are allowed to save after completing each level. Though it won’t save exactly from where you last left off, it will bring you back to the beginning of the level. Also, because the premise of the game is set, Pangea promises to introduce more level packs for the iPhone. Furthermore, if you’re ambitious, you can create your own level on your Mac and import them into the iPhone. Enigmo can essentially serve as a platform for creating specific level packs, the replay value of this game is immense.

However, this game isn’t PERFECT. I would like to see some improvements in the controls, sometimes I unintentionally move a key piece when I wanted to actually move the screen and other times I wish the precise zoom aiming would lock so my finger wouldn’t have to be locked to the screen the entire time.Other than a few control quirks and the lack of hints, I believe that Enigmo is a great puzzle game and perfectly ported for the iPhone.

Final Thoughts

But no matter how frustrating the levels of Enigmo can get, the possibilities of the platform is endless. With more level packs coming and the ability to design your own, Enigmo looks like its going to be a keeper for iPhone gaming. Go buy it now!

PROS

• Great Physics and Good Graphics
• Intuitive Gameplay
• Great Replay Value
• Good Music

CONS

• Sometimes a bit dark
• Controls can be quirky
• Maddeningly Frustrating When You Don’t Know How To Pass a Level

Final Rating: 4.8/5

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Game Review: Enigmo