All Articles Tagged skeeball

Ramp Champ [$1.99 - iTunes link] is a skee-ball-like, old school boardwalk arcade or amusement park-style game for the iPhone and iPod touch. Co-developed by the Iconfactory and DSMediaLabs, it’s also gorgeous. Of course, I’d expect no less from the pixel perfectionists behind it (and behind other well-loved apps like Twitterrific and Frenzic).

The premise is simple: using your finger and the iPhone’s multi-touch screen, you flick balls up a ramp and try to hit targets, win trophies, score points, get tickets, and redeem those tickets for prizes. The art is sublime, from the included Clown Town, Breakwater, Spaceswarm, and Icon garden to the in-app purchasable add-on packs like the Ninja Attack and Tiki Island combo ($0.99 each). Other add-ons currently include Voyage, Halloween, and Challenge. This part of the app is implemented particularly well, and there’s even a “restore purchases” button should you even need to re-download the add-ons.

In-jokes abound for the attentive as well. Developer Ged Maheux points out the classic icon sizes 16, 32, 48, 64, 128, etc. used as ticket cost for the prizes. And, of course, the first prize I bought was the Twitterrific blue bird itself.

There are three “goals” to each ramp. The first one tends towards the easy, a cookie to reward us for playing. The second and third range from difficult to how-the-frak-do-I-do-this. (Obvious tip: try to time your shots so that you hit more than one target with each ball). That you can often get close works only to make it more frustrating and addictive to play.

The frustrating part may be a double-edged sword, however. Sometimes flicking the ball seems absolutely intuitive and under your complete control, and sometimes it seems like there’s no rhyme or reason to where the ball goes relative to how you flick. In the real world, and number of quirks in a ramp could account for chaotic end results. On the iPhone, it might just be a matter of tweaking the physics engine a bit more.

All-in-all, it’s a beautiful, engaging, casual time-filler of a game, perfect for occupying interstitial moments. As a test, however, I gave it to an 11-year old to try out. I only got it back an hour and half later. So, yeah, it works for a wide range of players and time constraints as well.

If you give Ramp Champ a go, let us know how how many goals you get, and which prizes you pick up.

Read the rest of this entry »

For only a $1.99, Arcade Bowling from Skyworks, found here in the App Store, may be the least expensive addictive substance around. Based on the old arcade classic, Skeeball, your objective is to roll the laser balls down the ramp, where they launch and fly through the air and into one of the holes in the board. The smaller, more difficult holes are valued higher, but never fear, the worst you can do per laser ball is 10 points.

Two game modes are available – Classic and Progressive modes. Classic mode is a single game of nine laser balls. Just roll them with the swish of your fingertip and score as many points as you can in the single game. Or, if raising the stakes each round is more appealing to you, then play Progressive mode. As you achieve the points goal in each round, the goal is raised in the next the round.

In addition to needing a touch of finesse when “swiping” the ball down the ramp, Arcade Bowling takes advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer, enabling you to add a bit of guidance to the ball in mid-flight. Did I say this game is addicting? Well, it is!

A final note: when I first installed the game and started playing, it would crash with some frequency. The way to resolve this is to reset your iPhone after installation. Once I did that, problem solved. No more crashing. Relive the good ‘ol days of Skeeball with this 21st century virtual version that you can carry in your pocket!