Ngmoco Debuts on the Store: Maze Finger & Topple

Posted on October 19th, 2008. Written by Arron.

Ngmoco have been in the news a lot lately, but they first hit it big for being one of the first companies to, aim development at Apple’s touch platform, and secondly, secure funding from the $100.000.000 iFund.

The VC-funded Silicon Valley start-up ngmoco have this morning debuted two of their three killer apps onto the App Store. Committed to making iPod touch and iPhone the leading platforms they were created to be, and focusing on bringing innovation into the world of touch, ngmoco are certainly an App Store presence to watch.

After the jump I get into what these two new titles offer,
and why you’ll be falling over yourself to get their third …

Maze Finger
Lets get started with this addictive, fun title. Maze finger [App Store] strips away the complexity of using iPhone’s other resources and focuses on three of the main one’s. It’s graphics core, it’s audio framework and it’s touchscreen.

Gameplay
The aim of Maze Finger is simple. Use your finger to swipe across the outlined path. In doing so you blow it up! – Dependent on how fast you clear the path, depends on what rating you get. As you progress the paths become more complex and obstacles are introduced. A thousand unique mazes that you navigate, using your finger, to reach the exit. 200 levels which are fast-paced and offer a huge variety of obstacles and game play. Test your skills by unlocking new achievements.

Visuals
As you blow up the path in front of you, the path sends sparks and explosions across the screen literally filling it with quite an impressive display. The graphics implemented have a sort of ‘retro’ roughness to them, which is also nice.

It’s a fun little title for it’s FREE price-tag. Pretty innovative, and what I like about it is that it doesn’t have to try to look good, it just is. Classic? – you decide.

Topple
From one fun, addictive title onto another. What is it about trying to pile things on top of each other, that makes the action so addictive? – I really have no idea, but this exactly the concept Ngmoco have ran with, with their new title, Topple [App Store].

Gameplay
Possibly inspired by Jenga, Topple works on the same simple principle. Build the awkwardly-shaped, mischievous pieces into the highest tower of colour possible. Each level has two checkpoints. The first you must reach to complete the level. Passing the checkpoint relies on you keeping the tower steady, and having the top piece on the tower, pass the physical white line.

The second checkpoint is a bonus. basically if you’ve managed to keep the tower steady enough to reach the first line – make no mistake, you’ve done well, but if you want more points, you can try adding more pieces to the tower to push it past the bonus line. The question is – How high can you go before you Topple?

Replay Value
We’ve never included this in any of our reviews to date, but thinking about it, it’s possibly one of the most important factors when reviewing applications (especially games) for iPhone and iPod touch. The reply-value of a game refers to the amount you can re-open or relaunch the game to play. The better the replay value, the better the application. Because of it’s addictive nature, the replay value of Topple is quite high.

Visuals
Now to focus on what makes Topple, Topple. It’s beautiful visuals. Ngmoco has included fun little animations onto the pieces of Topple, giving them – in a way – their own personalities. You can even follow your blocks expressions for clues as you which one’s are in trouble, which one’s feel comfortable in their position, and which one’s are just plain angry. It really does put a twist on things. Very well designed.

Topple sells for just 0.59p

… and Finally …
Hand Circus announced it’s now involving ngmoco in the development of it’s title Rolando. I think Rolando it set to be big. When I say big, I mean really big. It looks to be the first title which will take advantage of the touch interface as a full gaming platform. Arguably mirroring the design and fundamental basics of Loco Roco by Sony Entertainment, Rolando features ‘Rolando’s’ which are trying to save their world from an evil darkness.

Here are some shots we nabbed, from the recently released teaser trailer:

“The Rolandos need your help! Their adorable kingdom has been invaded by an angry darkness. Take control of the Rolandos and manipulate their world using innovative tilt, tap and multi-touch gestures. Use Dexterity, physics and clever tactics to survive dozens of puzzle-ridden environments as you lead the Rolandos to freedom!”

There has been rumor that, due to the complexity of this game and it’s obvious future re-play value, the retail price may fall well over the £10 barrier. I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for them to release this.

Rolando is set to hit the store December 2008, and make no mistake, it’ll hit with one hell of a bang.
To view the latest trailer, and for more information, visit rolando.ngmoco.com.