The Great iOS Game Search: Tiny Wings
Mon, February 28, 2011 at 9:41 PM I am simply convinced that Apple’s iOS platform has a lot of potential for great gaming experiences. The powerful hardware, responsive touchscreens, and gorgeous displays of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch are brimming with possibility. Unfortunately, the App Store is filled with shovelware and games that don’t do the OS justice. As such, I have decided to go on a search to find those digital diamonds in the rough that are not only great games, but are designed for the platform as well.
Tiny Wings
Developer: Andreas Illiger
Current Price: $0.99
Platforms: iPhone/iPod Touch
I firmly believe that there is a place for games on iOS that attempt to challenge dedicated handhelds like the PSP and DS in terms of depth and quality. Why not aim for such lofty goals, after all?
Even I must admit, however, that the games that most often feel “right” for the platform, those that capture my attention and bring a smile to my face and leave me thinking to myself “Yes, this is what mobile gaming is all about” are those games that embrace the simplicity of the device. They find ways to build mechanics around minimalism while including enough depth to retain challenge and ensure practice is needed to master the game.
These games often require only one input, touching, tapping, or holding the screen at a certain time, but can have an addictive quality than can rival their more complex console brethren. They come in bite sizes with prices to match, costing as little as a dollar and are perfectly suited to gaming on a mobile device, able to give you a satisfying experience in just minutes.
They may be small, they may be disposable, but the best of the iOS crop is densely packed with creativity. It’s simply delightful to see how much experimentation is being done with graphics and gameplay in this sector and how much success it is bringing some developers. I’ve felt on more than one occasion that more creative thought has been put into a game I bought for $0.99 and thought would be a throwaway experience than a game I bought for $60 in a retail store.
Tiny Wings is one of these delightful little surprises. I bought it on a whim, having never heard of it before, after a writer I follow on Twitter recommended it. I didn’t even know what to expect, but for $0.99 I took the gamble and bought it sight unseen. When was the last time you did that with a console game?
