Game: Downwell Review
tl;dr: $2.99 feels stealing, just buy it on iOS or Steam (PC only).
To be honest, I was not attracted to Downwell’s screenshots when I first saw this game on App Store. It was until I watched some reviews then decided to purchase the game. Once I started playing, I just can’t simply stop.
# Best D-pad-ish touch control.
Physical controls are always better. But Downwell for iOS has the best D-pad-ish touch control. Its simple game control mechanism — left / right move, another single button for jumping and shooting — is well designed for touch. So don’t worry if you don’t have a PC, the iOS version is great too. (P.S. iPad is better than iPhone.)
# Learning curve.
Downwell is a badly hard core game. To this date there is only 1.2% of players who have beaten this game in the normal mode on iOS.
But don’t panic, it has a great learning curve. It is designed so well that you can slowly become a better player. From practicing each types of guns, to learning the benefits of each power ups. From finding out wall jump, to realizing the reward of the combo system. Each moment gets you better.
# Very detailed retro graphics done right.
Even though it uses 1.5-bit colors, it has very well crafted pixel details, animations and character design. Not to mention that it has crazy amount of color palettes you can unlock.
# SFX and musics.
The SFX of different guns and the soundtracks are pieces of art on their own. Just listen them and you will know.
# Conclusion
BRB, let me beat the final boss first.
A Tumblr’s Little Design Detail
When a tumblr url is taken, it says, "That's a good one, but it's taken":
It just adds so much joy when you are using the product.
The biggest difference between iPhone 6P and 6s
Two weeks ago, it’s their sizes:
One week later with 6s, the 6Plus feels like a tablet now…
— Yilei Yang (@Yilei_Yang) October 2, 2015Five days ago my 6s cannot turn on, I was forced to my 6P again. Since today it magically healed it self:
WTF my 6s became a brick, and home button is burning…..
— Yilei Yang (@Yilei_Yang) October 14, 2015I can use 6s again. I would think the biggest thing I notice was the size. But instead, it’s the speed. It’s so damn fast and smooth. <3!
VR Planet Defense Numbers
It has been one week since I released VR Planet Defense today. I took a look at the stats, and I’m a little bit surprised by it. So it might be interesting to share it too.
Number of downloads
App Store: 1.12K
Play Store: 52
While ~1K in the first week matches my expectation, I thought most of the downloads would come from Play Store. Since Cardboard should be more popular in the Android community. There two reasons I can think of, and likely both of them are true at some level.
There are so many Cardboard games on Play Store. The discoverability is much poorer than App Store. Cardboard is actually equally or more popular among the iOS users.
Number of players
Since the game requires Cardboard, the number of actual players should be less than downloads. I was expecting something like less than 20%. But it’s actually around 50%. I got this number from Game Center. It has around 550 meaningful game scores. So half of the downloaders have played the game.
If we assume the number of players who do not login to Game Center and the number of players who play without a Cardboard are the same, there should be half of the downloaders have a Cardboard.
VR Planet Defense for Google Cardboard
VR Planet Defense for Google Cardboard is now available on iOS and Android!
Story
In a galaxy… not that far away, a little cute planet has been living for millions of years. However, the planet is in danger now. Meteorites are coming. Quick, grab your Cardboard and defend!
Features
- Destroy meteorites and earn scores.
- Capture health kit and heal the planet.
- Achieve the highest score and compete in the global leaderboard.
VR Planet Defense 30 Seconds Preview
A 30 seconds preview about a coming little VR game - Planet Defense.
Google Photos’ Best Feature
No, it’s not its excellent search feature, but simply the fact that it would advice you delete the already-backed-up photos on your device when your storage is almost full:
Magic Moment with Overcast
Last night I heard the new podcast Ctrl-Walt-Delete on Twitter, then went to Overcast immediately and wanted to search for it. Then since it has Twitter recommendations, it’s already there:
Magic!
VR Planet Defense is coming soon!
VR Planet Defense is coming soon.
∞ Cube Cube 1.4 for iOS has been released
CubeCube 1.4 for iOS has been released! Grab it NOW!