Droid Gamers reviews Mini Plane
21.04.2010 - no comments

OrangePixel has developed a decent amount of games for Android that are usually both interesting and unique. Unlike the billion game clones that are floating around out there, OrangePixel tends to lean towards the different. Their new game Mini Plane is no different. Mini Plane is a continuous flight game where you have to keep flying as long as you can.

While trying to keep your little plane up in the air, you can gain extra points by doing flybys and collecting bonuses. There are also bonuses along the way that help with keeping your fuel supply topped up. While this may seem fairly simple you also have to avoid enemy planes, buildings and other items that shoot at you. Your score can also be displayed on the global high score board should you become a master pilot.

OrangePixel also have plans to update the game with even more features including various types of planes, new worlds, more upgrades, new gameplay modes and more. Definitely a fun little game for the casual gamer. We’ve also posted the Tip and Tricks OrangePixel has released on their site here on Droid Gamers in our guides section so if you need any help, just jump over to there.

Source: Droid Gamers

Droid Gamers reviews Drill Panic!
12.04.2010 - no comments

Drill Panic, Developed by OrangePixel, is a fast paced game sort of like Abduction! but instead of bouncing your way up platforms, here you have to roll downwards and stay ahead of the drill while collecting gems and other items to help you along. You move by tilting your phone left or right in order to roll into gaps in the ground to get to the next level below you.

The graphics are pretty good and the game play is very fast. There isn’t a whole lot of room between you and the giant drill above you that’s chasing you down. Get hit by the drill and you’re dead.

Some people have complained on the Android market about the controls of this game including some people who notice that once in awhile when you tilt a certain way you go in the opposite direction. What is actually happening is you rolled into a mushroom which ‘confuses’ you and makes your controls reverse for a few seconds. However, the controls are actually extremely sensitive and you barely have to tilt your phone to go in whatever direction you want to. It also features a global high score board and the ability to post your scores to Twitter.

Overall it’s a pretty fun game and a good time killer, especially if you liked Abduction!, then you’ll probably enjoy this game a lot.

A couple of things to note:
- You can only exit the game right now if you press the home button. Pressing back won’t work and there is no exit button in game. Why? I have no idea but it was a bit of a pain to figure out at first.

- If you like the game a lot, buy the full version. The only difference between the Free and Full version are the ads which get kind of annoying rather quickly.

Source: Droid gamers

Mechanics Touch App Review
28.03.2010 - no comments

Mechanics Touch Android app is a great puzzle game that lets you strategize how you are going to get your mechanics across the board. It is very similar to the Lemmings game in that you don’t want your mechanics to get killed along the way. You have to be witty and have fast fingers in order to get them all safely across. There are many different obstacles to try get past including rocks, pits, enemies, land patches, spikes and more. You will find yourself jumping on trampolines, removing all kinds of barriers and furiously working to clear land patches for all of your little mechanics to walk across.

This app also sports cartoon like graphics that are fun and more impressive than most Android apps. The gameplay is also very easy to get used to and is fun to control. The only part of this game that can be frustrating is having to tap multiple obstacles, destroy enemies, make mechanics jump, and move different objects in order to complete a level. But the challenges are half the fun, and you will find yourself mastering it in no time.

The Mechanics Touch app has four different large worlds that have 15 levels each. This gives you 60 different levels to test your strategic mind on. As you get better at multitasking and prioritize your moves, you can save all of the mechanics and beat the game! Get online and see where you rank among other Mechanics Touch players. Try and get the highest score and get some respect!

Features:
There are 15 different levels to run your mechanics through in each world
There are 4 different worlds that have fifteen levels a piece
Interactive touch screen controls to help you multitask
Colorful 2D Cartoon Graphics
There are some fun sound effects and some exciting background music
Check online scores to see who is the top of the leaderboards
A variety of different obstacles to get past including rocks, spikes, land patches, and trampolines
You even have to get past enemies at some points in the game

Conclusion:
This is one of the better puzzle apps out there on the Android. It brings together graphics, gameplay, unique setting, and controls to be one of the best Android Apps of 2010. This is definitely worth trying out and purchasing the updated app.

Rating: Voted 4.2 out of 5 stars by iPhone app users and currently has a free download available.

Source: Best Android Apps

DynamoKid receive Silver award at PocketGamer
26.03.2010 - no comments

As brilliant as so-called interactive TV is, it doesn’t go far enough.

It’s all very well being able to press the red button on your remote to view extended coverage of a sporting event, but what I really want is for my thrown remote control to genuinely connect with Martin Keown’s head as he spouts yet another meaningless football cliché.

But no – monkey boy continues to witter on, and I have a crack running the length of my beloved Panasonic. As the man himself might say, “he won’t be happy with that result, Alan”.

Wound up and ready to go

Dynamo Kid is something like wish fulfilment in that regard. No, it doesn’t allow you to cause physical harm to bland TV pundits (alas), but it does let you go a little more hands on with an otherwise fairly traditional game environment.

Our little hero runs from left to right in a typically cutesy platform environment. Any interactivity with the world around is handled the direct route – by touching the appropriate section of the screen.

Prodding DK makes him jump, allowing you to traverse gaps and collect stars. When an enemy scoots onto the screen, a direct touch will send them sprawling.

On your travels, you’ll notice that some platforms are simple outlines, blending in to the sketch-book backgrounds. True to form, a brush of your finger across each section will ‘draw’ the platform into existence, allowing you to continue your relentless journey Eastward.

A touch of class

As with all OrangePixel games, the game leans entirely on its core premise. You simply keep running, touching and collecting until your inevitable death, with the impetus coming from the desire to score highly on an online leaderboard.

This is compromised slightly by some rather sticky controls – DK didn’t always jump reliably for me when prodded, and nor did the outlined platforms fill in consistently. Perhaps this is an isolated handset issue (I used an old G1), but it was annoying enough and common enough to bear mentioning.

Regardless of this, I kept coming back for more. The sheer variety of tasks you must juggle simultaneously, along with OrangePixel’s ever-excellent presentational work, makes Dynamo Kid the best of the developer’s Android output to date.

“A charming platformer that makes good use of your Android phone’s touch screen. It can be a little frustrating, but that won’t stop you returning for another go.”

Rating: 8/10

Source: Pocketgamer

Interview about Mini Plane
25.03.2010 - no comments

Android App Review Source:

What was your inspiration for developing this app?

OrangePixel:

After a couple of bigger games, we wanted to design a game that had very simple game mechanics but that we could easily add new features and updates to. So we took a simple well known Flash-game idea, and turned it into something fun and full of features. So Mini Plane was born, and we have already added a big update with a new second world (unlockable by collecting three super stars) and have many different updates plannend in the coming months. Players can also send us their update ideas on twitter @orangepixel and we will take the best ideas and possibly add them to the future updates!

Android App Review Source:

What’s your personal favorite Android App that you did not develop?

OrangePixel:

Twigee, a Twitter client that never really gets much attention inbetween the bigger names, but it really is a fast, small and great working Twitter client that basically does all I need from such an App. It needs more attention as it easily beats the more well known names out there!

Read full interview:  Androidappreviewsource.com

Mini Plane on Android App Review
24.03.2010 - no comments

The Mini Plane Android App by OrangePixel is a game for the Android platform with great graphics and two challenging objectives. The first object of the game is to maneuver your plane through the air while avoiding other planes, tall buildings, and several other obstacles. The second object of the game is to collect several different items and even rescue people while maneuvering your plane. Don’t forget to watch your fuel levels and replenish your supply by collecting the green cans with the parachutes.

Once you get the hang of the controls this is a great game and quite a challenge. A few suggestions to make this game even better than it already is would be to add some challenge modes.

Overall, this is a great, challenging game for the Android platform. At the time of this review the Mini Plane Android App is €1.99 which is approximately $2.72. Thumbs Up.

Source: Androidappreviewsource.com

Mechanics Touch Free Android App a Day
16.03.2010 - Comments Off

Our Mechanics Touch Lite version had become the Free Android App of the Day on a newly launched site

“This Lemmings style game puzzle game features 4 challenging worlds with 15 levels each. Help lead the mechanics to the end of each level by moving the blocks to create pathways.”

Read more: FreeAndroidAppADay

Orangepixel talks about “iPhone” Development
13.03.2010 - Comments Off

We are busy with making our games availble on iPhone. We have choosen Mini Plane to start with and the others will follow soon. The development is a lot diffrent from the Android games. We have to learn a new language, and have tot start working on a different pc.

The dutch site Iphoneclub.nl has taken an interest in our first article and has asked us to write on their site on a weekly basis. So for all our Dutch readers you can find the first episode here: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/63893/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-1-dagboek

Update:
Second episode:  http://www.iphoneclub.nl/64313/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-2-dagboek

Third episode: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/64954/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-3-dagboek

Fourth episode: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/65607/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-4-dagboek

Fifth episode: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/66042/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-5-dagboek

Sixth episode: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/66601/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-6-dagboek

Seventh episode: http://www.iphoneclub.nl/68172/mini-plane-het-ontwikkelen-van-een-iphone-game-deel-7-dagboek

MeandmyAndroid reviews Mini Plane
12.03.2010 - Comments Off

As for today’s game… Mini Plane takes the old SFCave and slaps some pretty graphics, power ups, and a fuel tank on it along with a price tag. I like this style of game if only for the reason that it fits a touch screen device perfectly with its simplicity of control… touch to go up, release to go down, and tap at a constant pace to stay level (which can be pretty hard to do). In the original there were some basic obstacles to avoid. Mini Plane has buildings and other planes / helicopters you can collide with. Interestingly enough the very top of the screen is a safe haven so you can just hold down on the screen and so long as no enemies occupy the top row you’re safe… until you run out of fuel. Fuel is the interesting twist in this variant… you are forced to surface for air now and again and pick up a fuel package. Otherwise, you die!

The game’s parallax scrolling is pretty… certainly far, far superior to the bland graphics in SFCave. The game’s audio is nothing to write home about (as can be experienced in the video below). And, as has become standard, the game has online leader boards so that I can feel embarrassed by the guy that has scored almost 90 times more points than I have.

At 2 euros (about $2.80 US) I have to question whether this game is worth a purchase with similar, yet inferior, offerings in the Android Market like the original SFCave and Throttle Copter. Once again it depends on how much you are into this type of game. If you’re a big fan then you won’t be disappointed, but if you’re more or less indifferent then you’ll probably be just as satisfied with either of the two, free aforementioned titles.

Rating: As for the game itself I give it 4/5 stars.

Source: MeandmyAndroid

Dutch Gamesite Mobile Cowboys reviews Drill Panic!
11.03.2010 - Comments Off

Deze, en de komende twee Android Reviews, gaan over games van Nederlandse bodem en wel van de studio OrangePixel. OrangePixel bestaat inmiddels al vijf jaar en voor een studio waar slechts twee personen werken is dat zeer indrukwekkend. Sterker nog, OrangePixel zit achter het Rumblex platform en dat was één van de eerste social gaming platformen voor mobiele games (een omgeving zoals Xbox Live).

In deze eerste review kijken we naar de game Drill Panic. In Drill Panic speel je een mol en is het de bedoeling om zo snel mogelijk, zo diep mogelijk onder de grond te komen. De reden hiervoor is dat er een gigantische boor achter je aan zit.

De besturing van de game gaat door het toestel naar links of naar rechts te laten kantelen. Simpel maar effectief. Gedurende je val krijg je de mogelijkheid om diamanten (voor punten) en speciale objecten op te pikken. Zo kan je een wekker pakken om de tijd stil te zetten of een helm die je als een ‘tweede leven’ kan zien. Bij het bereiken van speciale items e.d. kan je achievements unlocken in Rumblex. Ook is er de mogelijkheid deze op Twitter te posten.

De gameplay is simpel, maar door de vaart in het spel is dat zeker geen probleem. De graphics zijn een echt voorbeeld van pixelart zoals ik zelf al jaren van ze gewend ben. Wat tegenvalt is het gebruik van muziek en effecten. De boor klinkt wat eentonig en andere geluiden klinken als horloge piepjes. Gelukkig start het spel met het geluid uit.

Drill Panic verdient misschien niet de schoonheidsprijs, maar het is zeker een erg leuke game voor tussendoor. Het idee dat de game ook nog van eigen bodem komt maakt het de € 1,50 die het kost zeker waard. We hebben de game getest op een HTC Hero.

Source: Mobile Cowboys

Mini Plane receive Bronze award at PocketGamer
08.03.2010 - Comments Off

If there’s one thing that simultaneously illustrates humankind’s ingenuity and its stupidity it’s heavier-than-air flight. Actually, a better example would be war, but that’s a bit heavy for Sunday morning on a mobile gaming site.

Heavier-than-air flight, then. Brilliant idea and all, but who in their right mind would strap themselves into a metal tube and launch themselves thousands of feet into the air? We all would, of course – and we drag out kids along for the ride.

Lunacy aside, though, the mechanics of flight make for great gaming material. Take Mini Plane, for example, which is concerned with the simple climb and dive physics of a wee jet plane.

Plane simple

And when I say simple, I mean simple. There’s only one virtual control to worry about in Mini Plane, and it can be activated by pressing anywhere on your Android device’s screen.

Your buzzy little plane makes its way from left to right in a charmingly hand drawn, 2D scrolling world. Left unattended, its natural inclination – as with all airborne objects – is to hurtle towards the ground. Touching the screen reverses this effect, causing your plane to climb.

You’ll need to do plenty of climbing and diving in order to collect the many pick-ups that are littered around the screen, including point-yielding stars, fuel (which floats down on parachutes) and the larger superstars that combine to unlock the next level. If you’re feeling particularly daring you can even swoop in close to a building or rock and rescue a stranded member of public or two.

Not all plane sailing

Contact with these solid structures, or any of the air traffic clogging up the busy skies, will cause you to crash instantly, bringing about an instant state of game over. It’s a little harsh, particularly as the collision detection – like another OrangePixel release, Gulp – is a little too exacting. On a number of occasions you’ll swear blind you managed to narrowly avoid nicking a building, only to be sent hurtling to the ground.

The way your plane reacts to collisions, too, is rather unsatisfying, gracefully arcing downwards (even through solid objects) rather than bouncing off at an angle or coming to a sudden and destructive halt. The two factors sit at odds with the otherwise graceful physics implementation, and combine to take away some of the game’s lustre.

Only some of it, mind. Regardless of these frustrations, Mini Plane will continue to pull you back in for another go at besting your high-score – which is instantly uploaded to an online high score table – or to complete the list of achievements on offer.

Ultimately, it’s just plane good fun. (Sorry.)

“Though spoiled slightly by some dodgy collision physics, Mini Plane is an instantly compelling casual experience that will have you returning repeatedly to climb that high-score table”.

Rating: 7/10

Source: Pocketgamer

Pocketgamer reviews Gulp!
04.03.2010 - Comments Off

Of all the so called seven deadly sins, none gets more of a workout in video games than gluttony.

Well, okay, maybe wrath gets a look in. But otherwise, frantically shoving foodstuffs down your character’s neck is a surprisingly common digital pastime.

OrangePixel’s latest Android gameGulp! is a case in point. Taking command of a cute little birdy fella, your sole aim is to gobble up as many enemies as you can using your incredibly long tongue.

Light bite

This is very simple to achieve. Holding your Android phone normally, you send birdy left and right by tilting the handset accordingly. As various baddies drop from the sky, you can shoot out your tongue diagonally to gobble them up by touching the screen on the appropriate side of your character.

A brief tap will send your tongue out a short way, with a prolonged hold extending it further. If you miss any of the baddies, they’ll take out a section of the floor, making things a little more precarious from that point on.

The ultimate aim is to collect enough coins from gobbled enemies to buy passage to the next level. There’s also the incentive of boosting your score by stringing together successful gobble combos.

Unfortunately, stringing multiple gobbles together can be tough thanks to a quirk in the controls. The ‘press and hold’ technique for extending your tongue seems a little twitchy, and I often found myself (initially, at least) sending a second tongue-lashing out inadvertently after the intended one, resulting in the end of my combo.

A touch of indigestion

That’s not the only unpalatable element, either, as the collision detection on birdy is a little harsh. Direct contact with an enemy means game over – fair enough – but it felt as if we were snuffing it a fraction too early, just prior to actual contact.

There’s also the lingering feeling that such a simple game would have benefited from a slightly more involved chaining system – perhaps rewarding more points according to the distance of the target, or for grabbing multiple targets in one go.

Still, there aren’t many 0.99 Euro games on the Android Market that can claim to offer as polished an experience as Gulp!, with achievements and global high-score tables – not to mention OrangePixel’s usual excellent presentation – lending the game a distinctly premium feel.

Gulp!‘s rough edges and extreme simplicity mean that it’s not going to fill you up for long. If you fancy a sweet gaming snack in between meals, though, you could swallow a lot worse.

“Gulp! is well presented and enjoyable in small doses, though one or two undercooked elements might spoil your appetite for more”.

Rating: 6/10

Source: Pocketgamer

DynamoKid Touch update 2.0
22.02.2010 - Comments Off

At the top world 1 and under world 2.

We have updated our game DynamoKid Touch. When you collect the little stars, you are coloring the game and when you do that you can multiply your scores, so try and play for as long as you can to earn many points. We also added a complete new second world, you unlock this after collecting three big stars. So go and check out all of these extra’s for yourself at the Android Market!

Interview about Android
26.01.2010 - no comments

A Dutch Magazine has made a big article on Android. They have asked us some questions about Android.  The full article is in Dutch and only in the magazine.

Mini Plane update 2.0
13.01.2010 - Comments Off

At the top world 2 and under the new helpscreen.

We have updated our game Mini Plane. We have added Superstars, if you collect 3 of these you get an extra life. That life will be played in the next level. Yes, that’s right! we added a second world.  We have also updated the help screen. It is now a blueprint that explains how to play the game!

Interview about Toddlers ‘Shake it’
04.01.2010 - no comments

Android App Review Source:

How did you get into developing apps?

Pascal Bestebroer from OrangePixel:

I started OrangePixel about 5 years ago, and have been developing mobile games, on the Java platform, since then. Android is simply the next step. The development language is basically the same, but Android adds alot of extra power and options to what you can do with games and applications.

Android App Review Source:

What was your inspiration for developing this app?

Pascal Bestebroer from OrangePixel:

The game is based on one of my old Java mobile games, where you used a single button to shoot the Toddler into space, and then use that same button to jump on clouds, angels, etc. The whole one-button gameplay thing was really the hype at that time.. but for Android we wanted to use very Android-specific controls like the shaking, tilting, etc. The result is: Toddlers – Shake it!

Read full interview:  Androidappreviewsource.com

Drill Panic! update 1.0.0
17.11.2009 - no comments

At the left the old version and at the right the new version 1.0.0

We have updated our game Drill Panic! New items to play with, like mushroom, hardhat and a hammer. What they do? just play the game and find out. We have some new area’s in the game showing your progress.

For the people that have entered an e-mailadres, for a RumbleX account, you can now add your twitter details, so you can show off your achievements to your followers on twitter.

We have more updates planned so stay tuned.

Mechanics Touch is App of the Week on Dutch site
16.11.2009 - no comments

Orangepixel is een ontwikkelstudio van Nederlandse bodem. Op 19 mei van dit jaar plaatsten ze hun eerste spel op de Android Market, en waren daarmee ook één van de eerste Nederlandse ontwikkelaars op de Android Market. Hun entree op de Market kwam met Mechanics Touch. Deze week een uitgebreide beschrijving van de eerste game als forum App van de Week!

Een ieder die wel eens Lemmings heeft gespeeld of gezien, zal hier meteen aan denken als hij Mechanichs Touch ziet. Ook hier is het de bedoeling de Mechanics van het ene punt op het speelveld, naar het andere punt te brengen…That simple ????? Nope, was het maar waar. Uiteraard komen de Mechanics op hun pad allerlei obstakels tegen waarmee je ze moet helpen. In tegenstelling tot Lemmings bestuur je niet de karakters, maar juist de omgeving. De Mechanics zelf lopen als een kip zonder kop alsmaar rechtdoor, en jij moet ervoor zorgen door gebruik te maken van de omgeving dat ze het einde halen …. zonder kleerscheuren als het even kan.

Er zijn 2 eigenschappen wat het spel net even verslavender maakt en uitdagender.
De voorwerpen in de omgeving werken maar voor een korte periode, zo is er bijvoorbeeld een tele-portaal, als je hierop klikt zal de eerst volgende Mechanic naar een ander punt geteleporteerd worden in het speelveld, maar hij moet hiervoor wel binnen enkele seconden in de tele-portaal stappen nadat je erop geklikt hebt.
De 2e moeilijkheid is dat het veld groter is dan je scherm, zo kan je Mechanic dus buiten je zichtveld geteleporteerd worden, waardoor je er heel snel heen moet scrollen om bijvoorbeeld een springveer op te spannen, maar je moet dan direct weer terug om de tele-portaal voor de volgende Mechanic klaar te zetten etc etc …. Zoals je begrijpt kan dit tot frustrerende situaties leiden als alles net lekker loopt en je drukt net mis ….

Grafisch ziet het er heel goed uit, alles heeft een beetje een cartoon-look, al kan het speelveld wel eens druk overkomen. De geluiden en muziekjes zijn ook zeer leuk, en laat ik voor de verandering eens aan staan, wat ik in de meeste gevallen uitzet door het herhalende melodietje. Extra drijfveer om het spel te (blijven) spelen is de mogelijkheid je high-scores te uploaden naar rumblex.com en aldaar bepaalde achievements te unlocken.

Mechanics Touch heeft zelfs een eigen website waar nieuws te volgen is en toegang tot het forum voor vragen of tips: World of Mechanics

OrangePixel heeft met Mechanics Touch duidelijk laten zien dat Android tot meer in staat is dan alleen een telefoon-toestel te zijn.

Source: Androidworld.nl

Toddlers ‘Shake it’ in action
13.11.2009 - no comments

Watch our game in action.

Dutch gamesite reviews 3 games
09.11.2009 - no comments

Je kon op Android Planet eerder al lezen over Yokiyo, een mooie platformgame met 40 levels die inmiddels in de Android Market verkrijgbaar is. Maar ontwikkelaar Orangepixel is nog meer van plan: ze hebben drie nieuwe games uitgebracht en er zijn nog twee andere in de maak.

Noah’s Quest is een game waarbij je steeds combinaties van dieren moet maken. Er zijn twee spelvarianten: je speelt de drie time trials om zo snel mogelijk de hoogste score te halen of je speelt eindeloos door. De game deed mij denken aan Bejeweled-achtige spelletjes die al wat langer bestaan en die ook wel eens in dierenthema worden uitgebracht, zoals iZoo. Voor €2,99 koop je Noah’s Quest in de Android Market.

De tweede game is P.O.D., een retrogame waarbij je een soort slang door een ruimte omhoog moet bewegen, zonder daarbij de asteroïden onderweg te raken. De game is al aangepast voor meerdere schermresoluties. P.O.D. kost €1 in de Android Market.

Drill Panic! is een game die wat meer in de pixel-stijl is, zoals je ook bij Yokiyo zag. Doel van het spel is om de boor te ontwijken door je Android-toestel links of rechts te kantelen. Ondertussen verzamel je diamanten en probeer je obstakels te vermijden, terwijl je door de tunnels omlaag beweegt. Het gaat erom zoveel mogelijk punten te halen. De game kost €1,50 in de Android Market.

Orangepixel heeft nog twee andere games onderweg naar de Android Market: Toddlers en Firby, waarover je later meer zult lezen.

Source: www.androidplanet.nl

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