Pocket Gamer: Sometimes, being clever and being simple are the same thing. That seems to be the design philosophy behind Run Roo Run, an original iOS platformer from 5th Cell, developer of Scribblenauts.
Boiled down to its bare, kangaroid bones, it's little more than a garish reaction-tester that sees you tapping the screen to hurl the titular Roo over obstacles.
In reality, it's a distilled shot of platforming genius - a deconstructed and rebuilt pocket gaming experience that perfectly understands the limitations of iOS play, and comes tantalisingly close to greatness because of that.
A review of Run Roo Run from Michael Brown of Metro News' gaming blog, Ode to Joystick. Run Roo Run is bite-sized, single screen fun that’s all about keeping your reflexes keen and your eye on the obstacles.
Making a triple-A game for iOS means more than changing the control scheme. Developers need a whole new design mindset to really make it work.
I think this is the reason .99 games do so well on the app store. It's not that people are cheap (well, not entirely), I think it's that people realize the games might not necessarily hook them for long enough to warrant $5 or whatever.
Not saying I agree with the practice or anything, just saying it's a theory.
It's such a low barrier to entry that even if it sucks, who cares? You only spent a buck. What did you expect for a buck...Uncharted 2?
Right, and as the author says here, the AAA games don't necessarily work all that well, so when I can by 5 games for the same price as one, some of which might be good, why risk all that money on one that probably won't be?
Slide to Play's Andrew Podolsky caught up with 5th Cell co-founder and creative director Jeremiah Slaczka at GDC 2012. "Miah" talks about 5th Cell's history, going from console development to iOS, Scribblenauts, Run Roo Run, and more. He also weighs in on who would win in a fight: Maxwell from Scribblenauts or Roo from Run Roo Run.
