'Canabalt' Creator Releases Minimalistic Puzzler 'Hundreds'

[milo]

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

This is an article about an app - Why aren’t people allowed to share their experiences with it? It will help others make an informed decision about wether to buy it or not.

Have people shared their experiences? Seems like mostly people with no experience playing the game but whining about it anyway.

I picked it up today and it's a top notch puzzle game with lots of levels and a ton of depth. Obviously different people like different things, but for any fan of puzzle games, worth every penny. Also, nothing like the old flash version, frankly MR is doing them a disservice by even linking to it.

[scottrichardson]

App looks cool - from a designers perspective I can appreciate the look and feel they have gone for. However I can't seem to get past the amount of people complaining about this costing $5 or $3.

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by scottrichardson

App looks cool - from a designers perspective I can appreciate the look and feel they have gone for. However I can't seem to get past the amount of people complaining about this costing $5 or $3.

Putting aside wether the app is actually worth three bucks or not, it IS unusual for an app of that nature (very simple game) to cost that much. Nothing wrong with pointing that out

[sammich]

I've got to say, this app has the lowest satisfaction to completion ratio of any puzzle game I've ever played. Sure it has a good level of increasing complexity but I'm starting to think that you need two stylus to play this game because your fingers cover the whole dot and can't see when to let go because you can't see when contact is about to occur. And the same problem occurs with tracking a dot. Level 15, for example, was the most frustrating level, I won't even bother to describe.

[saving107]

this.

I bought the app without a second guess, but that was right before I had to go to work and haven't had the chance to play it, but honestly, $3 is not going to break the bank.

[Master-D]

Hmmm... This smells a bit like a sponsored post. Are MacRumors doing that without reporting its a sponsored listing? Hope not.

[mattwolfmatt]

Originally Posted by sammich

I've got to say, this app has the lowest satisfaction to completion ratio of any puzzle game I've ever played. Sure it has a good level of increasing complexity but I'm starting to think that you need two stylus to play this game because your fingers cover the whole dot and can't see when to let go because you can't see when contact is about to occur. And the same problem occurs with tracking a dot. Level 15, for example, was the most frustrating level, I won't even bother to describe.

Interesting, I moved through pretty quickly until I got to 32. Now I think it's practically impossible.

[furi0usbee]

When I saw the rave reviews... talking about 2013 game of the year, I decided to buy it. Yes, steep, at $2.99, but what the hell. By level 14-ish I wanted to delete it... but gave it a chance. I didn't delete it, but it was of no fun for me. Pudding Monsters, now that was it for me. I couldn't put that down.

The App Store *really* needs a demo system. Apple needs to put a "REFUND" button into the settings, and let us "give back" our games after x time. I'd even be happy with 15 minutes. In that time, I usually know if an app is good.

If they did have a refund system, I'll bet half the apps in the store would quietly go away. Most bad apps stay in because there is no mechanism for refund, short of contacting Apple and begging for your money back.

If Apple added refunds... 20% of the apps would be gone within 6 months. And that's a good thing!

Bryan

[sammich]

Oh, I didn't give up on it. I'm at level 85 or something now. It still doesn't give me much satisfaction, but I'm making progress, and that satisfies the completionist in me.

I have no idea what One Hundred is about.

[James Craner]

Originally Posted by saving107

I bought the app without a second guess, but that was right before I had to go to work and haven't had the chance to play it, but honestly, $3 is not going to break the bank.

Exactly, Welcome to the Internet entitlement generation, where they expect everything to be free.

[Jman13]

I'm on level 33 so far, and it gets very challenging pretty quick. Very enjoyable and addicting game. Requires some strategy, quick reflexes and skill in the later levels. Really well done, and IMO well worth the money.

There are 100 levels. Can't imagine how hard the later levels are.

[CodeJingle]

People buy physical junk crap all the time and it gets thrown away 5 minutes after use. I buy my kids blow-up hammers, they smack each other with them for a few minutes then decide to sit down on them and they pop. Money gone right down the tube. Same with those cool mini remote control helicopter, I break mine after an hour of use. Same with whoopee cushion. At least with the game if enough people buy it maybe they'll improve it over a few iterations before switching to 'only bug and compatibility fixes' mode. Shoot the guys who made the game with a suggestions email. I treat software the same way I treat hardware. And a candy bar costs a dollar nowadays I don't see the issue with an ios game costing $2 or $3 regardless of genre or level of perceived game content. I'm sure it will be on sale for 99c at some point in the next 12 months.

[Pompiliu]

3 dollars?
Ah.. Where's Installous when you neet it?

[CodeJingle]

Originally Posted by saving107

this.

I bought the app without a second guess, but that was right before I had to go to work and haven't had the chance to play it, but honestly, $3 is not going to break the bank.

That was an awesome post.

[Zunjine]

Seriously, people need to start being willing to pay real money for quality apps. It's all well and good saying that many apps are really cheap... well they're usually not great apps. Not only that, but the guys making them are making no money!

$3 isn't a lot of money. And most of those moaning about the price haven't played the game! I downloaded it and I've played it a fair bit. And, you know what, this game is amazing! The music is cool, the art style is great and the core mechanics are so simple but so addictive. If I get a couple of hours of enjoyment out of this game then that's money well spent.

In summary - making quality software costs money and it isn't in our best interests to drive the talent out of business, if you pirate software to avoid paying for it you're a thief who deserves a spank and if you didn't buy it and haven't played it then your opinions as to the quality and worth of the title are themselves worthless.

[GoldenJoe]

I think that we are perhaps becoming a little generous with the word "game".

I made something like this once on another platform. I had this cool idea for a fun little physics puzzler, so I built out a prototype. Everything worked fine, but I became bored with it quickly, so I started adding little obstacle objects make the gameplay more varied. I gave it really nice graphics and a decent number of levels, but the game still stank because:

1) The rules weren't intuitive
2) It was still the same game that I quickly became bored with at the core, only with a fresh coat of paint and a bunch of frills.

These kinds of games remind me of that project. You start with a simple concept (let's tap stuff, people like tapping stuff), develop the gameplay in about two days, then spend most of your time trying to figure out how to keep it interesting for more than twelve seconds. Add obligatory minimalist/vector graphics, and suddenly you don't just have a game - you have art! Be sure to treat it as such!

That said, it's not impossible to become a financial success with these over-simplified kinds of games. I'll be watching it to see how it performs.

[Mrg02d]

Just because $3.00 is relatively little (compared to the iphone) doesnt mean its so little that we all should go buy the game. Wasting money, no matter how little, is wasting money. Also, lets compare its functionality and price to other apps functionality and price before deciding its a fair price....I just dont see the value here given what it does. Ultimately, it will either do well at that price or the dude will wind up discounting it soon.

[mrgraff]

Originally Posted by Mrg02d

Just because $3.00 is relatively little (compared to the iphone) doesnt mean its so little that we all should go buy the game. Wasting money, no matter how little, is wasting money. Also, lets compare its functionality and price to other apps functionality and price before deciding its a fair price....I just dont see the value here given what it does. Ultimately, it will either do well at that price or the dude will wind up discounting it soon.

This.

I can't believe how many people don't understand the difference between value and price. Being able to purchase something is not the same thing as wanting to purchase it.

[milo]

Of course everyone shouldn't go buy the game, it's a puzzle game so it would make no sense for someone not interested in puzzle games to buy it. So far it seems from the reviews that the vast majority of players are liking it a lot and finding value in it.

Originally Posted by GoldenJoe

I made something like this once...

Have you played it, or just making assumptions based on the video?

[JAT]

Sounds like a variation of a game I've had installed for a while called Just Fillin'. Which has a free version, or paid for $.99.

We never play it much.

[ThunderSkunk]

I'm... not familiar with the kind of... thing... I'm seeing.

[saving107]

Originally Posted by mrgraff

This.

I can't believe how many people don't understand the difference between value and price. Being able to purchase something is not the same thing as wanting to purchase it.

Isn't value subjective, how do you determine value?

I bought for a my birthday over the summer a $120 Light saber, I have it displayed on the wall an occasionally when friends come over they will grab it and use it, more so now that for Christmas someone gave me a second light saber.

To me and 99% of my friends/family/co-workers all think my light saber is really cool and worth the value, except for 1 friend who called it over priced and not worth $120.

We had a discussion amongst our group and as long as you can afford something, its not over priced and I agree.

[Butler Trumpet]

The web version of this game is not that fun... but the iOS version is much more in depth and really great. I think you'll find that it is a much different/better game.

Originally Posted by ArtOfWarfare

The game is free in Flash form on New Grounds. I got up to level 11 before concluding this game is:

1 - Not fun
2 - Not impressive
3 - Not worth $3
4 - Not worth my time

[madmaxmedia]

Originally Posted by Chumburro2U

I downloaded this app and I have to say that I really like it. It is a fun game. If I didn't like it, I WOULD NOT POST ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT IT. Grow up folks and stop stating something negative about this one app. There are almost a million apps now in the App Store. Go post negative comments on the apps that you do not like.

That's what you call 'discussion'?

----------

Originally Posted by Butler Trumpet

The web version of this game is not that fun... but the iOS version is much more in depth and really great. I think you'll find that it is a much different/better game.

How so? I assume the basic gameplay is the exact same?

I played the Flash game and thought it was okay. I'm not ripping the pricing or the developer, just didn't like the Flash game that much.

[milo]

Originally Posted by madmaxmedia

How so?

The flash version seems to just repeat the same "level" over and over again. It's basically equivalent to playing one of the hundred levels of the iOS version.

I suspect any game with levels would seem boring if you judged it based on a version that only had one level to play over and over.