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Another new Cut the Rope [$.99 / HD] update has tumbled down the pipeline, and our gut says this is easily the most interesting one creator ZeptoLab has put out. Today sees the introduction of 25 new levels packaged within the “DJ Box,” which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like — a new theme for the game that celebrates scratches, vinyl, bass drops, and … candy.

Much like any other update, the core game isn’t being changed for the new box, however it will introduce a couple of new mechanics. Take the turntable for example, which you can see below in the embedded video. Also, don’t freak out because it only shows the iPod or iPhone version: this has hit iPad, too.

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Tentacle Wars HD [ $2.99 (HD)], the new title from FDG Entertainment, is a port of the online Flash game of the same name by Lumarama. It’s a fast-paced iPad strategy game that reminds me a lot of Galcon [$1.99 / Free ], another iOS strategy game from 2008. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s “Galcon with tentacles” …along with superior graphics, ambient music and better sound effects.

Playing Tentacle Wars is like being a general overlooking a battlefield. Although in this case the battlefield exists inside the body of an alien life-form. The battles are between antibodies, spores, pulsars and embryos. Each cell can use DNA energy tentacles to attack each other. If your green antibody cells can turn all the other cells green, you’ve cured the zone. Once you clear all the zones, you’ve saved the alien life-form.

To launch an attack, you swipe a line from your green cell to any other cell in range. The more powerful your cell (as indicated by a number inside it), the further it’s tentacles can extend. You can target a red cell (enemy) to engage in battle, target a neutral grey cell to claim it, or target one of your own cells to transfer energy to where it’s needed.

The battles are based on a simple premise: The more powerful cell(s) always win, every time. So if your cell has a weaker strength it will slowly be drained until it’s defeated. But, if you attack the same opponent with tentacles from another cell simultaneously, you can defeat it, because your two cells are collectively more powerful. So, as in real war, choosing your targets carefully (but quickly) is important.

Once your tentacle has latched on to another cell, you can either remain connected to slowly drain it or swipe across your tentacle to cut it. Interestingly, it makes a difference where you sever your tentacle. So, if you slice it right in the middle, half the resources return to the attacking cell and the other half do a rapid attack-burst (ie: a 50-50 split). Whereas, if you cut your tentacle right at one end, all the resources in the tentacle will quickly retreat or attack, depending which end you slice.

To add variation, there’s impenetrable barriers within some levels, purple cells with superior intelligence to overcome, and limits for how powerful a single cell can become within each level. Each cell type also has a limit to the number of tentacles it can extend at one. These factors, plus some interesting level designs, encourage you to modify your strategies to suit each level.

The single player campaign (2 worlds, 40 levels total) is entertaining and satisfying, but far too short. By the time you’re settling in, the single player campaign is over. Additional levels are promised – but randomly-generated levels would be better. Lastly, the campaigns are rather anti-climatic once you complete each world, as nothing really happens, except a small note in the corner of the iPad screen confirming a Game Center achievement.

Multiplayer mode offers two-player online action via a random match-up or by challenging a friend, via Game Center. Choose an arena and color, then engage in a microscopic war ….and in my case, get totally owned by superior players. The online play worked flawlessly once started, but it was often unable or slow to complete a random match-up. That isn’t ideal since the single player mode is completed so quickly, but isn’t a problem if you’re playing friends online.

Tentacle Wars blends strategic gameplay with arcade-style swipes and cuts to create a fast-paced strategy game that’s ideally suited for touch screens. The game is similar to Galcon, but has enough innovation to feel fresh and new. Yet, it needs more levels and online players, otherwise the fun feels as if it’s over too quickly. According to our discussion thread, an iPhone/iPod touch version is expected around May or June.

TouchArcade Rating:

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Back when Supermono released EpicWin [$2.99], its to-do list RPG, we spent some time contemplating whether adding game mechanics to productivity apps would really help people be more productive. That’s the question that rests at the heart of all discussions about “gamification”—do carefully tuned game mechanics drive us to perform tasks we might otherwise ignore? Has Farmville claimed so many man-hours because it’s fun, or because it’s designed to feed on impulses that could be better used for good?

Don’t count it as a blow against gamification, but, personally, EpicWin never quite clicked. I found the experience bars and loot rewards intriguing, but the work I had to put into maintaining my tasks outweighed the benefits. More recently I’ve found myself back in the world of gamified productivity with the help of a to-do app that doesn’t look game-like on the surface at all: Realmac Software’s Clear [$1.99]. Beneath all its lovely minimalistic design you’ll find the potential for a compelling game experience. With today’s update, Clear realizes some of that potential—and it brings a few easter eggs for the discerning iOS gamer along for the ride.

Clear launched with a bang, thanks to plenty of well-placed hype. Reviews at the time noted the simplicity of its design asthetic, the elegance of its colors. Those colors were customizable with a few built in theme options. Within a few hours of release, though, buzz started to build around secret unlockable themes people were finding tucked away in the app.

If you’ve ever felt the urge to master a game, to earn 100% completion on something, you might understand the effect that had on me. At first I only hoped to unlock a theme that was a little different because I wasn’t too fond of the baked in options. Then I had to have them all. The first two were easy—and I’m about to get into details, so stop reading and just grab the update if you want to go in unspoiled— one is unlocked for having Tweetbot [$2.99] installed. Another, Scorched, opens up if you follow any of the app’s creators on Twitter through the app’s menu.

The third is the one that made me realize gamification could work for me. The Socialite theme is unlocked by completing 100 tasks and then posting about it online. As soon as I heard that I starting using Clear obsessively. I added every important deadline, chore and errand and diligently checked them off. By the time I hit 100, I’d formed a habit. Sure, I unlocked the theme I’d been waiting for, but I also found myself more organized for it.

Then there was the letdown: with nothing left to unlock, Clear went back to being a pretty little to-do app that was great to use but not particularly game-like. Today’s update brings a return to that early entertainment with seven new themes to discover.

Three of the themes mirror the original set. There’s a shameless self-promotion option, which rewards you with a theme for gifting Clear when prompted. It’s called “Gifted.” The Path theme is a reward for having Path [Free] installed, just like the theme for using Tweetbot. And then there’s the self-improvement theme: Ultraviolet unlocks when you use the app each day for 7 days straight.

There’s a fundamental rule of any productivity system: you have to actually use it for it to do any good. Ultraviolet could provide that little tick of motivation someone like me would need to keep up the effort that requires, just like achievements might make you play a game longer than you might otherwise intend. There’s also a fourth unlockable theme, Night Owl, that encourages you to be productive after dark, between 12 and 3 a.m.

Now here’s the cool part, the part that reveals Clear’s affinity for games. Today’s update has within it the seeds of three other unlocks. Each one ties into a game: The Heist [$2.99], Temple Run [Free] and Bumpy Road [$2.99]. Those games will need to update before this works (The Heist’s update should come mid-week, and the others are on the way), but once they do we’ll get new themes in Clear for each of those games we have installed.

We’re pretty fond of all three of the games—hit the links to read our reviews—and any of them would be well worth the download with or without the theme. So far, the apps that accompany Clear themes seem hand-picked for quality, and these games are definitely no different. This update also brings in a selection of fixes and features, but the best thing here is using a to-do app that really is all fun and games.

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Just last week we were teased by a trailer for My Little Hero, an upcoming game from Acne Play, the developers of the awesome platformer Pizza Boy [ $1.99 ], and being published by NCSoft. As we lamented at the time, the trailer was indeed quite teasery, and all we really knew about My Little Hero was that it was an action adventure game featuring a young boy, a dream world (or perhaps nightmare is more accurate), and a scary stuffed animal stealing boogie man.

Today we finally get the first gameplay video for My Little Hero and as promised it most certainly looks like an action adventure game. And, in a big departure from Pizza Boy, the gameplay and visuals are entirely in 3D.

I’m actually really digging the kid-centric them going on in My Little Hero with the slingshot as a weapon, cardboard sword and armor, and that inflatable donut thingy with a duck on it that you wear around your waist when swimming. What is that thing called again? Anyway, it looks cute is what I’m getting at. I’m pretty interested to check out My Little Hero when it hits, which according to the trailer should be sometime next month.

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Near the end of one of the “slowest” weeks we’ve had in recent memory, we casted a pod for mass earhole consumption. If you’re not a fan of our off-topic weeks you might want to avoid this one. But, do note you’ll be missing out on a lot of fun discussion: at the top, we dive into the recently released Xbox Live Arcade indie title Fez and ponder what an iPad port would look like, spit a little bit of game about next-generation consoles, and orally review hot new games like Burger Cat. In our second segment, we discuss anything and everything, but eventually get to your user questions.

It was a weird week, so we’ve got a weird show for you. If you’d like to listen, please do so via those handy-dandy links below. Additionally, you could subscribe to us on Zune or iTunes to get our latest episodes the second they hit the Internet.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-048.mp3, 34.4MB

Here are your show notes:

GAMES

• Trees of Life [$.99]
• MacGuffin’s Curse [$1.99 / Lite]
• Wawa Land [$.99]

JARED’S KITTY KORNER

• Burger Cat [$.99]

FRONT PAGE

• A ‘Battlefield 3‘ Companion App Hits
• Musical Chairs: ‘S&S‘ Hits Steam, Steam title Planned for iOS

Cutlass Cove, $0.99 / Lite – Cutlass Cove by independent developer Cheeky Mammoth is an action-packed pirate game that combines nautical combat with the strategic use of powerful spells and munitions. In Cutlass Cove you control a pirate ship, firing cannons at enemies and using voodoo spells to complete 60 challenging objectives and acquire 20 unique ranks.

Cutlass Cove is an intense pirate skirmish on the high seas where you summon whirlpools, unleash tornado storms, ignite brandy slicks, fire cannonballs imbued with destructive molten force, captain a ghost ship and feed your enemies to the sharks.

Cutlass Cove is a universal app that is available now in the App Store for $0.99.

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If you pay attention to the world of iOS game music, you might already know Whitaker Trebella’s work. He has composed themes for games that include Super Stickman Golf [$0.99], Tilt to Live [$2.99] and Velocispider [$1.99]. But now he’s taken on the role of game developer. Trebella’s first game, Polymer, is due to hit the App Store soon, and we’ve had a chance to play with a recent build. It’s a strategic shape-creating game, in Trebella’s words, enhanced with a great soundtrack.

A polymer, in the parlance of the game, is a complete shape, one with no unfinished edges. You achieve this by sliding rows and columns back and forth to move pieces into place. A skilled player might be able to use every piece on the board, but each piece you move takes six or nine others with it. Larger creations become exponentially more difficult to make without disruption, but they’re oh so satisfying to reach for. It’s almost a shame to destroy them, but that’s where the points come in.

Like so many developers, Trebella came to iOS with no prior programming experience. But his time composing for big names of the indie scene convinced him that he needed to make a game of his own. A little study, a little elbow grease, and a year and a half later we (almost) have Polymer. But playing the game, you can see how much Trebella picked up in his time spent on the periphery of iOS development. It’s ridiculously savvy to the realities of both touch screen gaming and the iOS market, things most first-time developers struggle with.

It should come as no surprise that Trebella brought his musical talents to bear on Polymer. It isn’t a music game, but it can be quite musical. Each of the game’s three modes has its own soundtrack. You enhance that soundtrack while you play, destroying polymers that chime out musical tones. Each track is in a different key, and the sound effects, notes in the chromatic scale, are designed to fit within the key of the current track. In laymen’s terms, let’s just say the sound blends beautifully with the music.

Polymer’s three modes give you a lot to play with. One lets you race for the highest score you can hit in two minutes, and it’s polar opposite is a mode that requires you make the best single polymer you can in any length of time. The third ratchets up the tension in a sort of survival situation: you must destroy ticking time bombs by incorporating them into polymers. They come faster and faster until you eventually explode. The game also has a nifty unlockable system that introduces you to each element of the game piece by piece.

We don’t have a release date quite yet, but Polymer has been submitted to Apple for approval so it’s just a matter of time. Stay tuned—we’ll take a closer look on release and give you our final verdict. An educated guess in the meantime: it looks like Polymer is destined to eat a lot of the hours of thoughtful gamers.

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“I’ve kind of been the driving force behind this.” Chris Ewington describes what board games mean to him in passionate bursts. “It’s who I am. It’s what I do. It’s what I was meant to do.” Chris is the head honcho at Codito Development, an outfit that specializes in securing licensing and then reproducing tabletop games on iPad under the banner of Sage Games. Chris’ experience with porting the tabletop experience stretches long before iPad came into our lives. He used to make “homegrown” computer versions of his favorites to share with friends and family.

In a lot of ways, he’s the perfect guy to be doing this. His studio has the talent, and he has an astounding amount of reverence for the art form and what it does differently in today’s modern gaming landscape, which is dominated by stupid games like Angry Birds.

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
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Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-Bonus-035.mp3, 20MB

“There’s a lot to be said I think in terms of entertainment value for things like Angry Birds and those huge hits out there where you can go play for 10 seconds and get some fun out of that, but with board games there’s a little more thought involved,” he tells us on this week’s bonus episode of the TouchArcade Show.

“They offer a lot of the other great things that some of those hit titles have, and particularly these euro board games have really great theming. You can kind of get into the world of the game if you will. They also have the replayability and fun factor — there isn’t just one way to win this game,” he says, picturing a title. “If I play it again, even with the same people, it’s going to be a completely different experience.”

Before iPad was even announced, Chris was thinking about iPad. He and his pals had been talking about playing board games on something just a little bit bigger than an iPhone or iPod Touch. He describes the announcement of iPad as an “Apple Saves The Day” kind of moment, as it gave him a legitimate outlet to take his passion and put it into a series of digital products. The list of official ports since is long: Chris has had a hand in Puerto Rico, Ra, Medici, and most recently, Tigris & Euphrates.

In a weird twist, the growth of the App Store has given Chris a calling. The majority of App Store consumers are casual-leaning, so they aren’t familiar with titles like Puerto Rico [$7.99] or Tigris & Euphrates [$4.99]. Chris says its his studio’s mission to get people to play these kinds of games, to show them that games can offer so much more than cheap thrills.

“…it’s part of our mission to open some eyes and introduce people to the joys of it. You can sit down and play a game like Puerto Rico or Tigris and you don’t know what’s going to happen. You have a rough idea how to play the game, but you don’t know what the interactions are going to be.” Chris says that the fact that most board games don’t have a single win condition is one of the most interesting things about them. The high-level strategy, complex theming, and even proximity are several of his other favorite aspects on his personal list.

His goal is lofty, but Chris is still grounded. He realizes that the world of gaming has moved on from tabletop. Much more visceral games like Pong, Mario, and Call of Duty have been re-defining what games are. It’s a new landscape, new audience, new world. But the things he most celebrates about board games are what he thinks will keep people around.

It’s also why he’ll continue doing what he’s doing.

“Board games are a natural fit for my interests and personality. I think more in 2D than 3D. And so, it’s not just … experiencing this big 3D world and trying to blast people. It’s more cerebral than that. It lets you focus more on the interactions between the players and the strategies of the game,” he tells us.

Le Havre

Chris is putting his 2D brain to good use with the studio’s next project, Le Havre. This title will mark the first time Codito Development will ever use a board game’s original art in a port. Chris believes this will add to its appeal for older fans, as it’ll be a much more authentic-looking experience than normal. That said, Codito will do the same thing it always does with its borderline masterful board game ports: honor the design and only streamline the mechanical parts of the experience.

Chris explains what Le Havre is all about. ”It’s largely a card-based game where, rather than having little squares or pieces, it’s based on cards you collect. Those cards represent different buildings you can use in the game. Again, the theming, is really what makes these games stand out above other board games and other games in some cases,” he tells us.

“It’s got this really cool feel of being in the harbor and you’re trying to develop your interests and amass the most amount of wealth at the end of the game. And to crush all of your opponents.”

Le Havre is a fairly recent creation. Publisher Lookout Games released the title in German and Australian English in October 2008. Board Game Geek has a scary breakdown of how it works, but we advise that you not look. The upcoming iPad version, as with all of Codito’s awesome ports, will focus on cleaning up the experience and putting the rules in the background.

“Our challenge is to take care of as much of the mechanics as we can and support the game experience without taking away from it. Let’s get all the other crap out of the way so you guys can just have fun playing the game and have fun with the theme and figuring out how to kick your friends ass without having to remember all the rules and picking up all the pieces and sort them out,” Chris says.

Chris has a lot more to say on this week’s show, so give it a listen. We do podcasts with interesting folks in the iOS space at least twice a month. We’ll be back later this week with another regular episode of the TouchArcade Show.

Oh, and as a special-special bonus to our podcast listeners, Codito is offering up three of its games for $1.99. Here’s some links:

• Reiner Knizia’s Ra [$1.99]
• Tikal [$1.99]
• Reiner Knizia’s Tigris & Euphrates [$1.99]

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One of the all-time best platformers on iOS would have to be Acne Play’s Pizza Boy [ $1.99 ]. Released back in September of 2010, Pizza Boy absolutely nailed the virtual controls thing on the touchscreen, and almost more importantly they totally got the “feel” right – that is, the weight and movement of your character as he ran and jumped through the world felt perfectly tuned, like a classic 2D Mario game.

We thought Pizza Boy was great when it hit, though it was a bit on the short side, something that was rectified a few months later. Now, after all this time since Pizza Boy’s release, Acne Play, in conjunction with NCSoft, has announced their newest game for iOS and Android called My Little Hero with the following teaser trailer.

The problem with this teaser trailer is, well, that it’s just one big tease. There’s no gameplay shown and we’re really left wondering what kind of game My Little Hero is. I guess that is the point of a teaser, right? At the very least our interest is piqued.

The only other information we’ve been able to glean from our forums is that My Little Hero is an action adventure title and we should be hearing more on the game in the way of screens and videos soon. Given how awesome Pizza Boy is, consider us excited for whatever My Little Hero turns out to be.

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