Chillingo Mobile Round-Up – Summer 2012

I’ve seen a bunch of interesting mobile stuff from Chillingo that’s either just out or coming soon. Not just games – they’re moving into interactive comics as well.

Shaun the Sheep – Fleece Lightning

Back in January I posted about Home Sheep Home 2, a puzzle game based on Aardman Animations’ Shaun the Sheep. Shaun is now back on your iDevices in a new game called Fleece Lightning. In direct contrast to the earlier game, this one is all about fast reflexes and tilt controls, with virtual controllers and basic touch-screen options available as well.

You race Shaun against a bunch of pigs through a variety of rural environments. As you progress through the short levels, things become more complex. Trees and fences block your way, along with more subtle speed traps like mud puddles. It’s fast-paced and with levels lasting about a minute each, it’s a great way to pass the time. Kids will probably love it.

Fleece Lightning is out now on iOS 3.1 or later for 69p.

Air Mail

Air Mail is a arcade flying game with some beautiful environments. As the pilot of a seafaring bi-plane, you take on missions to help the troubled residents of the islands. With 25 levels in 7 chapters there’s plenty to do, from smuggling items through a blockade to putting out fires. You can use both tilt and virtual controllers to fly the plane.

The Act

The Act is a charming interactive cartoon with a very Hanna-Barbera-does-silent-movies feel. You play as Edgar on missions to woo a beautiful woman and keep his job while hilarity ensues around him. Yes, it’s that sort of story.

Your control is limited to stroking the screen toward or away from Edgar’s target, with the length of your stroke controlling the intensity of his actions. When trying to woo the lady at the bar, a long stroke towards her will result in his leaping into her arms before even saying hello. A short stroke will give her a coy wave.

Another scene has poor Edgar trying to placate his angry manager at his window-washing while saving his drunk friend’s job by making it look like he’s working. Push Edgar’s friend too far and you’ll make him cry. Don’t push your boss enough and he’ll come out onto the window ledge and realise what you’re up to.

Reading the reactions of your targets is quite fun and should you make a mistake you can always pull it back a notch by stroking in the opposite direction. I found it quite difficult to manage when a short stroke becomes medium or long but I suspect that with practice, this will be become fairly natural.

Here’s the trailer that shows the great character-filled animations.

Commando Jack

Commando Jack is more action-filled than most games in the crowded world of tower defence on the iPad, . You start with the staples of plonking down towers and upgrading them but Colossal Games have brought in the ability to take direct first-person control of a turret at the end of each level.

Each enemy has a weak spot that you can target – a grenade belt that explodes or a helmet that you can shoot off to expose their meaty heads to your towers. You can also deploy a few remote-controlled turrets as well to close up gaps in your defence. Hopping into the turrets is much more fun than simply pressing the fast-forward button to speed up waves of enemies and there’s little danger if your remote turret is destroyed. You’ll simply pop back out to the overhead view and can jump back into your main turret or reposition some towers to improve your strategy.

Here’s a video from Daily Joypad featuring some gameplay and an interview from Managing Director Charles Burt.

Air Mail, The Act and Commando Jack will be out later this summer.