Puzzloop by Hudson (now $0.99)

[Rocketman919]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puzzloop/id287002569?mt=8

one final post before bed. Puzzloop, by Hudson, is a Zuma clone (or maybe Zuma is a clone of it, because it says it was the first ever game of it's kind). I haven't bought it yet because of its steep price point (7.99) because you can only get so much fun out of a game like Zuma. I'm hoping they release a lite version soon, it might inspire me to purchase it. Goodnight everybody.

[Rocketman919]

Bump. Why has nobody looked at this?? This needs an article

[MattB]

I posted a review. It's definitely a fun, polished game. I played Zuma a lot a while back, so it's nice to have something similar on the iPhone. This one's a keeper.

[Rocketman919]

matt is it worth the price? cuz i would love to buy it but i'm waiting for rolando and a good racing game, like the one talked about here. Rolando is due to come out any day now, and i think it will have a high price point, so i don't know if i should get it. Your thoughts?

[MattB]

matt is it worth the price? cuz i would love to buy it but i'm waiting for rolando and a good racing game, like the one talked about here. Rolando is due to come out any day now, and i think it will have a high price point, so i don't know if i should get it. Your thoughts?

I don't think I can help you with the worthiness of the game based on price. Your financial status may be vastly different than mine. I get a passive income from one of my websites, and I use this income to buy these games, play them, and review them.

Only you can make that decision. Personally I enjoy the game, and it'll be staying on my iPhone.

[ChemicalWeather]

this game looks like a lot of fun, not ready for $8 though. god, im cheap.

[ChemicalWeather]

so i was playing zuma at work today and found out it's a lot of fun, i can see it getting boring after a while so my question is: are there any achievements in the game? or something along those lines to keep it fresh?

[MattB]

No, there's no achievements. There are stages you must complete, though. Achievements, to me, never make a boring game better. It just adds a layer of challenge to it.

[ChemicalWeather]

No, there's no achievements. There are stages you must complete, though. Achievements, to me, never make a boring game better. It just adds a layer of challenge to it.

alright sounds good, if there's a lot of different types of stages, that works

[blakespot]

Review posted with vid.

http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/12/hudson-brings-puzzloop-to-the-iphone/




blakespot

[freedog]

$7.99 > $2.99

This game is now on sale for the first time ever, has been in the appstore for over a year.

[BazookaTime]

$7.99 > $2.99

This game is now on sale for the first time ever, has been in the appstore for over a year.


I am glad that you posted this. I have been waiting for this to go on sale but starting thinking it would never happen. I would have paid $5 for it but I just couldn't do $7.99.

[goiMot]

price drop: $7.99 → 99c.

[kiranb28]

price drop: $7.99 → 99c.

What's so special about this game that it was EVER 7.99? :/

[headcaseGames]

bizarre to see these old threads resurrected.

I liked the lite and will definitely pick it up for 99c. The aesthetic was a little "funky" but I am a huge puzzloop fan so it's hard to resist.

For those keeping score, puzzloop was "the first of it's kind" back in the day, as far as these marble-poppers go. They obviously took an inspiration from bust-a-move, but the whole spinning/aiming, pieces moving along a rail shtick was their (Mitchell's) invention from the start. They are pretty small and never get any credit - and of course Zuma and Luxor came along and ripped the idea with no recognition, and made lotsa money.

BTW there was a portable version of this game called "Ballistic" released around the time the arcade of Puzzloop appeared. It was super-low-tech (yeah, 8-bit GameBoy) but they gameplay was absolutely perfectly tight. I discovered it several years later and spent many, many hours lost in it. It was a bit simplified from the arcade version, but even then I think it was for the better.

[CygnetSeven]

Nobody's done this yet so...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puzzloop/id287002569?mt=8


Yeah, I don't get the $8 pricetag for two years when games like Atlantis Sky Patrol are $3 but hey it's only a buck now! Thanks for the sale!

[freedog]

This is the perfect example of a good game(and I know its good from trying the lite over a year ago) being so overpriced that people almost forgot it existed. 13 posts until today, been released 2 years ago, had this game been priced right or put on sale in 2008-early 2009 it would have likely made the top ten. Bad marketing and bad pricing.

[headcaseGames]

haha, the game is kind of cursed :(

anyway looking at the design of the port, it didn't seem like they were too concerned with "dominating the charts" anyway. just like they put it out just to have it there and see what would happen, and then they left it out to rot. if they were more concerned then I am sure things would have played out differently, guess someone woke up one day and said "ah heck this isn't getting any sales, so...."

[CygnetSeven]

I hadn't thought of that but your right. Had this game been priced at $2 it might have over a million downloads by now. Can you imagine how much money they lost by sticking this game with one of the highest price tags on the market for so long? Wow, it makes you think.

[freedog]

I hadn't thought of that but your right. Had this game been priced at $2 it might have over a million downloads by now. Can you imagine how much money they lost by sticking this game with one of the highest price tags on the market for so long? Wow, it makes you think.

especially during the early days of the app store when there wasn't really much available, this game would have shot right up the charts and sold a ton if it were $3 or less.

[headcaseGames]

yeah, well like I was saying.. it is hard to feel bad for them 'cause they obviously didn't know what they were doing, or care (as far as pricing it properly and making money off of it).

But who knows, maybe they made a decent amount of money off of it for long enough at that price. only the guy with the numbers knows the truth :)

[freedog]

yeah, well like I was saying.. it is hard to feel bad for them 'cause they obviously didn't know what they were doing, or care (as far as pricing it properly and making money off of it).

But who knows, maybe they made a decent amount of money off of it for long enough at that price. only the guy with the numbers knows the truth :)

I doubt it. Lets face it... most people(including me) looked at the game when it was released with some interest and then saw the $8 price and thought nah I'm not paying that much for a match 3 marble shooter even if it looks good.

Think about this... they could have had a few short week or less long sales just to create some buzz and build popularity for the game. Instead they just let it sit, and it disappeared, only 13 posts here in the past 2 years and its because of the old price. During that time multiple match-3 marble shooters poured into the store for $1-3, but this one was one of the first and one of the better ones. But it was the price that killed it. Now that its $.99 fine.. good but it has a ton of more same genre competition than back then, so they would have been better off lowering the price a long time ago.

[headcaseGames]

oh. i hear what you are saying. I am just trying to express that they are a bigger, professional dev who has been around the block for awhile. it looks like they thought "hey here is a new platform, our game would be wonderful on it." Did the port and let it sit there without any further thought of it. They didn't take it seriously, they obviously aren't looking closely at forums such as this (well.. maybe they are now, a little) and that's what is to blame for this happening. they totally could have made some decent money had they been more aggressive, but it was obviously not of great concern.

it is hard to get mad at devs like that though, as they are very "old school" and used to a very established business model (Japanese as well, which only in a couple of instances has been treating the iPhone as a serious market). thinking of reducing to a $1 or $2 price was probably what they'd consider to be a slap in the face considering what DS and PSP games go for, and they were possibly thinking they should still be competing on that level (that being the case, under $10 for any piece of software by a known developer would be " a steal.")

the fact that they are coming around and adjusting the price now makes me think they are (quite late) finally paying attention to how the new market works and seeing if they can still milk some existing product for cash. but you are absolutely right, it's just a case of wasted potential...

[freedog]

Idk, I guess i'll buy it now, I remember liking the lite over a year ago. Not sure how its gonna measure up nowadays. Just read a couple reviews that say the game only has 5 levels, and that the developer has updated the app to include ads! And they did it a while back before they lowered the $8 price.

[freedog]

oh and the $.99 is just a 2 day sale just so anyone interested knows.

[headcaseGames]

ah did not know that! thanks for all the info freedog!

[bone.rate]

Does anybody know the difference between this and Puzzloop Endless? I might buy the Endless version as well :D

[headcaseGames]

2 versions wha? all i would want is an endless version (but that is just me)

[freedog]

Does anybody know the difference between this and Puzzloop Endless? I might buy the Endless version as well :D

The endless is included in Puzzloop($.99) The devs created a separate app with just the endless mode for $1.99 when the full Puzzloop was $7.99 so he could try to lure some of the people unwilling to spend the $8 to buy a portion of the game(1 mode) for $2.

Just buy the $.99 sale one and you'll get both modes.

[bone.rate]

Idk, I guess i'll buy it now, I remember liking the lite over a year ago. Not sure how its gonna measure up nowadays. Just read a couple reviews that say the game only has 5 levels, and that the developer has updated the app to include ads! And they did it a while back before they lowered the $8 price.

crap only 5 levels???:eek:

[freedog]

crap only 5 levels???:eek:

yeah, with ads apparantly according to the reviews in the store. I would suggest you try the free version first if you haven't already, then decide if you wanna buy.

[don_k]

crap only 5 levels???:eek:
There are 5-5 levels, meaning there are sublevels below the big 5.

This is the perfect example of a good game(and I know its good from trying the lite over a year ago) being so overpriced that people almost forgot it existed. 13 posts until today, been released 2 years ago, had this game been priced right or put on sale in 2008-early 2009 it would have likely made the top ten. Bad marketing and bad pricing.

Yeah it was a real gem back then. Papi Jump was still the king (Doodle Jump was still in rip-off stage), Pocket God wasn't born and Angry Birds wasn't hatched.

[don_k]

I love this game and always reminds me of the early Appstore days. Most games on Appstore were still very amateurish with zero polish.

No Need For Speed, no Scoops, no Pocket God, no Angry Birds and no Doodle Jump (the dev was still too busy playing Papi Jump).