Underplayed games & hidden gems

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012.

  1. Drakeer Melkhor

    Drakeer Melkhor Well-Known Member

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  2. laszlo_kovacs

    laszlo_kovacs Well-Known Member

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  3. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Dont know if i mentioned it before but my other underated gem is...

    Final Run

    Its a great driving game, a bit like Mad Max where you have to shoot/damage other cars. Theres a great story to it with small cut scenes in between the different sections.

    The graphics surprised me as they were far better than i thought from a small dev team. Post-apocalyptic type stuff i love and this game so far is pressing all the right buttons.

    Well worth checking out
     
  4. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

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    #104 Darth Ronfar, Dec 23, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2012
    *thanks
     
  5. kaibosh

    kaibosh Well-Known Member

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    I want to mention 'Hill Climb Racing', which a lot of people sneered at for it's gutter production values and initial seemingly horrific physics. This to me has been of the most important releases of the year. Fully spec out the monster truck and dig in, this game features the absolute best inertia/traction and driving theory I have seen in any game short of Trials HD. It is stark, it is simple, and I have spent more hours on this game than I care to admit. It is an accidental genius of a game, and deserves to be recognized as such. For TA to completely shun this game in every way tells me they played all of 40 seconds of it before killing the app in disgust. So did I, but when I gave it a serious chance I was blown away by just how insanely accurate the physics are as far as 'loading up' your suspension and using that to bounce up some freakishly impossible hills.

    I would rank this game in the top ten releases for iOS (and android) of this year.
     
  6. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    So you call Hill climb racing an underplayed & a hidden game? Lmao. The game was #1 on the AppStore for a time and it's still in the top idk.. 100 at least. It has good physics but here is where it stops... A few maps, few cars and a simple gameplay. There are better games out there. This game is just for the mainstream casual audience.
     
  7. kaibosh

    kaibosh Well-Known Member

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    There is not one thread on the forums about it, and the TA guys have summarily ignored it. Name one game that does this genre better. MotoHeroz? Hardly. Bike Baron? Nope. Rock(s) Riders? Uhhhhh... No.
     
  8. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

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    It's currently #15 on AppStore and has almost 14k reviews. It's true that it didnt get much attention here on TA though (but I'm not saying that it should).

    Of course Bike baron is better. Hundreds of levels, 3D graphics, better physics, custom levels, level building constant updates etc. Hill climb has none of those, it has just a few levels. They spawn you in a level and you just drive and pick up coins - that's it. And it's also Free 2 play. As I said before it's a game for the casual audience. For people that play only fruit ninja, angry birds and temple run.
     
  9. funkynubman

    funkynubman Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2009
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    Right. Behind. You.
    Anybody remember Eliss? Came out when the second generation iPod touch was hot. Now that was a cool game, never even made it to the newer Retina stuff though.
     
  10. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

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    I was just checking the screenshots, but I fail to see what's the game about. Can you tell what you actually do in this game?
     
  11. bramblett05

    bramblett05 Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2012
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    Osiris legends yay or nay? Is the save bug there?
     
  12. Peewhy

    Peewhy Well-Known Member

    Mar 27, 2012
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    yes it's still there
     
  13. bramblett05

    bramblett05 Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2012
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    Ok ill pass till a fix is solved
     
  14. Drummerboycroy

    Drummerboycroy Well-Known Member

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    Agreed totally. I actually just loaded this on to my iPad to play through it again. Looks and controls great on the iPad 1.

    Kind of sad that this dropped off so quick, as it obviously took some effort to produce.

    Ah, the ever-increasing pace of the App Store...:rolleyes:

    DBC
     
  15. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
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    #115 Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2013
    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    Pangolin

    Note... I am the developer, but I do really think it's a game that deserves attention. If you feel differently, definitely feel free to say. It's is a physics-based arcade game that turns the classic platformer on its head. Instead of controlling the character, you control the platforms.


    Electric Box - It's is a solid puzzle game. Probably not well known game around here, but the levels are cleverly designed and you have to get the source of power to the target by placing bunches of items. It's free.

    Super Knocked Out Boxing 2 - Great classic game. U can beat the game without IAP purchases.


    Jaggy Race/AeroDrift - 3D racing game. Love the graphics and physics in this game, feels really great to play.

    The Infinity Project 2 - feels like a mixture of fallout 3/halo and it has multiplayer but no one seems to play it at all,people should really play this game more


    Xenome Episode 1 A third person post apocalyptic game which is a feel of WoW and fallout but it's solo so if you like 3rd person more than 1st get this instead of TFP2


    I don't mean to be pushy, but u all need to play infinity project 2 by crazy robot games, it's an open world post apoctoliptic shooter in the veins of fallout 3 and new Vegas
    It's only 99 cents for a short time!!!

    One amazing hidden gem is Cook, serve, delicious!. A hardcore restaurant management simulator!

    Hey, just thought I'd be cheeky and list our game, Forever Lost: Episode 1. It's been getting some great user reviews but I am sad to say that it is definitely underplayed. I guess it's up to you guys to decide if it really is a hidden gem :)

    A Little Turbulence - Retro Endless Top Down Cloud Flyer
    Be2 - Escape From Pingland - Dungeon Crawling Pong Adventure
    Doptrix - A Unique Tetris-inspired Puzzler
    Four Winds Fantasy - All of this dev's games are a trip. RPG
    Glitch Tank - Retro Strategy Boardgame
    Globulous - Tetrisphere for iPhone
    Horror Vaccui 2 - Retro Abstract Strategy Boardgame from the creator of The Last Rocket
    Impossible Pixel - Retro Meatboy-esque Platformer
    Infinite - Minimalist Planetary Obstacle Avoidance
    Infinity Run 3D - An unoriginal but well-executed behind-the-back runner
    Kale in Dinoland - Perhaps the most authentic and creative retro platformer on iOS
    Magnetic Shaving Derby - Bizarre but entertaining retro-styled game from the creators of Forget.Me.Not
    Mini Dash A poorly advertised but solid Meatboy-esque offering from Chillingo
    Neutron - Three Dimensional Vector interpretation of the Tron Lightbikes
    Nom Nation - The single greatest advertisement I have ever seen
    Patientia - Another unique Tetris-inspired Puzzler
    Polyroll - Brilliant Sonic-inspired Retro Platformer from the creator of Clash Force
    Pygmies Hoglet EX - Excellent Tamagotchi-inspired RPG - now in color!
    Railbot - A new but still little-known endless slider
    Raptured - Tongue-in-cheek but nicely executed celebration of the end of the world by the creator of Danmaku Unlimited
    Rogue Miner - Mining-themed Roguelike
    Rogue Ninja - Ninja-themed Roguelike
    Run, Jump, Kill! - Dark stylized Hack & Slash
    Splishi Splashi - Colorful Retro interpretation of Mighty Fin
    Squarescape - Minimalist Room Escape Puzzler
    Super Durak - Beautifully Designed Card Game
    Tactical Warrior Minimally Designed but sophisticated Strategy Game
    The CATch! Behind-the-back Cat Runner

    Final Run Its a great driving game, a bit like Mad Max where you have to shoot/damage other cars. Theres a great story to it with small cut scenes in between the different sections.
    The graphics surprised me as they were far better than i thought from a small dev team. Post-apocalyptic type stuff i love and this game so far is pressing all the right buttons.

    I want to mention Hill Climb Racing, which a lot of people sneered at for it's gutter production values and initial seemingly horrific physics. This to me has been of the most important releases of the year. Fully spec out the monster truck and dig in, this game features the absolute best inertia/traction and driving theory I have seen in any game short of Trials HD. It is stark, it is simple, and I have spent more hours on this game than I care to admit. It is an accidental genius of a game, and deserves to be recognized as such. For TA to completely shun this game in every way tells me they played all of 40 seconds of it before killing the app in disgust. So did I, but when I gave it a serious chance I was blown away by just how insanely accurate the physics are as far as 'loading up' your suspension and using that to bounce up some freakishly impossible hills.
    I would rank this game in the top ten releases for iOS (and android) of this year.

    Anybody remember Eliss? Came out when the second generation iPod touch was hot. Now that was a cool game, never even made it to the newer Retina stuff though.

    Lord of the Roads - Being a big fan of magic cube I felt like they really nailed it on the head with Lord of the Roads. Combing RPGs elements with a shootem up type game. I felt that it was not just unique but also alot of fun. When it was initially released it had some popularity but eventually it plummeted to the abyss of games that are hidden from the pubic eye. I guess the biggest downfall was it's lack of replayabilty. Although there is a good bit up lvling up diff characters it still is basically the same game over and over.

    Ecapology
    - this game can get really difficult and it was designed that way. Made by someone on a bus in-between tours, it doesn't come off feeling like game made by someone with no knowledge of game development. It's a unique concept for a puzzle game and one I'd def. recommend.

    Love, Hate and the other ones - a fairly new realease, it didn't get the attention it deserved I feel. Esp being an award winning game. It's a puzzle game based on calling to or moving away different little blob characters. You control the 2 main characters Love and Hate. Love calls the "other ones" towards her with a kiss while hate does the opposite. For a game that I feel is pretty deep and polished I felt like it should have atleast been a gotw nominee but unfortunately it's lack of popularity kept it off the polls.

    Spooky Hoofs(was surprised to find out not a lot have heard of this game)


    Captain Antarctica (this came out before Super Mole Escape, and they are very similar, and both are pretty fun. This didnt get the attention it deserves either)
     
  16. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
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    #116 Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 28, 2012
    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    More room
     
  17. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

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    #117 Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2013
    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    Names only:

    Highborn
    Jazz - Trump's Journey
    Junk Jack
    Bug Heroes
    Mad Chef

    Blast off by halfbrick

    Continuity 2
    Contre Jour
    The Creeps!
    Clash Force
    Gene Effect
    Eve of Impact
    OmegaPixel
    Necrorun
    Monkey Ninja

    -Amazing Breaker
    -Ninja Fishing
    -Glow Fish
    -Prizma
    -Mask of Ninja
    -Dark Nebula 2
    -Radiant TD
    -Blockwick
    -Fantasy Defense
    -Swordigo
    -Mad Acorns
    -Cut the buttons
    - Junk Jack

    Galaxy Empire
    Lords and Knights
    Jot Agent
    ThisLife
    OrganiDo

    The Secret of the Chateau de Moreau
    The Quest (and Cursed Chess Set)
    Gamebook Adventures

    Flip Riders
    Pudding Panic
    Muffin Knight
    Stinger Foosball League

    Diablo dice
    Quarrel Deluxe
    Helsing's Fire
    soosiz
    Mini motor racing

    Zzed
    Joining hands
    Isotope
    Toon shooters
    Icarus x
    Color bandits
    Civiballs

    Some runners i think are underplayed but deserve more attention:

    Kinito Ninja
    Monkey Ninja
    IX-Runner
    Necrorun
    Steel Runner
    Crazy Control 2
    Blood Run
     
  18. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

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    #118 Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2013
    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    Color Attack - It spells the word of a color and you have to click the right color. For example, it would say "Red" but the font is purple and below is a chart of colors and you have to tap the correct color

    Bouncy! - While this game may not be that hidden it definetly should be played. It's an insanely fun 99c game with no Iap or any of that. You control a rabbit on a trampoline you hold down to jump then hold either side to do flips. Sounds pretty mediocre but its anything but. As you progress the challenges will keep you playing. It's nice to see a game like this, hopefully it's doing we'll.

    Puk - is a crazy fast little game where you take on the task of dragging and slingshotting little discs into circles before the bar closes and time runs out. After each successful round you move on to the next with growing difficulty. This game probly won't wow you with stunning visuals or a long driven story, but as a fast paced little gem it will keep you entertained and having fun.

    Blue Toad Murder Files - A fun story driven Puzzler where you take the role of a Detective trying to figure out the reason for All the strange happenings going around. At 6 Episodes there is a whole lot of game to be played. The Story is very good and the graphics make you feel right at home in the small village of Little Riddle.

    Silversword - It's a marvelous little homage to the original Bard's tale games, with one of the most active and responsive devs of any game I've ever seen. It's constantly being updated, and has a rediculous amount of content. Also, you get to customize a party of SEVEN adventurers. I can't reccommend this game enough if you're looking for a truly old school experience.

    Knights of the Phantom Castle - is an amazing "real time strategy" game where you control a small team of 3 units (each can have an accompanying minion) through a series of puzzle like action battles. There's a lot of unit management upgrades/equiptment. The controls are line drawing based with tap, swipe/flick (from character), or drag to initiate special attacks. I am sure Battleheart was inspired by Knights of the Phantom Castle but the controls are similar (although Battleheart is simplified). I revisited it recently and the graphics hold up very well on my 5G although not widescreen. It's one of my favorite iOS games but never got much attention.

    Cavern is a very decent roguelike that is easily overlooked. It just got a total re-write incorporating ally NPCs, secret rooms, and other changes that make it stand out against other roguelikes. It's unassuming and easily overlooked but a lot of fun. The current build crashes sometimes but a fix is in the works.

    Maybe I'm a bit biased but I think my game Book Stacker hasn't gotten the attention that it deserves. Great little app to kill a minute or two while you're waiting for something

    I bought Dungeon Village this weekend ($3.99) and I ended up spending ten hours playing it Sunday.

    Basically it is a village managing game, but you manage a village in a fantasy RPG world, so heroes go through your town and buy items from your shops, etc. Super addictive if you like village sims + retro rpg. There is a free trial version you can try as well.

    Unknown Orbit- is a really fun and emersive 3D Tiny Wings like game with an awesome dynamic soundtrack. Didn't make nearly the impact that it should have in the media.

    This is a bit biased. But check out Aiko Island!

    It was our first game and has 5 Stars across the board.
    Nissa Campbell of TA gave it a 4 Stars review with this quote:

    “if I could play just one game in this genre, I’d seriously consider choosing this one.”

    Unfortunately it completely bombed, but we are still really proud of it.
    This is because everyone we show it to ends up becoming totally addicted and loving it.

    We went totally overkill on the depth of mechanics, worlds, music, animation, level design...everything. It ended up taking 8 months of complete and has 126 levels.

    Pocket Ninjas - more mature fruit ninja clone, and plays, looks, and sounds very well too.

    Omegapixel - has some sort of Tilt to Live vibe, but with touch controls, and a teleporting twist to it. All in glorious retro, and totally free. IAPs certainly not needed.

    Gene Effect - one of the best adventure/exploration games on the appstore, and i dont think it got the attention it deserves.

    Space Disorder - When this first arrived the devs chose to use controls as swipes, wasnt a huge success, people asked for virtual buttons and an update finally arrived with much better controls. I do think devs should add alternative controls, too many times i read 'we've got our own new way of controlling the character' which often fails. If possible have a backup control scheme of traditional buttons etc... Graphics are very good, game plays very well, well worth checking out and top marks to the devs for listening here

    Kid Vector - I love platform games and with vector graphics this makes this game great in my view, plays veryw ell.

    Manos - The Hand of Fate - Got a very tough review here at Touch Arcade but i think its a great nod to the old NES classics.

    Run Kitty Run - Great graphics, good controls, wellw orth checking

    Commander Cool/ Commander Pixman
    - Two great retro style platformers, a lot of levels for your money

    PDA Games
    - I've mentioned this a few times, its a superb basic platformer, simple old skool graphics but a lot of levels and a lot of fun. A great

    Here are some over-looked/under-rated games that I've really enjoyed and are still on my device:

    Fall of Angels - iOS exclusive JRPG
    Knights of the Phantom Castle - small scale puzzle real time strategy with RPG elements
    Partia: The Broken Lineage - strategy turn based combat RPG
    Doomsday II: Legions of Hell - first person shooter with tons of free DLC (from the iOS developers of Shadow Warrior)
    Cars and Guns 3D - racing/combat arcade game
    Battles and Castles - 3D turn based strategy
    Silversword - first person RPG
    Football Management RPG - text based management RPG
    Dungeon Heroes - slower paced campaign based action RPG��
    Zombie Glider - indie endless "runner"��
    Aurum Blade - KRPG hack 'n slash (currently free)
    Guardian Saga - smaller scale retro JRPG (great Dragon Warrior homage)
    180 - color matching puzzle shooter (better than it sounds)
    Turbo Flick Demon GPU - flick based arcade game
    Soccer Puzzle League - match-3 "combat" puzzle game (similar to Dungeon Raid).
    Meow Meow Happy Fight - zany dual stick shooter

    +1 to QuestLord; but as a top 200 game and Touch Arcade forum's Game of the Week when release I'm not sure it's been un-noticed.

    Growtopia growtopia and growtopia. Screw every other game, I've given them all up for growtopia.
    Going to have to start a growtopians anonymous group.

    A Monster Ate My Homework -Totally forgot about this, but the new Toy Story game reminded me of it...

    Galaxy Overlords is a really fun game, it's like Battlehearts but sci-fi and loot driven.

    14px- This is the best Super Meat Boy-esque platformer I've played on IOS. 70 very challenging levels and tight controls make this one of my favorite platformers. Prepare to die a lot

    Penumbear
    - Another difficult platformer, more puzzle based. 100 large levels, bosses, a very cool art style, unique light/shadows mechanic, and great controls

    Bezier - Physics puzzler, minimalist design, manipulate a line to allow a ball to collect pickups.

    Bullet Train Hell - Retro puzzle platformer, challenging levels with great puzzle mechanics

    Ninjas - the stolen scrolls is not getting any attention so far. I'd say its a good game with similar gameplay to castle crashers but slightly difficult to learn but satisfying to master controls. Only a dollar. If they added standard d-pad controls it could be even better though.

    Worm Run - an incredibly addictive arcade style game where you try and outrun a giant worm using a jet pack. Best "jet pack" based game on the AppStore.
    This deserved to be a very successful game, but, it never got much exposure.

    Raptured! By Sunny Tam - best Sunny Tam game IMO. Sunny also made Danmaku 1 and 2.
     
  19. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
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    #119 Darth Ronfar, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2013
    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    Go Go Pixel - retro platformer, pixel art style, some cool mechanics

    Draw Rider Plus - a very challenging physics bike game, tons of levels, a level editor with some really tough user levels, different vehicles, rider dismemberment

    Kona's Crate - a physics puzzle platformer, have to get your crate to the finish area through each shorr twisting level rife with traps and obstacles, unique controls that are easy to learn but very tough to master

    Backflip Madness - not much of a structured game, but fun to play with. A variety of locations, different backflips to try, a low gravity mode, funny ragdoll physics

    Ending - a minimalist puzzle roguelike inspired by chess. Has a puzzle mode that introduces the mechanics and enemies, a randomized rogue-esque adventure, and a level editor

    Bitless
    - a super challenging one-touch platformer. Timing is everything

    Wipeout - yes, based on the obstacle course tv show. Surprisingly the game is a lot of fun, the touch controls are great, and the wipeouts are just as funny here.

    Turret Tilt - An fun challenging arcade shooter with a large number of upgradeable weapons and mix of tilt and touch controls. You can easily play this game with one hand. And while there is IAP, it's absolutely unnecessary

    Inc - A great platformer/shooter style game

    Little Acorns - A brilliant platformer

    Polyroll - Like a NES version of Sonic

    Clash Force - A great retro style game, side scrolling. From the maker of Polyrol

    Wanted to recommend Sling It. Actually it's the sequel to Pollushot, with leaderboards, stackable powerups, upgrades, and more enemy variety

    Space Bits - A SHMUP-RPG hybrid

    This part from the TA review sold me:

    You can choose to min-max your ship, going for a pure glass-cannon build, a cautious turtle build, a risk-reward dodge setup, or anything in-between. For the most part, the statistical enhancements are noticeable, and it was fun to choose how I wanted my ship to evolve.

    And the dev is working on an update that adds new weapons, enemies, upgrades, more levels, etc.

    Just went back to play Kale in Dinoland

    A great homepage to old GameBoy games. Manage to finally get off the first main level as well (it is frustrating as there's no continues)

    Hard but a nice little game

    race.a.bit is my hidden gem as of recently. I'm suprised it never got more attention.

    Ninjin -This little gem received no attention whatsoever at it's release.

    Short description: great pixel graphics, great gameplay, intuitive controls, no IAPs (except one for unlocking the full game), lots of items to get, 3 game modes, has humor in it, lots of replay-ability.

    Shuttle Scuttle - 8 bit, NES like space shooter, 32 levels, 8 bosses, power ups, Game Center achivements, leaderboard

    Radiant - vector like retro shooter with even more stages,bosses,,power ups than Shuttle Scuttle

    Dropzap and Dropzap 2 are 2 games I had forgotten about - good fun

    Cubemen and Cubemen 2 .

    One of the funnest games I've ever played.

    It has online multiplayer with pc and ios. Extremely fun.

    The developer is extremely hard working and listening too.

    I really hoped this will appear on the top charts but it didnt (due to 1 star reviews because a lot of people crash) :( If you dont want to risk it try buying the steam version if you can (they're exactly the same according to dev) http://store.steampowered.com/app/207250/

    it needs more support.

    Sorry if this game has been mentionned before but what the hell it deserves all the attention it can get: Rico
    It's a retro platformer and don't be fooled by the simple graphics; it gets really challenging later on and you can even adjust the difficulty.

    Space qube is quite good, with little fanfare.

    I Am Box - free
    iTunes | TA thread
    Action game that provides healthy dose of frustration and amusement for you, and your children. Can you reach its end?
    [​IMG]

    Saw this on Reddit. It's really fun and quite challenging, definitely worth a download

    Bionic surfer.
    Its a great platformer with controls being a wee bit akward.

    Duet Game is really good.
     
  20. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
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    Underplayed games & hidden gems

    More room
     

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