Old school challenge: NinjaBoy for iPhone and iPad

[2 Ton Studios]

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My brother and I built NinjaBoy. We're gamers that make indie games, and NinjaBoy is our first iOS title.

You don't know us, and you probably don't care all that much about what we have to say. But, we've built a game for gamers. We focused on gameplay, simple controls with depth, and a refreshingly honest challenge. We made it for guys like you. Give it a try, we'd love to know what you think.




REVIEWS + FEATURES
Indie Game Magazine: 85/100
Slide To Play: Under the Radar - Jul 27th
Arcadelife: 95/100
iPhone Life: 8/10
TheAppShack: 4/5
AppAdvice: 2/5 This one stung - especially since it seems the reviewer didn't play the game much


FOLLOW US OR GIVE FEEDBACK
https://www.facebook.com/2TonGameStudios
http://www.twitter.com/2TonStudios
http://www.2tonstudios.com/


EASY TO LEARN, TOUGH TO MASTER
Our goal was to create a game that you can pick up and start enjoying in less than 10 seconds. But we also built something that goes beyond the classic collect all the stars experience: Ninja Ranks. Ninja Ranks are earned at the end of each level -- earning a Grandmaster Rank demands a high amount of skill and smarts.


MOBILE GAMEPLAY, FOR REAL
NinjaBoy was designed from the very beginning with the iPhone and iPad in mind. We didnt just want a platformer that happens to be on your phone. So we removed on-screen controls and action buttons, used a portrait-only display, relentlessly calibrated our accelerometer based movement, and designed every single monster and level with the goal of a uniquely mobile experience.


LOTS TO LOVE
80 unique handcrafted levels, across 2 distinct areas, each with its own challenges and replayability. 6 unique enemies, plus 1 epic boss battle. 5 Unlockable Ninja Abilities: Dragon Chop, Feather Fall, Sprint, Evasion, and Masters Grace. In-game magic shop, packed with 5 unique Ninja Suits, Potions and Trinkets. And, beautiful Retina Graphics for both the iPhone and iPad.


A NEW TAKE ON NINJA
We felt that being a Ninja could be more than just beating up bad guys. So we created an experience that is equal parts fun, concentration, focus and genuine skill. Powered by challenges designed to test your mastery of the accelerometer as well as your smarts.


WERE INDIE DEVS
Just my brother and me. We make games because we love them. Hopefully it shows.

Cheers!

[psj3809]

YouTube video looks great. It seems like a clever Bombjack

What are the controls though? Are there on screen buttons?

[2 Ton Studios]

@psj3809 Thanks.

Controls are tilt to move, spent a ton of time calibrating them. We wanted to make something "authentically mobile" I know that sounds a bit dorky, but we really wanted to make a game that felt like it was optimized for the iPhone/iPad.

So we built it to be tilt to move, touch anywhere to jump (until you get the Dragon Chop ability, then you can also touch on the edge of the screen to chop), and portrait (so many platformers are landscape).

I see you're an iCade fan... and I love old school controllers as much as the next guy -- for over half my childhood I had one attached to my hand -- but we wanted to try and push for something unique to a touch/tilt device.

I hope you give it a try, hope even more that you like it .

Cheers!

[psj3809]

Thanks for the quick response. Game looks great but I'm not a fan of tilt controls - sorry! Hope an update might add buttons though!

Good luck with it

[2 Ton Studios]

Got it... . Sent you a PM... hope you give it a try . Cheers!

[AnarKitty]

I like the looks of the gameplay - puzzle Bombjack, indeed - and the animation looks promising in the video. It does look fun, but I'm wondering how many levels the game has, what replayability is like, and whether you plan to support GameCenter, among other things.

Also, do you have any plans to incorporate other control schemes as an update? You've definitely got my attention with what little I've seen, though. By the way, welcome to the tA forums - we're a friendly lot here, and actually like to engage with developers.

[2 Ton Studios]

@AnarKitty Thanks for the kind words, means a lot, indie dev, first iOS game and all .

80 levels, 4 bonus coin challenge levels, across 2 distinct regions: Dojo and Hito's Wall. So quite a bit of gameplay, we hope at least .

My brother and I worked hard on the replayability aspect. We design it so that is was fun to just go through the game once, collect as many stars as you can, save some gold for 1 or 2 ninja suits and hopefully take down Lord Hito. But every game does that .

So we also designed this whole concept of Ninja Rank. Each level you're ranked across three categories: Stars, Time and Efficiency. Getting Grandmaster on all three categories earns you a Grandmaster Badge, get all 80 badges and you unlock the White Storm Shadow inspired ninja suit.

Getting Grandmaster Badges is a real challenge, we designed it specifically for gamers like us, ones that enjoy a real challenge, similar to the games we grew up with: MegaMan, Mario, Zillion, Metroid, etc.

Not sure on the other control schemes , we really wanted the game to be "authentically mobile"... so what the heck does that mean?

Well, there are tons of great platformers from the past and on mobile devices that use on-screen controls. Although we love a lot of the mobile ones and are clearly inspired by the classics, we felt that the virtual controller route always worked better on a console or PC with a real controller. So going with no on screen control was definitely a risk, but something that we (1) put a ton of effort into calibrating, designing the gameplay around and pacing (so people can get familiar with it), and (2) really wanted to try to see if we could deliver an experience that you really can only get on a tilt/touch device. Hopefully you guys are willing to give it a try.

Definitely have plans for GameCenter, we're actually working on an update as I type this that unlocks a unique area that is only accessible to players that have unlocked the White NinjaSuit and is tied into GameCenter rankings -- kind of like an elite area for only the very best players.

We also have plans for several more areas, this release is really our Episode 4, our goal is to release Episode 5 and 6 in the coming months.

Cheers!

[AnarKitty]

Thanks for the prompt reply, and all the great information.

The reason I asked about implementing other control schemes is because of the hundreds of previous iOS action titles that started out with a similarly noble and pure desire to work out a novel, mobile-friendly control scheme for their great new game only to discover a lot of buyer resistance due simply to a lack of choices, and a perceived dislike of the one chosen.

Tilt is the classic example, and it has caused a lot of devs to come back with later updates that offer other choices to break down that resistance from potential early buyers. If people feel they are offered a choice, they will buy, and in many cases will often prefer the one you worked so hard on, anyway.

I'm especially heartened that you have built this title with replayability in mind, and that you are coming at this as real gamers who appreciate the subtleties that make a game more than a bus ride trifle. It's not about the value - that many levels for a small price is great - but the fact that when a gamer really loves a game, they want to be able to keep playing and enjoying it.

I'm looking forward to playing to playing this as soon as I can, and wish you the best of luck from the beginning.

[2 Ton Studios]

@AnarKitty Thanks for the taking the time to share your thoughts and encouragement, means a lot!

I'm going to try and holdfast on the tilt thing... but I totally hear and understand what you're saying .

Look forward to hearing what you think of the game, also feel free to ping me on twitter, facebook or PM me here:
https://www.facebook.com/2TonGameStudios
http://www.twitter.com/2TonStudios

Cheers!

[RunnyGnome]

Argh! So torn on this one! Everything about the game looks fantastic, it's just that Tilt controls don't seem fun or intuitive to me... Even if they are implemented well, I still can't stand them. I don't want to twist and turn my iPod to fumble my charecter around, I want to use buttons! Still, might have to give this a go.