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Tag: calvin rien

Azplode: Missile Command aficionados rejoice, your iPhone app is here

Rick Turoczy on August 25, 2009

If you grew up in the 80s or spent any time at Ground Kontrol, you’ve been there. You’re sitting there on Missile Command, blood blister on the side of your hand from catching it in the trackball, one missile launch area remaining, one missile, and a ton of inbound targets quickly descending on your last bastion of defense. And yet, you’re overcome by an almost Zen-like state of calm. Knowing full well that one well-placed missile could create a chain reaction of explosions that will carry you through to the next level.

That’s feeling right there? That’s Azplode, the latest game from Portland-based iPhone developer Calvin Rien. Hopefully, without the blood blisters. Read More

Ion Charge: Somewhere between “ridiculously addictive” and “throw your iPhone across the room”

Based on how many times I just wanted to chuck my iPhone across the room in the last 30 minutes or so, I think Portland-based iPhone developer Calvin Rien may have nailed it—with Ion Charge.

Rick Turoczy on June 12, 2009

[HTML2]Every successful game developer knows that they have to walk an extremely thin line. A psychological balance beam between aggravation and satisfaction. Make a game too easy and no one will play it. Make it too difficult and the same thing happens. The challenge is to build a game that frustrates the user enough that they find it challenging—while steering clear of so much hair tearing that they walk away, never to return. It’s a delicate balance.

And it takes skill to pull it off.

Well, based on how many times I just wanted to chuck my iPhone across the room in the last 30 minutes or so, I think Portland-based iPhone developer Calvin Rien may have nailed it—with Ion Charge. Read More