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The world of apps and smartphones primarily started off with Apple‘s iPhone in June 2007, with Google soon following up with the Android OS.
At that time, the South-Asian market was full of “old school” mobile phones, and the so-called Symbian “smartphones”. For a common user, coloured screens and polyphonic ringtones were the best that our market had to offer.
However, it’s a different story today. These days we can get our hands on a touch-based smartphone by spending almost the same amount that bought us a coloured-screen polyphonic ringtone phone back in the day.
In the past half-decade, there has been an exponential increase in active smartphone users, which has given the mobile app business a big boost and the major chunk of this business falls under the mobile games genre, thanks to touch-based devices.
There are thousands of games available for touch phones built by companies belonging to every region of the globe, and it is certainly heart-warming to know that Pakistani companies have also contributed to this list. I did a bit of research and found some mobile games, developed by companies from Pakistan, that are definitely worth playing.
Candy Pot
Developed by Pi Labs, this game introduces us to “TinTin” a cute little pot that likes to munch candies. The objective of the game is to feed “TinTin” by creating and clearing a path for candies dropped from above. This physics-based game engages the players in different puzzle-like scenarios, and believe me when I say that to excel at some of the levels, you’ll have to really make your brain cells work. However, the game is forgiving enough to let you try your luck time and again; it even gives some hints. All in all, with some amazing graphics combined with cool music/sound-effects and an awesome gameplay, I found this game to be fun, cute and very addictive. I’d definitely go on and spend a few bucks to upgrade to the full version. The only thing that I hold against it is that this game is only available on iOS; hopefully Pi Labs will look into building one for Android users as well.
Candy Monster
This is a fast-paced survival game developed by Folio3. In this game you’ll be controlling “Camo” who is a cute monster with a sweet tooth; the objective is to stay alive and collect as many candies as you can. Along the way you’ll find powerful pickups like candy-magnet and speed-rockets which can help you achieve a new high score. But things are not as simple as they seem; you’ll also have to cope with perilous terrain: ice, spikes and what not. I like the graphics and sound-effects, and like all survival games your skills will be tested as the difficulty level increases over time, which will make it more of a challenge. The game is free and is available for Android devices only.
Fishing Frenzy
We can go fishing in this game designed and developed by Tintash and Algotrek. The objective is to catch as many fish in a given time, while making sure not to catch electric eels, which can give quite a bit of a shock! The device’s accelerometer is used to control the fishing reel and the boat which makes the gameplay quite interesting. I found the graphics to be alright, but the sound and the physics are great. This game has been around for a couple of years and is only available on iOS devices. It would be a nice addition to the Android market if Tintash and Algotrek decide to go for it.
Tap Fish
Developed by Gameview Studios, this game gives players their very own fish aquarium. Players have to fill it up with all the fish they like; keeping them fed and happy is the objective. Players can also buy new fish or breed new species by using two different kinds of fish that they already own. The gameplay is ok, but I found a few things pretty annoying about it; for instance, it takes an awful lot of time to start the game, and I felt the graphics and sound are not up to the mark. Although it is available on both iOS and Android which is a big plus, but in my opinion if Gameview Studios improve the visuals and sound, this game will become a lot more fun to play and even the loading time wouldn’t seem that bad.
Carumba
This is a car racing game developed by Ten Pearls, available for both iOS and Android platforms. In the basic version, you can choose to go for a trial around an elliptical race track with the only available car, or if you are feeling brave, you can choose directly to race with other opponents. Winning races will earn you coins which can be spent to unlock more cars and tracks. I found this game to be just okay, neither spectacular nor horrible. The gameplay isn’t outstanding, and the same can be said for the physics, graphics and sound. There are a lot of ads in the free version, which can be stopped by upgrading to the paid version, and frankly speaking I wouldn’t do that; not for a game that is just average. A decent effort though, and I believe that in the near future TenPearls will build on their experience and make this game rock.
When it comes to market shares iTunes is way ahead than Google’s Play Store, but it has been predicted that by the end of 2013 the story will be different. Pakistani companies have come forward and have started to develop mobile games for both these markets, and it seems that the time when a super-hit mobile game developed by a Pakistani team comes out is not that far.
