Let the Alien with a Magnet pull you in + Donating time
Is it an arcade game? A puzzle game? A platformer? Some new-fangled pinball game? It’s hard to say – and honestly, maybe it is a little bit of all of these formats – but Alien with a Magnet certainly has a vibe all its own.
This Windows Phone game by Netherlands-based indie developer Lukas Hoenderdos of Rejected Games, has more than 45 levels where you must carefully maneuver your little green alien in his spacecraft around oddly shaped planets collecting stars, jewels and other shiny objects that seem to be orbiting each planet.
Use a light touch
You can play the game with just one finger – a nice touch. To move in the game, you hold your finger down on top of (or near) the planet that you want to travel around. So, in some ways your finger is like a magnet attracting the alien. Let go and the alien flies off in whatever direction he was heading in at that time.
Here’s where timing comes in. You want to release your finger just at the point when you are moving in the direction of the next planet that requires navigating, so you can collect more stars and whatnot. If you miss, you will fly off course, and possibly even crash into meteors or other space-based junk. At that point, it’s a do-over for you as you restart the level.
As you might expect, the levels in the game continue to get progressively harder and more detailed. Additionally, there is a timed mode, so you can see how quickly you can complete levels in the game.
Handcrafted for your enjoyment
Another nice touch is the fact that the game is, as the developer notes, “handcrafted.” The amount of effort required to build this game can be seen in the detail rendered in each level – down to the specific placement of each and every obstacle. All of the geeks out there will appreciate that the developer used Unity to build the game.
And then there is the animation style itself. That cute little bugged-eyed alien appears to be something of an homage to filmmaker and animator Don Hertzfeldt. We say this in part because the developer at Rejected Games attributes his company name back to some of Don’s earlier work; and if you look at Don’s animation you will certainly see sources of inspiration for the alien in the game.
Right now, Alien with a Magnet is one of the three Red Stripe Deals in the Windows Phone Store, and is available for just $0.99 (USD) – half off the regular price for the next week.
Need another reason to try Alien with a Magnet? The game just won 3rd place in the Unity Windows Phone 8 app contest.
You can learn more about the game from the official site.
It’s time to make a donation
Do you need to keep track of time – down to the millisecond? Then you should take a look at Avirall Time Suite, which is another Red Stripe Deal, and a Windows Phone exclusive app. But, don’t mistake it for simply a stopwatch – you actually get a suite of five professional grade time-keeping tools. Avirall includes a Quick Stopwatch, Stopwatch Pro for sports use and students, Timer Pro, Activity Logger, and Project tracker to keep track of projects, tasks, money, profits, and payments. You can create and maintain multiple timekeepers with each of the tools and keep them running for as long as you need. Timekeepers in Avirall maintain themselves even if you shut your device off completely, and you can edit, remove, or keep timekeepers on your device.
Right now, Avirall Time Suite is only $0.99 (USD) in the Windows Phone Store, a 75% discount off its regular price. And, the developer of the app, Sanjay Sharma, has promised to donate a portion of the proceeds from the revenue generated by the purchase of Avirall Time Suite while it is a Red Stripe Deal to the relief efforts for those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. So you get a great app, and the relief effort will get much needed donations.
More information about Avirall Time Suite is available on the developer’s website.