Readers Game – Swipe Soccer HD
While in hospital I had a chance to play Swipe Soccer HD created by blog reader Markus Halttunen for the iPad. This is a great game that is very polished and uses what I think is a unique control mechanism.
There are plenty of line drawing games available such as Flight Control allow the player to draw the route they would like a plane or other game object to follow, making sure there are no collisions etc. In Swipe Soccer HD you use a very similar approach to controlling the players on the pitch. You can drag your finger around providing realtime movement around the pitch for the selected player, or draw a path you want the player to follow while you move other players on the pitch.
The game is a real mix of strategy and realtime play. I’m not sure I’ve seen this type of control used in another game and I think Markus has done a great job in implementing how the controls work in the game. They are fluid and feel very natural after a while.
I think Markus could have started a new genre of line drawing game with this and I really hope that Swipe Soccer HD is a great success.
It’s really easy to fall into the habit of using tried and tested control mechanics in games, such as joypads. While there is nothing wrong with this and there are many situations where this works well, it’s great to see people experimenting with different ways of controlling a game. Given the huge number of indie developers on the iOS platforms, I think that we could see a huge amount of innovation coming from the indie world where people are not shy about trying out new ideas.
Great job Markus. Now I just need to try to get my iPad off my youngest son who has not stopped playing Swipe Soccer since I let him try it out ;o)
Mike
5 Comments
Simon on September 28th, 2010
I’m not a fan of football, but, this game is cracking. I really love the controls and I’d love to know more about how you’re handling touches to achieve such great results.
Awesome game – I’ll be sure and recommend this to my football loving friend.
digitalcassette on October 3rd, 2010
Very awesome control scheme in this game. These guys really know how to interact with their game.
C. A. Beninati on October 21st, 2010
So, I’ve beaten Swipe Soccer HD and am actively awaiting an update!
leoavesani on November 3rd, 2010
Wow, that’s a great game. Very simple and really fun! Loved it.
Josh on September 27th, 2010
Looks great Mike, thanks for the link.
Where should we send our games your tutorials help create? I don’t see an e-mail address on the blog.
Best regards,
Josh