Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, iPhone, App Store
TUAW Hands On: Lumen
Lumen is one of those games, that like the Mahjongg game I reviewed a few weeks ago has suffered from a syndrome I'm now calling "too good a game on too small a screen". Let me start by saying, I love this game. It's brilliant, it's fun, it's challenging. The idea is this: you move around reflectors that bend lasers and that provide additive color until you fully light up all targets on the screen. There are a gadzillion puzzles available, mostly donated by users, and it's a blast to play.
Follow the jump to read more about this game.
That having been said, it's just not a great match to the iPhone screen. As with Mahjong, the iPhone pieces are just too darn small. I found it insanely frustrating to play -- at the same time, I couldn't stop playing because the puzzles are totally engrossing. Like Mahjong, I think the game needs some re-design to make it iPhone friendly.
One thing the developer, Bridger Maxwell, could do right away is make the entire reflector square touchable. Right now, only the solid triangle of the reflector can be dragged. The game really is a "block" oriented one so this would only enhance the gameplay.
Another thing to do would be to get rid of the ornamental space around the board and increase the size of each of the blocks accordingly. Even a pixel or two counts on a screen this small.
Other ideas include fliping the game orientation from vertical to landscape and adding modes for the light sources and filters. Landscape orientation could introduce more room (at the possible cost of the existing game puzzles if the proportions change). The triangles already flip from one orientation to another on tapping. Extending this to the other two game pieces would free up a huge amount of screen space.
So in the end, my review is "right idea, wrong interface". It's not as if the game is far off from where it needs to be but right now I'm rating it a may-buy rather than a must-buy. And at $1.99, it's priced well below what it really could sell for given its gameplay.
Lumen [AppStore link] is available for both iPhone and iPod touch.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fritz Laurel said 9:33AM on 8-06-2008
Best I can tell, nothing happens in the first 45 seconds of the video. They might want to fix that, cuz right now that video makes it look like a really boring game. Just sayin.
And yes, it looks like this game would benefit greatly from a larger screen.
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Chou said 9:40AM on 8-06-2008
Did anyone notice the puzzle name at 1:49... BIG COCK
That's likely to push away Apple's attention
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Tim said 10:39AM on 8-06-2008
How did you notice that?!
Chou said 10:44AM on 8-06-2008
I was watching and one frame had it. It was in capitol letters and
right smack in the middle... the correct question would be: How could
I NOT notice that?
I had to back it up to make sure I saw what I really saw!
Tony said 11:45AM on 8-06-2008
The puzzles are made by other people and submitted.
On the one hand, this means there are lots of them.. on the other hand, names such as the one you notice are not uncommmon. Also some people seem to delight in creating physically impossible puzzles (although I'm getting better at spotting those now).
Bridger Maxwell said 10:32PM on 8-06-2008
(From the developer)
Woah, I definitely did not ever notice that! I have to approve the puzzles before they go live. I have no idea when that one got through. I have removed it from the database though, it was completely inappropriate. I have to admit though, it was kinda funny how it ended up on my demo video.
Ed said 9:58AM on 8-06-2008
When I get my iPhone, I'll be buying this.
The suggestions made in the review sound reasonable. Anything that can be done to make it easier to use on a touch screen is important.
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Dan said 12:51PM on 8-06-2008
this is like Aargon Deluxe, a venerable Mac OS 9 app:
http://www.twilightgames.com/aargondeluxe/aargondeluxe_info.htm
alert the copyright police!
dd
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Robert said 3:53PM on 8-06-2008
And also like Chromatron 1, 2, 3, and 4, which run on OS X and are free:
http://silverspaceship.com/chromatron/
l337sp34kr said 3:32PM on 8-06-2008
You know what game I'd like available for the iPhone?
Ricochet
Does anyone remember that one? You controlled a ball's movement around a space with angled walls. The point was to fall thru a hole in the stage to get to the next level. My favorite was the stage whose password was "donttouchme."
http://www.ricochet3d.com/
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Rowan said 11:27AM on 8-31-2008
Erica! They've done exactly what you've suggested, all of it. Just downloaded the update myself. Big improvement.
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Brett Archibald said 10:23PM on 8-31-2008
Contrary to the above reviewer, this is the only game I've seen where a UI-update has made the game WORSE!
See here for my take on it all:
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=204
Why did you make those ridiculous suggestions? Three clicks now instead of one?
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