Lights Off returns to the iPhone

Hey, remember Lights Off? We first posted about it in the relative Stone Age of iPhone development, when the only SDK we had was writing web pages and when you had to actually jailbreak your iPhone to do anything cool with it. Nowadays, of course, we live in storied times, and so Lights Off has returned, this time on the App Store as a $1.99 app. It does look a little different, but the new version has been redone from scratch, and has added in some sound effects (even though you can't hear them in the video above). If you liked the game then, you'll probably like it now, too.

And yes, we have now come full circle -- developers have recreated, with Apple's official SDK, a program that was originally created without an official SDK, so people who jailbroke their iPhone back then to play the game can now do so without jailbreaking their iPhone. Got all that? We know -- it hurts our head, too.

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Source: http://toucharcade.com/2009/01/22/first-iphone-game-returns-…

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Analysis / Opinion Gaming Software iPhone iPod touch

Hey, remember Lights Off? We first posted about it in the relative Stone Age of iPhone development, when the only SDK we had was writing...

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Dav

I don't think "full circle" means what you think it means. Too much brain hurt?

A game that was only available for jailbroken phones is now available for non-jailbroken phones. Full Stop.

January 23 2009 at 8:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Patrick

I had a little red handheld box called Merlin back in the 80's that played this game. It has awesome when I was 10. Imagine being able to carry a video game around! (Right after, I got mattel electronic football and I never looked back.)

January 23 2009 at 5:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Taylor. Yes, Taylor.

"And yes, we have now come full circle -- developers have recreated, with Apple's official SDK, a program that was originally created without an official SDK, so people who jailbroke their iPhone back then to play the game can now do so without jailbreaking their iPhone."

Actually Labrynth was one of those apps, and it was on the app store almost immediately.
-Taylor

January 23 2009 at 2:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

devnull

The source code has been available in Objective-J for a while.

http://cappuccino.org/learn/demos/

January 23 2009 at 11:36 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Damian

Forgive my complete ignorance, but how is that video made?

January 23 2009 at 11:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Damian's comment

Marty

It's made in the iPhone Simulator, part of the iPhone SDK. When writing an App, you can simulate it on a Mac as you make progress...

January 23 2009 at 11:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Rylin

I had a Merlin Magic many a year ago.
Great fun! :)

http://www.geocities.com/jaapsch/puzzles/lights.htm#merlin

January 23 2009 at 10:31 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Rylin's comment

Simon Arch

My sister and I had one of those. The Magic Square game was my favourite. :)

January 23 2009 at 5:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

sockatume

Bonus irony: Lights Out, which as far as I can tell is the original version of this game, appeared in cartridge form for the Game.com. That was the first touch-screen, internet-connected portable games console. It didn't do too well, although it briefly had a version of Metal Gear Solid lined up for it.

January 23 2009 at 10:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to sockatume's comment

cmuska902

I actually have one of these, with Lights Out as well as Duke Nukem. I always show this and my virtual boy to people, and they have no idea what it is...

January 23 2009 at 1:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

cysouw

The devs write in the app store that Lights Off is "the spiritual successor of the original Lights Off game by Lucas Newman and Adam Betts." They sort of forget to mention that this game is *not* originally made by Newman and Betts, but that they themselves simply took a well-known game concepts. Please check my blog for the details (and for the dozen-or-so other implementations for the iPhone of the same game):

http://puzzlingiphone.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/lights-out-not-straighforwardly-sequential-removal/

January 23 2009 at 9:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply