Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Diorama will tilt your mind
See, now this is the kind of game I want from my iPhone -- the accelerometer isn't just a gimmick thrown in with the gameplay, it's the actual premise of the game. Diorama is a weird little Marble Madness-style maze game, but the catch here is that instead of just tilting the accelerometer to move the ball (which you do), the level of the game actually moves with you, so that you get a stereoscopic kind of effect, as if the stage is real inside your iPhone's screen. Tough to explain, but as soon as you see it above, you'll know what it's like. We've seen this kind of effect before in apps like MotionX's Dice roller, but in this case, it's actually part of the game -- you can only find the paths to take around the stages by actually tilting the device. And for extra 3D viewing, there's an actual 3D mode, so if you happen to have red and cyan glasses around, you can switch on the mode for anaglyphic 3D.
The app is the first iPhone release from a company called Drömsynt, and though the initial reports on iTunes say the game is pretty tough (it is a pain navigating the quickly-moving ball around those pathways), for just 99 cents, it's definitely worth downloading, if only to see how it works. So many apps just throw in a few iPhone-specific features as afterthoughts, but it's refreshing to see a game like this (or like Zen Bound, which really depends on the multitouch screen) rely on the originality of the hardware itself.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jagger said 12:23PM on 6-18-2009
Wow! This is really amazing! I'll go get that right away!
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Michael said 12:29PM on 6-18-2009
Actually the entire idea of super monkey ball was that you moved the world and not the ball. The idea isn't that new, but these guys seem to have implemented it much better on the iphone.
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Dave said 5:59PM on 6-18-2009
Yeah, I was about to say that this is similar to Super Monkey Ball. And man does that game get tough.
Stanley said 12:36PM on 6-18-2009
While the stereoscopic glasses appear to be free if you ask for 'em, I hope they're not required to enjoy the game.
http://www.dromsynt.com/diorama/
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Ab said 12:37PM on 6-18-2009
that looks sooooo cool
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Jack said 12:52PM on 6-18-2009
"Wooden Labyrinth" game does this too and is available now - it's a little more subtle than this, but it adds an amazing sense of realism to the game.
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Jack said 12:55PM on 6-18-2009
You can find it here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305713066&mt=8
That's for the free version; there's also a paid version for $3.99
(No, I don't work for them, I just think it's a great game with the same sort of "3D" implementation)
BeyondtheTech said 12:58PM on 6-18-2009
I bought this game on a whim, and I gotta tell you, it's pretty neat staring down into your iPhone for that perspective view. The game is hard! (or maybe I'm just that bad at it.)
I'm disappointed that there's no sound at all in the game. You'll likely be able to play your own MP3s in the background, but a little rolling ball-on-wood sound and/or some chambered effect would have been nice.
Also, there's no calibration for the accelerometer. It would be nice to be able to hold at an angle for personal viewing and stare down, but it's got to be at true zero level.
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Mark said 4:04PM on 6-18-2009
Not just hard, damn near impossible. The first level "the path" has a ramp that requires you to tilt the thing up 40 degrees while holding it rock solid along the other axis. An hour of holding my breath, and I've never been more than 1/2 of the way up that ramp -- and I can whip through all the levels of labyrinth without losing a ball.
Change said 1:07PM on 6-18-2009
will you ever fix your STURGEON-KING iPhone site.
It is supposed to be the FULL internet in your pocket, not some watered down crap, So TUAW i like your Full site with good articals and such but i HATE ... More your mobile site you can never change it to see the full site.
SO DUCKING CHANGE IT!!!
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Grant said 1:46PM on 6-18-2009
Calm down.
Gobo said 2:28PM on 6-18-2009
Write to the editors, don't leave nasty comments like this.
9600baud said 3:54PM on 6-18-2009
amen!
Bloobie said 4:05PM on 6-18-2009
Are you testing out the copy & paste feature in iPhone 3.0 or just being a tool by posting the same rant multiple times?
Ab said 6:39PM on 6-18-2009
WOAH WATCH YER LANGUAGE
I do kind of agree that the mobile site isn't great
puhsitch said 7:19PM on 6-18-2009
Well I love their mobile site and hope they never change it! So there!
Seriously, though, what's wrong with it? It's never bothered me...
Gobo said 2:32PM on 6-18-2009
Gorgeous game, though the lack of sound is a strange omission... but most importantly, it's obscenely hard. They need to adjust the difficulty, or most people who buy Diorama are going to spend five minutes on the first level before giving up completely.
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David said 3:11PM on 6-18-2009
I made it to the level "Ramps" which is just ridiculous hard. Really great concept though, and nicely executed.
Buckingham said 3:47PM on 6-18-2009
Aside from the sound, the ball also needs its own shadow.
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cheezorg said 4:41PM on 6-18-2009
I agree with the others that this game is impossibly hard. I would love to see what the other levels look like but I can't get past the first. The 3D effect is top notch though, especially with 3D glasses. :)
Disclaimer: I'm the developer of Anaglyphs!, another game that uses 3D glasses.
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