Griptonite Games' Chimps Ahoy! is a silly, fun breakout game. I'm not a huge breakout fan (to be fair, I'd rather clean my house and do my taxes) but Chimps' beautiful graphics and silly music won my heart. It's a graphic design tour de force. You play by throwing a coconut between a pair of monkeys, chipping away at inner barriers. Control the monkeys by sliding your thumbs up and down the sides of the screen.

The introductory material made me think that game play was going to be a lot more complicated than it was (game play is quite easy) and there's no accelerometer support. Plus it's a breakout game -- but there's no getting around that part. But if you enjoy breakout games, Chimps Ahoy!'s multiple levels and bright inviting screens offer a nice twist on the genre.

Given their high design standards, I can't wait to see what other products Griptonite delivers at App Store.

Chimps Ahoy! costs $9.99 and can be played on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Square Enix has released their new game for the iPod, called -- wait, hold the iPhone. Say what again? Square Enix has apparently been hiding a huge secret, and the word is out already in iTunes. They've developed an iPod classic game called Song Summoner, and if the video above is any indication, we don't actually have to wait for the iPhone's App Store to come out, we might have a new winner right here.

For a mere $4.99, you apparently get a full-scale Square strategy RPG, and that's not all -- the characters in the game are created from your iPod's songs. And every time you listen to a song, the game levels up. This sounds incredible, and so it's no surprise that our sister site, DS Fanboy, has already written up five reasons why this might be the new Square game to check out, even compared to the more established Final Fantasy series.

This bodes very, very well for the future of original iPhone gaming -- if Apple has Square-Enix and Harmonix building games this innovative for the iPod, imagine what they'll be able to do with the iPhone. We'll get our hands on Song Summoner as soon as we can, and let you know what it's like when we do.

Of all the racers we've seen for the iPhone so far (and there are quite a few), this might be the one I'm most interested in -- Polarbit, who've already dipped into the iPhone's racing game capabilities with Raging Thunder, is working on a Crash Bandicoot-branded kart racing game for the iPhone (video here). And it sounds like it's got everything you'd want in a kart racing game on a console, much less on a smartphone platform -- twelve tracks, lots of characters, lots of weapons and powerups, and configurable controls. There are going to be a ton of racing games out when the App Store drops, but something silly and fun like this, crafted by a developer who knows their way around the fledgling platform, will probably be very near the top of the list.

Can't wait to play it. No exact word on when Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D is coming, but it can't be too late after the App Store releases, and we'd guess $10 for a price, since that's what most of these things will be going for. Definitely looks like it might be a standout among the plethora of accelerometer racing games we'll be sure to have.

Are we the only ones unnaturally excited for the iPhone App Store? We don't know how distribution will work, but imagine great applications available from top-notch OS X developers at the touch of a finger. Bored in a waiting room? Try out a new game, buy it and play it right then and there. You know it's not a piece of junk because it's been approved for the store. We can't wait.

Ambrosia is teasing one of their future offerings this week with Aki Mobile Mahjong. It's a take on the ancient Chinese game that features cool graphics and nifty sound effects (check out the screenshots and game play video). Ambrosia notes that their aim is to create games that can be launched and quit quickly and easily (for instance, when that important call arrives).

Also interesting is this little tidbit: "Download additional custom levels via EDGE/Wi-Fi...." Cool!

Oh my. Still need convincing that the iPhone/iPod touch is the greatest gaming platform ever made? Then check this video of a couple Japanese researchers playing a game they claim to have put together "in about an hour": multiscreen, touch-based Pong.

On first glance, it looks like the game is even checking orientation of the iPods, but if you watch it a little further, when things go faster, you can see that it's actually just pushing the ball from screen to screen as it leaves. Still, if nothing else, a quick demo like this shows that multiple Touches (via a certain website, or on the same WiFi network, maybe, or -- hopefully -- just in close proximity to one another through Bluetooth or another protocol) can easily be made to connect multiplayer gamers.

As a demo, very nice (and it seems fun as a game as well). Can't wait to see a full-featured game that takes advantage of all of the iPhone's connectivity options.

[Via Waxy]

We posted about the release of CrossOver Games a little while ago -- it's a version of Codeweavers' Windows virtualization software that allows Windows games to be played on OS X and Linux. I grabbed a copy of the software for TUAW, and spent an afternoon running it through its paces.

You can check out the hands-on after the break -- after installing CrossOver Games, I first tried to load up Guild Wars using their installer's package interface, and was able to get it working pretty well. I then tried one of my favorite games, Civilization 4, and unfortunately, that one didn't turn out quite so well. And just for kicks, I also gave F.E.A.R. a shot -- it's not on CrossOver's compatibility list at all, but I've had a copy sitting around for a while that I haven't played yet, so I let the virtualization app take a crack at getting it working.

The hands-on is in this simple and easy-to-use (which is more than I can say about CrossOver Games) gallery format -- just click the picture furthest to the left down there and begin our journey into the exciting world of virtualization and game installation. I can tell you're excited already.



Update: Arjun found the problem with Civ in the comments; apparently only the Steam version is compatible. Which vibes with the rest of what I found: if you want to play any of the Steam or built-in games with CrossOver, they'll likely work just fine. But if you want to install another game from a CD (especially unsupported games), you're out of luck.

Well, we wrote about the upcoming Return to Dark Castle release recently. After years of waiting since the initial announcement, there were definitely some doubts about it ever actually being released. I can't yet hand you a link to the full, purchase-ready version, but they've got a demo!

I can't speak for the whole TUAW team, but personally, I'm scared to try it right now. Kicking a Dark Castle habit can be arduous... I could afford a few fake sick days in school, but I can't really take the time off these days. However, some TUAW bloggers (looking at Erica) have already witnessed their children doing their own renditions of the Beyond Dark Castle sound effects after the first weekend. So, our brave readers will have to grab the demo as well, and let us know how it goes.

Thanks Beverly!

Good news for indie game designers on OS X -- GarageGames has released version 1.7 of their Torque Game Builder, which allows programmers to create games for almost any platform from within an OS X interface. This latest release improves the editors for link points and collision polygons, as well as a new editor for vector objects and new t2dSceneObject methods. If you know what all that means, then you could probably program a better game than I could.

But the good news here is the one of the cheapest and best tools for game developers is now better than ever. Demos and trials of the tool are available on GarageGames' site, and licenses are as cheap as $100 for independent game developers. You've got the tools-- now go make us some great Mac games!

[Via Macminute]

In the Moscone West "first look" section we found Sababa Toys demonstrating their iPod music-trivia game called 'iNo.' Unfortunate naming scheme aside, it looks pretty fun. You push your iPod into the device, it plays a random song while hiding the screen. If you think you know the song (or artist, etc.-- there are cards you draw), you press a little handheld button, which stops the song so you can answer. The iNo is also a speaker/iPod charger, although it uses six AA batteries, so maybe not the most economical charger in the world. Still, if you are tired of playing the built-in iPod music game and have some time to kill with musically-inclined friends this is a unique effort from one of the pluckier vendors we found at Macworld.

To see the thing in action watch the video after the break.

The guys and gals over at our sister blog Engadget were keeping busy at the recent CES and have turned up some interesting products with a Mac angle. In the video above they're checking out a new music instruction software package called Guitar Wizard which works a lot like the Guitar Hero game (our coverage). The key difference is that Guitar Wizard uses a real guitar and actually teaches you something about playing. The kit consists of the software and a midi pickup which can be attached to your own guitar for $150, or you can get a kit that includes a guitar as well for $300. New songs will be downloadable at 99 cents each.

Freeverse dropped me a note to let me know that their new tower defense game released yesterday. It's called Horde of Orcs, and I have to say, it looks fun. If you've ever played Desktop Tower Defense, you know what the deal is here, except that this time around, everything's in shiny, colorful 3D, with a nice dose of humor added in.

The demo is available for download over on their website (along with a freaky live action trailer that means someone had to get dressed up in green paint and go Orc-crazy). Just the other day, I said I hadn't had a Mac-only gaming experience worth recommending this year, but maybe I spoke too soon. Horde of Orcs might be just the thing to finish off 2007 right.

I heard a few times that Disney's new casual MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online went live yesterday, but MacWorld reminds us that it's out for both Windows and Mac. Metacritic doesn't have too many reviews up as of this writing, but our friends at Joystiq found it to be a fun, easy to get into MMO when they played an earlier build of it, so if you're craving some pick-up-and-play pirate MMO gaming, it might be just what yer lookin' for, matey.

Unless you're running Leopard, that is. Currently, the game's system requirements only list Tiger, and while MacWorld doesn't know whether Leopard is supported or not, they're not alone-- I called Laurie at "Pirates Online Customer Support" (boy, Disney sure poured a lot of money into this one), and while she was very helpful, she didn't know whether Leopard was supported or not. I threw a note into their system to try and check, and if I hear back, I'll update the post.

Of course, you could just try downloading and running it yourself in Leopard, but then again this is only one day after Halloween, and running unsupported Disney software on your Mac is pretty scary -- might be a little much along with everything else.

Update: Never mind-- our illustrious commenters say it runs just fine in Leopard. Keelhaul away!

Ian of Feral Interactive kindly dropped us a note that Colin McRae Rally for the Mac has gotten a release date: this Friday, October 26th. I'm not sure if he's aware that he's got a little bit of competition that day (because, as we all know, Dan in Real Life is releasing on Friday, too-- what? Leopard?), but then again, maybe the big OS release will give a little boost to the latest rally racing game, PC editions of which have been reviewed pretty well so far.

And if you don't trust reviews for other systems (probably a good idea), worry not-- we're told a demo is imminent, so you'll be able to try the game out for yourself. Find out more about the game itself over on the minisite. Apparently the game features more than 30 cars, 300 tracks in nine locations around the globe, and realistic physics and handling. Throw in a few muddy curves, and you've got a recipe for a fun Saturday night.

On a sad note, the release was actually set for earlier this year, but was delayed due to the accidental death of the series' namesake. Very sorry to hear it-- fortunately, the legendary racer's legacy lives on in his memory and phenomenal racing career history.

Back in the days when Apple pretty much owned the educational market, the Mac was new and Oregon Trail was the pinnacle of edutainment, there existed a little program called ChipWits. I played on my Laser 128, but there were versions for the Commodore 64 and Macintosh. Now some 20-odd years later ChipWits makes a triumphant return as an Adobe AIR app, so you can get your robot on with a Windows machine or a Mac (and hopefully Linux someday).

ChipWits is a programmable robot game. You build and program your little robot dude to travel through various environments (called rooms). Each one has specific rewards and risks, which makes programming the robot guy interesting. That may sound dry as toast, but your robot eats pie and drinks coffee. He can see, smell and touch. He can zap bugs but isn't too happy with bombs. The bit of whimsy thrown in with the robot-building makes for a really enjoyable game. Plus, it's surprising how fun debugging your robot can be.

The big improvement in what the authors are calling ChipWits II is that you can now create your own missions. If something like Desktop Tower Defense is your bag, the Mission Editor will appeal to you. Currently you can try ChipWits 15 times and buy it for $14.95. The release price will be $19.95, and the authors are donating 10% of their profits to 3 non-profit organizations.

Roger Kenny sends word that one of the best web-based games for the iPhone, Battlefleet, has been updated. Not only is there a new splash page (quoting an eminent Mac gaming scholar-- ahem), but Roger has set up an "iPhone Entrance," a "Web Browser" entrance (which, strangely enough, didn't work right in Firefox 2.0.0.7 for me-- I had to play the iPhone version in my browser, which worked fine), and an "Internet Explorer Exit." Very nice.

In game, there are some good updates, too-- most notably in the Options menu, you can now switch sides and play as either Red or Blue. Unfortunately, still no multiplayer play yet, but last time we posted the game, Roger mentioned in the comments that multiplayer was as forthcoming as he could make it. Meanwhile, the game plays just as smoothly as before, and faithfully recreates the BattleShip experience.

And yes, you cheaters, Cheat Mode still does work. I won't ruin things by telling you how to do it, but it's intact.