| Dear Reader | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Local No. 12 |
| Designer(s) | Eric Zimmerman |
| Platform(s) | iOS, macOS, tvOS |
| Release | September 19, 2020 |
| Genre(s) | Word puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Dear Reader is a word puzzle game created by Local No. 12. and released in September 2020 for iOS, macOS and tvOS for Apple Arcade subscribers.
Passages from classic novels and poems are displyed as pages and the player is challenged with tasks such as correcting the word order or rearranging phrases. The challenges are time-based depending on the player's preference and completing a passage rewards them with ink. Cheerful music and sound effects accompany the challenges.
Dear Reader was released by Local No. 12, developers of party game Metagame, for iOS, MacOS and tvOS for Apple Arcade subscribers on September 19, 2020. [1] It was crowdfunded on Kickstarter as Losswords in May 2016. [2] The game uses public domain books like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , Claude McKay's Harlem Shadows and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's Sultana’s Dream . [1]
The New York Times found it to be inventive and nimble, evoking "close reading". [1] Eurogamer said it keeps adding new ideas and a sense of panic to figure out "someone's voice". [3] TouchArcade said it to be relaxing and found it to be educational. [4]
It won Best Meaningful Play at the 2020 International Mobile Gaming Awards. [5]
Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can now share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app.
The Room is a puzzle video game developed by Fireproof Games. The game was originally developed for the iOS platform and released in 12 September 2012. The Android version debuted as part of a Humble Bundle in March 2013 and was subsequently released on Google Play. A free expansion for the title was released in August 2013. An enhanced version of the game was released for Microsoft Windows in July 2014, and for the Nintendo Switch in October 2018.
Simogo is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö. The company was founded in 2010 and is best known for creating games for mobile devices, including Year Walk and Device 6. Its name comes from the name of its founders Simon (SIM), and Gordon (GO); the 'O' from the Swedish word "och" meaning "and".
The Room Two is a puzzle video game developed by British-based Fireproof Games as a sequel to The Room. The game was originally developed for the iPad and released in December 2013; it was made universal to work with the iPhone in January 2014. The Android version was released in February 2014. A Windows version was released on 5 July 2016. An Apple Arcade version, named «The Room Two+», was released on 2 April 2021. It was also released for Nintendo Switch in August 2022.
Monument Valley is a puzzle and indie game by Ustwo Games. The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display.
Threes is a puzzle video game by Sirvo, an independent development team consisting of game designer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend, and composer Jimmy Hinson. The game was released on February 6, 2014, for iOS devices and later ported to Android, Xbox One, Windows Phone, and Windows. In Threes, the player slides numbered tiles on a grid to combine addends and multiples of three. The game ends when there are no moves left on the grid and the tiles are counted for a final score.
Hundreds is a puzzle video game where players touch circles to make them grow without overlapping. In the game's 100 levels, the player interacts with different types of circles to bring a counter to the number 100. The game was developed and published by Semi Secret Software in collaboration with Greg Wohlwend and was released for iOS on January 7, 2013, and on Android later that year.
Asher Vollmer is an American indie video game developer. He created Puzzlejuice and Threes. Vollmer also worked on Guildlings and Beast Breaker.
Blek is a 2013 puzzle video game for iOS and Android by Kunabi Brother, a team of brothers Denis and Davor Mikan. The player draws a snakelike black line that recurs in pattern and velocity across the screen to remove colored dots and avoid black dots. It is minimalist in design, features excerpts of Erin Gee, and takes inspiration from Golan Levin, the Bauhaus, and Japanese calligraphy. The brothers designed the game as a touchscreen adaptation of the Snake concept and worked on the game for over six months. It was released in December 2013 for iPad, and was later released for other iOS devices and Android.
SpellTower is a 2011 puzzle video game by Zach Gage in which the player creates words from a jumble of letter tiles to clear the screen before it refills. The game has several game modes and a multiplayer battle mode. The impetus for the game—the concept of combining elements from Tetris and Boggle in what was a prototype of the puzzle video game Puzzlejuice—inspired Gage to create SpellTower. The game was released for iOS in November 2011 to generally favorable reviews. Versions for OS X and Android followed over the next two years. In 2017 SpellTower Minutes was released. This browser-based Flash game created special "blitz" like modes not found in the mobile releases. A new iOS version released in 2017 swapped out the unnamed dictionary and began using Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. French and Dutch language specific versions were also released. A 2020 release, SpellTower+, added new game modes, cleaner visuals, and a jazz soundtrack.
Badland 2 is a mobile video game designed by Frogmind Games and released on the iOS and Android platforms. The game was released on 17 December 2015 on iOS and 8 September 2016 on Android. It is the sequel to Badland.
Zach Gage is an independent video game programmer and designer based in New York City. He is known for his iOS games, including SpellTower.
The Gardens Between is an adventure/puzzle video game developed by Australian studio The Voxel Agents and published in September 2018 for Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. It was later released for Xbox One in 2018, iOS in 2019, Android in 2020, and PlayStation 5 in 2022. The game, which conveys its story through visuals and gameplay rather than dialogue or narration, follows two children, Arina and Frendt, in the treehouse in a garden between their houses. In a dreamscape, they progress through sets of island levels, each representing different shared experiences. The characters walk along a path that winds through each level, and the player solves environment-based puzzles that prevent the pair from reaching and activating a portal at the end of the path. To do so, the player controls the flow of time forwards and backwards and causes the characters to interact with nearby objects and spheres of light, rather than moving the pair directly.
The Last Campfire is a puzzle video game developed and published by Hello Games. It was released for iOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on August 27, 2020.
Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service offered by Apple. It is available through a dedicated tab of the App Store on devices running iOS 13, VisionOS, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. The service launched on September 19, 2019.
GameClub is a video game subscription service for iOS and Android devices. The service primarily offers games that were previously delisted from app stores or are no longer actively maintained by their original developers, updated to support newer devices and software. They have since expanded to releasing mobile ports of games available for PC and console.
Kamibox is an independent German video game developer founded by Philipp Stollenmayer. Stollenmayer is the sole employee of the company, which creates almost exclusively mobile games. Some of Kamibox's games have received awards for their design, including an Apple Design Award. Kamibox games often have a philosophical element to them, such as see/saw and Sometimes You Die, which explore the concept of death in video games.
Automatoys is a 2022 puzzle game developed by Idle Friday. In it, the player guides a ball through a series of complex three-dimensional machines. The game was the first independent release of lead developer Steffan Glynn, a former member of State of Play Games. Upon release, Automatoys received mixed reviews, with praise for its level design and gameplay and criticism for its short length.
Railbound is a 2022 puzzle video game developed by Polish indie developer Afterburn. It was released on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS in September 2022 by Afterburn, then later released on consoles by publisher 7Levels, to Nintendo Switch in December 2022 and Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S in May 2023.
A Monster's Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) is a 2020 puzzle video game developed and published by Draknek & Friends. Gameplay involves exploring a series of islands by solving Sokoban-based puzzles. The player navigates a two-dimensional grid, rolling logs to create bridges and rafts to traverse between islands. The islands comprise a museum of human civilization, featuring exhibits of everyday objects, accompanied by humorous descriptions written from the perspective of an outsider. The game incorporates open world elements, having a nonlinear, branching path of levels, but is primarily a puzzle game. Developed over more than three years, the game was first released in September 2020 for iOS, macOS, and Windows, and later for Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
