NimbleBit

Last updated
NimbleBit, LLC
Company type Private
Industry Video games
Founded2002;22 years ago (2002)
Founders
  • Ian Marsh
  • David Marsh
Headquarters,
US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ian Marsh (CEO)
Number of employees
3 [1]
Website http://www.nimblebit.com/

NimbleBit, LLC is an American developer and publisher of iOS and Android mobile apps. It was co-founded by brothers David and Ian Marsh. [2] Their titles include Pocket Frogs , Tiny Tower , Pocket Planes and Disco Zoo .

Contents

Games

Notable games

Tiny Tower

Tiny Tower is a business simulation video game developed by NimbleBit for iOS and Android devices. In Tiny Tower, the player manages an expanding tower filled with virtual people, who are referred to as "Bitizens". The tower has multiple types of floors, all of which are randomly generated. The game is customizable, allowing the player to customize their Bitizens, repaint new floors, or even evict Bitizens. The goal of the game is to build the tallest of towers, which will attract Bitizens to move in and work in any floor the player designates. On February 7, 2012, Tiny Tower reached 10 million downloads, so Nimblebit gave all Tiny Tower users 10 free "tower bux". [3] The game received a positive reception, reaching a score of 82/100 on Metacritic, with no negative reviews. In the App Store, Tiny Tower reached 4.5 / 5 stars, based on more than 155 thousand user reviews. The game has many aspects, such as active and passive playing and pixel art graphics, making the game successful with recognition that includes iPhone Game of the Week, and was elected by Apple as The Game of the Year for iPhone in 2011. Tiny Tower released on June 23, 2011, for iOS devices and on November 16, 2011, for Android devices.

Founder Ian Marsh has accused Zynga of plagiarising NimbleBit's Tiny Tower to create Dream Heights. [2] [4] Zynga had attempted to buy NimbleBit, but on refusal, Zynga created Dream Heights. NimbleBit then added a mission in Tiny Tower titled "Beware of dog", a reference to Zynga's logo, with the caption stating "After failing to buy your tower, a rival developer would like:"; several materials are listed, with which they want to build their own tower.

Pocket Frogs

The aim is to earn money by breeding and selling one's own frogs. It has Game Center support. When the game begins, the player owns two frogs, a Cocos Bruna Anura and a Green Folium Anura, one regular habitat, a nursery habitat, and 1000 coins. In the pond view, players control their frog, eating flies to tame it, which makes it happy, breeding with other frogs players find, and finding presents. Presents include various breeds of frogs, potions (for quick frog growths and races), stamps (for quick delivery of mailbox items) and coins. Besides taming the frog, eating flies increases their happiness and, if they are not yet mature, can lessen the time left to maturation. The goal is to collect all 41,216 frogs available in-game. It was released on September 15, 2010, for iOS devices. The Android version (distributed by Mobage) was removed from the Google Play Store, but was re-released by NimbleBit with the removal of several features.

Pocket Planes

The player is in charge of an airline company. Similarly, one must purchase or construct airports, planes, and parts. The main gameplay is flying passengers and shipping cargo from one city to another. There are a total of 250 airports in the game, each based on real world locations. There are 60 different planes that carry passengers, cargo, or a combination of both passengers and cargo. The game bears several similarities to Tiny Tower in the use of its pixel world and "Bitizens". This game was released June 14, 2012 for iOS devices. Later the same year ported to Android by Mobage, who then dropped the app in late 2015. The game is no longer available for Android devices, and Nimblebit has stated there will be no attempts by them to change that. [5] In March 2022, NimbleBit released a new port of Pocket Planes for Android, available on the Google Play store.

Pocket Trains

Pocket Trains is a business simulation video game developed by NimbleBit for iOS and Android. It was developed before Pocket Planes and published on the App Store on 15 September 2013 for iOS. The player is in charge of a train company. Like Pocket Planes, the player must buy train stations and railway tracks. The main part of the game is transporting cargo around a simple map from one city to another. There are 27 trains which you unlock in crates.

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<i>Pocket Frogs</i> 2010 life simulation video game

Pocket Frogs is a life simulation video game developed and published by NimbleBit for the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. It was released as a free game with additional in-app purchases. The aim is to complete the 'Froggydex' by earning money to breed and sell virtual frogs.

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<i>Tiny Tower</i> Business simulation video game by NimbleBit

Tiny Tower is a business simulation video game developed by NimbleBit, released on June 23, 2011 and November 16, 2011 for iOS and Android devices respectively. The game tasks players with managing a tower filled with virtual people, referred to as “bitizens”, with the goal of building new floors and gradually making the tower taller, which attracts bitizens to move in and work in any floor the player designates.

<i>Temple Run</i> 2011 3D endless runner video game

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<i>Kingdom Rush</i> 2011 video game

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<i>Jetpack Joyride</i> 2011 endless runner video game

Jetpack Joyride is a 2011 side-scrolling endless runner action video game created by Halfbrick Studios. It was released for iOS devices on the App Store on September 1, 2011 and has been ported to other systems. It was released online as a Flash version on May 11, 2012; on Android on September 28; on PlayStation Portable on November 20 in North America and November 21 in Europe; on BlackBerry PlayBook on December 13, 2012; on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on December 21 in Europe and December 31 in North America; on BlackBerry 10 on March 6, 2013; and on Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 on June 5. It was also released on PlayStation 4 on April 26, 2016. A mobile version using the keypad was released in 2021 for KaiOS devices.

<i>Pocket Planes</i> 2012 video game

Pocket Planes is a business simulation video game developed by NimbleBit for iOS. It was initially released on 14 June 2012. In October 2012, the game became available on the Mac App Store. An Android version, ported and published by Mobage, was released on 22 September 2012. The game was removed on 24 September 2015 from the Google Play Store, however was re-released 17 March 2022. The game is still available on iOS App Store in selected regions. An update to the iOS version is also planned and will see the game available again in all countries.

<i>Montopia</i> 2012 video game

Montopia was a social role-playing game, the first created by Zynga for mobile devices. Players attempted to uncover the truth about Montopia, a lost monster Utopia while collecting and fusing monsters together to strengthen their abilities. The game was shut down on December 21, 2012.

<i>Clay Jam</i> 2012 video game

Clay Jam is a claymation mobile game created by UK developer Fat Pebble and published by Zynga for iOS and Android mobile devices. It was released on November 29, 2012 on iOS and Android. The handmade, stop-motion game was created in a UK garage by Fat Pebble developers. In the game, players guide a clay ball over a series of hills with the objective of squashing monsters on the way down. As of November 2018 the game is no longer available on the Google Play Store, along with Play-Doh Jam, their Play-Doh-related sequel, which is still unavailable on the App Store.

Nimble Quest was a combination of an action RPG and the classic Snake concept released for iOS and Android by NimbleBit on March 28, 2013. On April 2, the game reached one million downloads. The game was released on Steam on December 6, 2013 as a paid version. The player moves around and kills enemies using a combination of ranged attacks or melee attacks depending on the character. Once enough enemies are killed, the player advances to the next level. If the player hits a wall or an enemy, or runs out of health, the game ends.

<i>Pocket Trains</i> 2013 video game

Pocket Trains is a business simulation video game developed by NimbleBit for iOS and Android. It was published on the App Store on 15 September 2013 for iOS.

<i>Star Wars: Tiny Death Star</i> 2013 video game

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is a business simulation video game developed by Disney Mobile and NimbleBit, and published by Disney Mobile for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Windows 8/RT devices. It was based on NimbleBit's previous game, Tiny Tower, and was set in the Star Wars universe.

<i>Sky Burger</i> 2009 video game

Sky Burger is a strategy video game developed by NimbleBit for iOS and Android devices. The game was originally released in 2009 and is no longer available for download.

Scoops — Ice Cream Fun for Everyone is a strategy video game developed by NimbleBit for IOS devices. The game features in-app purchases and was initially released on August 1, 2009. The point of the game is for the player to stack their ice cream cone as high as they can, eventually past the Moon.

<i>The Room Three</i> 2015 video game

The Room Three is a puzzle video game developed by Fireproof Games. It was released for iOS in November 2015, Android in January 2016 and Microsoft Windows in November 2018.

<i>Disco Zoo</i> 2014 video game

Disco Zoo is a zoo simulation video game developed by Milkbag Games and published by NimbleBit for iOS and Android. It was published into the App Store on 21 February 2014 for iOS.

<i>Altos Adventure</i> 2015 video game

Alto's Adventure is a 2015 endless runner snowboarding video game developed by Team Alto and published by Snowman (iOS) and Noodlecake Studios (Android). The player-character automatically moves to the right of the screen through procedurally generated landscapes. The player taps the screen to jump and perform tricks (backflips), and works towards goals, competitive high scores, and upgrades. Snowman, a Toronto-based, three-person indie development team, previously worked on productivity apps before Alto's Adventure. The game was made to emulate the ethereal atmosphere of snowboarding, and was inspired by Ski Safari (2012), Tiny Wings (2012), Jetpack Joyride (2011), Journey (2012), Monument Valley (2014), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), and Windosill (2009).

<i>Bit City</i> 2017 incremental city-builder mobile game

Bit City is an incremental game and city-builder game developed by NimbleBit, released on March 13, 2017, for iOS and Android. The game tasks players with building a city one plot of land at a time, with zoning and pixelated buildings that vaguely resemble previous games from the developer, such as Tiny Tower or Disco Zoo. Bit City also includes some features similar to Egg, Inc such as an upgrade shop and the ability to prestige.

<i>Super QuickHook</i> 2010 2D platforming game

Super QuickHook is a 2010 mobile 2D platform game developed and published by Rocketcat Games. The game released on June 17, 2010, for iOS devices, with an Android port releasing later on July 23, 2015. The game is a spiritual successor to 2009's Hook Champ, and follows its playing characters traversing two-dimensional levels, primarily using a grappling hook.

References

  1. "NimbleBit". NimbleBit. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  2. 1 2 Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'. Touch Arcade (2012-01-24). Retrieved on 2013-07-30.
  3. "Tiny Tower in Metacritic". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  4. Everything Wrong with Zynga in One Image. Forbes (2012-01-25). Retrieved on 2013-07-30.
  5. "Where Did Pocket Planes for Android Go?". Nimblebit. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27.