Lander-style games have been a long standing tradition in video games ever since Lunar Lander pioneered the sub-genre. There hasn’t been another lander game as iconic since 1969. While the concept is simple, executing it well is deceivingly complex. The mobile games revolution brought about by Apple’s App Store would not be complete without it’s own set of modern lander-style games.

For purposes of full disclosure–if it was’t already obvious–we are the game studio behind one of the games on this list: Propaganda Lander. There aren’t any conflicts of interest here as there really is no other game quite like Propaganda Lander available for the iPhone. After having played virtually every lander-style game on the App Store–certainly the most popular ones–I can confidently say that Propaganda Lander stands alone. That isn’t to say there aren’t other good lander games available as well. There are and that’s why we were able to make this list.

Every game on this list is worth their price tag and most are free or have a free version for you to try. I’ve forked over the money to try all these games so you don’t have to! Each best lander game belongs to a different category: adventure, puzzle, simulation, Lunar Lander remade, and Lunar Lander reimagined. These 5 were whittled down from an original list of 15 candidates so the competition was fairly tough.

Let’s kick this off with the Best Adventure Lander:

Best Adventure Lander

Propaganda Lander is a lander game unlike any other on this list or any other on the App Store. Propaganda Lander features five different worlds with different obstacles on each planet plus one of the most epic boss battles of any App Store game. Along with all the gameplay and action is a heartwarming story of David versus Goliath told through a series of animatics featuring a hilarious and professionally-voiced script. Once you’ve heard the things that the key villan, known as The Rickster, says, you’ll never forget them. You might even find yourself repeating some of them!

I realize that all this praise for Propaganda Lander coming from the people who developed it is going to have a little bias so I’ll quote from a review by AppSpy:

“Propaganda Lander isn’t the only Lander style game available for the App Store, but almost none can claim as much charm and style as ‘The Rickster’ on his universal campaign of glory.” -Andrew Nesvadba, AppSpy (4 out of 5)

By all means, read some of the reviews on the App Store itself and check out this thread from Touch Arcade. We’re proud of our game and we’re not afraid to show it! It is the most expensive game on this list at $4.99 but, this is an experience you cannot supplement with any other app on the store. Get it here.

Best Puzzle Lander

Gravity Lander is another lander game unlike any other. It is really a puzzle game that borrows lightly from the idea of landing a spaceship. The game comes with 52 missions and has a pleasing aesthetic look. Personally, I got stuck at level 45 and had a fun time getting there–I am still unsure of how anyone can pass level 45. The objective of each level is to get your lander from one part of the level to the landing zone by removing various obstacles, tilting the phone, and using a limited supply of thrusts.

If you like puzzle games, this is probably a much overlooked one. It is also free so there’s little commitment. It won’t hurt you to try it. I had a great time playing it. Get it here.

Best Simulation Lander

Lunar Module 3D is less a game and more a simulation of landing an actual lander. This game is done in 3D so you have free range of motion in 3D space. The object is to simply land your lander on the landing zones. I’m personally not a fan of realistic simulations but, for those who are this may be the best one available.

The controls felt good to me and is probably a good fit for fans of the original Lunar Lander who want to play it in a 3D world. The ability to swing not just left and right but in, out, and every other direction adds a new level of challenge to steering a lander. The game is $.99 and I’d only recommend it to people who are interested in more realism and less game. Get it here.

Best Lunar Lander Remake

Touch Lander is basically an exact remake of Lunar Lander. It is difficult like the original and uses vector style graphics like the original. The changes would be the use of the accelerometer to steer the lander and touching the screen for thrust. This is not a game for the light or heart much like the original.

Much like how the original arcade Lunar Lander was a coin robber and did little to comfort those without soft hands, this one is pretty much the same. The game costs $.99 and is as accurate a version of the original as you’ll find on the App Store. Get it here.

Best Lunar Lander Reimagining

Retro-X is like Touch Lander with a little modernization. While the art style could use improvements, it does employ 3D rendered environments so the game is possibly done in 3D but you can only move in 2D like class lander games. Retro-X is much more forgiving than the original Lunar Lander and uses scrolling levels. It employs the same accelerometer and touch screen system as Touch Lander.

Retro-X shares some gameplay similarities with Propaganda Lander in that you pick up little guys where you land and bring them back up to the mothership. Retro-X is available for free so there’s no harm in giving it a try. Get it here.

I admit it, I couldn’t resist the 99 cents deal from EA for Mass Effect Galaxy on iOS. Anyway, having just finished Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney Investigations on my trusty DS, I decided to play this title before starting God of War: Ghost of Sparta on my brand spanking new PSP.

Overcoming my initial frustration with the lack of tutorial and a relatively unique combat system,  I eventually figured out how I was supposed to fight in this  game.  I was delighted to find that the combat system is actually pretty clever, with a nice balance of strategy and action in real time.  I generally don’t like games that rely on 2 dimensional accelerometer input.  However, I must admit the input in Galaxy is actually pretty good (or at the very least, forgiving).  Being an iOS game developer/designer I recognize how hard it is to craft good input design on a platform that is better suited towards more casual fare.

Sadly, this is where the kudos end.  The game fails on quite a few levels.  For one thing, the enemy design is boring.  There is no real difference between one enemy and another:  they more or less moved and acted the same way. Even though the combat system allowed for development of tactics to battle great variety of enemies, the actual bad guys weren’t there.

Second, this game is really really short with maybe 2 hours of gameplay.  This is not a major complaint, as I tend to think most games are too long, especially if that time is spent endlessly grinding to buff your character(s) so you can face a final boss (you know who you are – Final Fantasy Tactics). I digress. I know that the game was only 99 cents but at some point the price point was higher and, not to sound like Jess, but 2 hours is too short.

Last, but certainly not least, is the story telling.  The player picks responses in dialogue sequences by using a weird wheel that I guess is supposed to resemble the dialogue wheel in Mass Effect, but, in actuality, doesn’t.  Only the first line of dialogue had voice-over, which was especially strange when it was followed by total silence.  The characters were more or less expressionless, bearing no resemblance to the very rich experience of parley in Mass Effect.

Having just finished Ace Attorney Investigations, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the two games.  I think the designers of Mass Effect: Galaxy could have learned alot by looking at any of the Ace Attorney games.  Here’s a list of things I think they could have learned…

1. Make the text easy to read.  The text is so small and thin, I shouldn’t have to play on an iPad at 2X resolution to enjoy this game.  Compare to Ace Attorney‘s nice big monospace lettering.
2. Exaggerate the reactions of the player’s avatar as well as the NPCs.  Ace Attorney uses a wide variety of simple techniques in addition to highly expressive drawings to convey the emotion of the character on screen.
3. Only show one character at a time.  While you’re at it, only show one character’s text on the screen.
4. Use sound!  In addition to the highly expressive visual design during conversations, Ace Attorney also uses a wide variety of sound effects to convey the emotion of the conversation and to identify one character from another.  Mass Effect had a very lovely voice over, but only for the first line of each conversation.  I would have gladly exchanged that one line for the barrage of whip lashes, beeps, whistles etc.  used in Ace Attorney.

Mass Effect Galaxy
Beautifully rendered expressionless robots
Ace Attorney Investigations
Quirky, oddball characters brimming over with personality and emotion

In conclusion, Galaxy is clearly an effort to extend the Mass Effect universe in a scheme that marketing people call “Worldbuilding“.  There’s nothing wrong with this impulse. If you’re going to make a mobile game based on a popular console game, however, take care to ensure a great experience for the player. Otherwise you are not expanding your world, just cheapening it.

We know that some people are hesitant to drop $4.99 for Propaganda Lander. The economy is in the toilet so we don’t blame you. Every dollar counts these days so it’s a good habit to save instead of spending yourself silly. We’ll continue to cram as much awesome as possible into each dollar but, we know it’s a risk. You don’t know our games from a hole in the wall!

So, we now have a FREE way for you to demo and see if you like it. We know Propaganda Lander is worth the money, now you can decide for yourself.

Get Propaganda Lander LITE now!

Hello friends! Jess here with an update on two new modes for Propaganda Lander: Remix: Survival and Easy Mode.

Remix: Survival is a sensory assault of epic proportions. Players will attempt to survive as long as possible while we throw every nasty enemy known in Rickster’s Universe at them. In order to create this new mode, Tommy has had to re-haul our level editor to offer even more customization. We can now control waves of different enemy types through timing, random amperage ranges and frequency. Therefore, I’ve spent the last couple of days tweaking and testing to create an hyperactive experience. The types of issues I’ve run into mainly deal with offering an experience that has peaks and valleys instead of an experience that amps up only to plateau. What we’ve decided is to offer a sort of three steps forward, one step back mechanic that allows the player to feel like they’ve accomplished a great feat for surviving a particularly hard wave and to facilitate an innate feeling of tension and drama. Also, one other issue I’ve had to deal with is beating Tommy’s high score, but that’s more of a personal policy. The last bits that we have to deal with is optimization for all devices and implementing the soundtrack.

For all you folks that find the Lander to be a little too punishing, we’ve started on an Easy Mode. Easy Mode is exactly what it sounds like, fewer enemies, more power-ups, and less damage make it easier for the casual player to really enjoy Propaganda Lander. I’d have to say that the most difficult part of creating Easy Mode has been striking a balance between making things easier but still retain the challenge. I tend to make levels pretty difficult, look at hardcore mode for example, and it’s been a practice in self-control to really loosen things up a little. We still need to do some testing before we release Easy Mode but I think it’s totally worth it to invite casual gamers into the fold.

Rolled into the office today and to my surprise, we’re on the “New and Noteworthy” section on iTunes. Thanks for the good reviews and keep that feedback coming!