14 DAY TRIAL // The arcade puzzle game Shibuya, winner of this year's PAX 10 Indie Showcase, is now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, and can be downloaded from the App Store. Developed by Nevercenter, the game was chosen by Penny Arcade, to be featured along with nine other independent games at their annual gaming expo in Seattle.
The game features a unique, challenging, and highly addictive puzzle design.
The addictive atmosphere of the game challenges players to sort colors by assigning them to a stream of constantly-falling empty blocks, as fast as they can, similar to the Tetris game.
You will have to tap matched groups of color to remove them, much like the Lines game.
Even though the developer states that players need some sort of strategy and forethought to be successful, most of the game is doable just by having quick reflexes.
Of course, planning ahead and managing extensive combos or matching up large groups of color for maximum points will make your life much easier.
"Shibuya is a deceptively simple design," said Tom Plewe, Nevercenter's president. "You can play it with one hand, and it's easy to pick up the mechanics. But there's a lot of depth, skill, and strategy, and most people find it challenging yet rewarding. After playing a few times, they find themselves making combos and surviving speeds which at first seemed impossible."
Some of the highlights of Shibuya include: two gameplay modes, five speed classes to customize difficulty, online rankings, achievements, as well the possibility to see friends' scores via OpenFeint.
The name of the game, as well as the graphics are inspired by Shibuya, one of 23 special wards in Tokyo known for its bright glowing signs.
The music of the game features five licensed songs from Millionyoung's "Be So True EP".
Shibuya is available now in the AppStore for iOS devices for $1.99 USD, but also an Android version is in the works.
