As we prep for the arrival of the participants for the first ever Chartboost University: Boot Camp, we here at Chartboost thought now would be a good time to regale our faithful readers with what we’ve been playing on our smart devices these last few weeks.
For those that don’t know (shame on you), the aim of What We’re Playing is to shine some light on games that might otherwise go unnoticed and to give you a peek into our twisted definition of “fun” when it comes to mobile games. One thing to note: While we here at Chartboost truly do love our game developer partners and play just about every game that uses our technology, not every game you see here will be a partner title. This is what we play when we’re home from the office with our feet up on the couch looking for a bit of gaming R&R.
Have a game we should be playing but aren’t? Tell us about it @Chartboost.
*Where it all began (not really)
Austen Chen - Scout Sales Associate
@AustenChen
Playing Pocket League Story by Kairosoft
Anytime an 8-Bit simulation comes out, I know that everything else takes a backseat. Emails? See you tomorrow. Reports? Sorry, that’ll have to wait. Pocket League Story, similar to the other games from Kairosoft, put you in charge of developing a soccer club from the local level to a World Class organization. As the General Manager, you have control over a lot of different decisions. You get to decide on the players and coaches that you hire (or fire), the training regimen, the starting 11, even the formations that your team will start in.
While the game doesn’t give you control over what happens in matches, I found myself happily becoming a spectator for a few minutes at a time. My only complaint is that I wish I had more time to develop my team. You only have 8 years to develop your organization before the game generates your score. You can continue playing but nothing else counts unless you start over. Regardless, if you’re into soccer and management, look no further than Pocket League Story.
Sachin Goal - Coding Things and Eating Wings
@sachingoel
Playing 10000000 by EightyEight Games
10000000 is an immensely difficult game. When you first turn it on, your character is sleeping in a bedroom with access to a bunch of dungeon entrances. Upon entering one of the dungeons, you are faced with traversing through bad guys and locked doors by matching rows of three action blocks on the bottom of the screen. As you spend time swiping through the blocks to make a match, your character starts to inch off the screen until the screen scrolls past your hero and you lose. People with great predictive pattern matching abilities should play this game right now!
David Hom - Director of Special Things
@DavidRHom
Playing Spaceteam by Henry Smith
This game brings party games to the next level. All of the players team up and are flying a spaceship. Together they must work together by flipping switching, pressing buttons, and turning dials. The catch, everyone has a different space console and must execute commands for each other. Mix that in with a geeky, almost unpronounceable phrases, asteroid fields, and worm holes, and you’ll soon find yourself shouting, laughing and taking a deep sigh of relieve when you get through the level.
Mark Kinsella - Head Groundskeeper and Assistant to the Architect
@MarkKinsella
Playing Pixel People by Chillingo
I love building things. And Pixel People’s crazy twist on creating your city through job discovery is a fresh take on world building. Starting with a Mayor and Mechanic, you splice genes to create new professions. Mayor + Mechanic = Engineer. Engineer + Mayor = Architect. Simple, right? What about Preacher + Weather Reporter? Just wait until you create a Time Traveler, a Deep See Diver, or a Wizard.
Michael Golden - The Man With The Silver Touch (weird, I know)
@DaliLemma
Playing Bridge Constructor by Headup Games
My brother turned me on to this game a little while ago, with it’s addictive bridge building puzzles. You play an intrepid civil engineer with the task of rebuilding all the bridges on a earthquake ravaged island nation. As you progress, the spans get more complicated, but new materials become available making it possible to try everything from trundle bridges to full Golden Gate style suspension bridges. The developers seem to be using real structural engineering principles most of the time as well, rather than just making things up. So if you ace every bridge on your first try maybe it’s time to consider a career change!
Nate Ahearn - Marketing Manager
@Nate_Ahearn
Playing Real Racing 3 by Electronic Arts
The Real Racing series has a favorite of mine since its debut years ago. After being acquired by EA, the developers elected to go with the tried and true free-to-play model for the third installation and the result is a winning combination of slightly aggressive monetization mechanics with some of the best racing gameplay you’ll find on mobile. The social mechanics have also taken a step forward since Real Racing 2, as your GameCenter friends now populate every race you’re in. The result is a much more satisfying experience. Nothing compares to the feeling of taking down your friend’s best time, snapping a screenshot and gloating about your victory via text message.
Thanks for checking out this week’s entry in our What We’re Playing series. We’ll see you in two weeks!