10,000 Farkle updated for the Q10

Q10-device10,000 Farkle has been updated in BlackBerry AppWorld to version 2.2 in order to support the soon to be launched BlackBerry Q10. This update also includes a few tweaks to the code in order to make it more efficient for both Q10 and Z10 owners.

How to Play Farkle

Farkle gives you six dice to roll and awards points for a straight, three pairs or three or more of the same number. Fewer points ares also awarded for each individual 1 and 5. Any dice that do not score can be re-rolled for additional points. If all 6 dice can be scored, then all of the dice can be re-rolled on the same turn.

The skill in this game comes from knowing how far to push your luck, and which scoring combinations to take, and when to re-roll.

The default game mode gives you 10 turns to score as many points as you can. The 10,000 point mode gives you unlimited turns to reach 10,000 points. The two competitive game modes both use the traditional format of racing to 10,000 points.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Farkle

Script for deploying most recently created .bar file

The following batch script is what I use to automatically deploy the most recently created .bar file in a folder to either a PlayBook or BlackBerry 10 phone.

@echo off
for /f "delims=" %%x in ('dir /od /a-d /b *.bar') do set recent=%%x
@echo on
call blackberry-deploy -installApp -launchApp -device <device-ip-address> -package %recent% -password <device-password>

Just replace <device-ip-address> and <device-password> with your actual ip address and password.

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, code

BarCamp Rochester tomorrow

barcamp_rochester_nlogo_width500_greyTomorrow is BarCamp Rochester on the RIT campus. Last year I gave a talk on the internationalization of the business of selling apps. This year, I will be giving a (non-technical) talk titled Daryl Dixon or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Apocalypse. If you see me there, please stop to chat. I would be more than happy to take some time to talk about BlackBerry, mobile, zombies, or really anything…

Update: The slides for my presentation are now posted online.

Events

Xploding Boxes gets even more levels

IMG_00000064Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 4.4 in BlackBerry World, Google Play, the Amazon AppStore, the Nook Bookstore, and the Windows 8 store. This new version adds an additional 10 levels to the game, as well as improving the sharing options on BlackBerry 10, and improving the in-app payment system for the Google Play store.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Android, Nook, Windows 8, and BlackBerry 10 where the goal of the game is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level gives you a different number of touches, and requires a different strategy to solve.

The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while an in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while maintaining your progress from the free levels.

Links & Information

Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Nook, PlayBook, Windows, Xploding Boxes

Starbeams released for Windows 8

Level58After being released for BlackBerry 10 a month ago, Starbeams is now also available on Windows 8. The game has 100 levels, and requires you to assign colors to each star in order to ensure that none of the stars are connected to another star of the same color. The game starts off easy, but quickly gets more complex, adding more colors and seven pointed stars that can not be changed.

Level21

As with the BlackBerry 10 version of the game, the first 25 levels of the game are free, while the full game can be purchased through a one time in-app purchase of $2.99USD. Currently Starbeams boasts 100 levels, but that number is sure to grow as the game is updated in the coming months.

Links & Information

IconS150

Starbeams, Windows

Posting elsewhere

8350iThis past week I have had two posts over at the Gadget Masters with an explanation on Why the Facebook Phone is Doomed, as well as a look how PlayBook upgrade rates may help predict How quickly Z10 owners will update to OS 10.1 on their new phones.

Yesterday I also posted on BerryReview about The Amazing Resiliency of the 8350i. A Nextel branded phone from 2008 on the iDEN network, that stubbornly continues to persist in the monthly download logs for my games.

Android, BlackBerry

PlayBook users still on newest OS

PlayBookStatsMar2013

BlackBerry has not launched an OS update for the PlayBook since last October, and given that pretty much all users were already on the newest OS for the past three months now, it isn’t much of a surprise for almost all users to also be on the newest version of the OS in the month of March either.

This data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of March 2012 through the end of March 2013.

BlackBerry, PlayBook, Statistics

BBOS users shifting towards newer OS versions

StatsMar2013

After being flat for two straight months, February say a 3.65% increase in the the percentage of users running OS 6.0 or higher. The percentage of users on the newest version of the OS is also up slightly to 35.1% of BlackBerry OS users.

This data was taken from downloads of the free BlackBerry strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of March 2012 through the end of March 2013, and does not include BlackBerry 10 or PlayBook devices.

BlackBerry, Statistics

Windows 8 and apps

I have had a preview of Windows 8 on my laptop for about half a week, and this is a significant change for the desktop OS. Not only due to Windows 8 playing nice with touchscreen, but the importance that apps will have on the platform.

First a story about Twitter. I have been an active user on Twitter for about a year and a half. On my BlackBerry I use the default Twitter client. On my PlayBook, I use Blaq. On my Windows 7 desktop I just use the Twitter website. However, just a few hours after installing Windows 8 on my laptop, I felt the need to go out and download a third party app for Twitter.

There is something about the design of the metro interface that demands an app centric approach to the platform more similar to how we currently view phones and tablets, rather than today’s desktop PCs. In fact whenever you are using the traditional desktop (or any desktop apps) it feels as if you are in a virtual machine.

As a result the non-Metro apps no longer feel like native apps on the platform. This combined with the inclusion of the Windows Marketplace as the default way to download apps is going to lead to a sea of change on the app side of the platform.

Exciting times.

Windows

Xploding Boxes expands by another 10 levels

Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 3.5 which adds an additional 10 levels to the game. This brings the total number of levels in the game up to 320. This update is available to all versions of Xploding Boxes including BlackBerry phones, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Barnes and Noble Nook, as well as the Google and Amazon Android stores.

As before, the first 25 levels are free, while the rest of the levels can be accessed after making a single $2.99 in-app purchase.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Android, and Nook, where the goal of the game is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level gives you a different number of touches, and requires a different strategy to solve.

Links & Information

Android, BlackBerry, Nook, Xploding Boxes

Apps for the Dev Alpha

2 Comments

With the most recent update to the BlackBerry DevAlpha, BlackBerry AppWorld is now included so that developers can download and purchase apps from each other through the store front. As a result, version 2.0 of Runaway Trains (which was just released last week), is one of a dozen games available for the BlackBerry DevAlpha.

However, most of my apps for BlackBerry 10 will not be available through BlackBerry AppWorld until closer to the launch of BlackBerry 10 early next year. Porting all of my PlayBook apps over to the Dev Alpha would go very quickly, but there is no reason to prematurely get all of the apps to be pixel perfect. There is still a long while to go until the launch of BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Runaway Trains

Runaway Trains adds support for BlackBerry phones

The puzzle game, Runaway Trains has been updated to version 2.0. This update adds support for BlackBerry touchscreen phones running OS 6.0 or higher. Additionally ten new levels were also added, and the level selection screen received a visual make over.

After launching on the PlayBook earlier this year, Runaway Trains is now also available on BlackBerry and Android phones including the Dev Alpha. In the game, the first 25 levels are free, while you can use an in-app upgrade to get access to the rest of the levels for just $2.99 USD. If you have already purchased the upgrade on the PlayBook you will be able to get access to all of the levels for free on the phones (and vice versa). Additionally if you purchase access to all of the levels now, your purchase will also give you access to the game on BlackBerry 10 phones when the launch next year.

About Runaway Trains

Runaway Trains is a colorful strategy game for all ages where you must route the trains to the proper station. Each level progresses in difficulty and presents an unique puzzle which you must solve by finding a way to guide the coloured trains causing a collision or running out of track.

This is done by touching the intersections to toggle the open path of the tracks. If at any time the trains crash or end up at the wrong station, you will have lost and have to try again.

Links & Information

Android app on Google Play
Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Nook, Runaway Trains