Tomorrow’s a big day for us gamers as two exciting releases are due to hit the iOS platform: Rovio’s new puzzler called Amazing Alex and Tiny Wings 2, a sequel to Andreas Illiger’s little gem that charmed us with the cutesy bird character, cartoonish graphics and its simple yet addictive gameplay that has you jumping up and down the hills.
Turns out Tiny Wings 2 isn’t really a sequel per se, but rather a free update to the original game, Tiny Wings 2.0 really. There’s no reason to get disappointed as there’s so much to look forward to, especially with a brand new iPad version coming. UPDATE: Tiny Wings HD is now live on the New Zealand App Store, your download link is right below…
Speaking to Toucharcade‘s Jared Nelson, Illiger confirmed awesome news that gamers who purchased the original Tiny Wings game (a $0.99 value) will get a bunch of new levels in form of a free update.
I worked on the 2.0 version for the last 12 months and everyone told me I should make a seperate app out of it and sell it again (because it is almost a new game and I would earn a lot more money). It was a heavy decision for me to give away this new version for free but it feels right (most people I talked about this subject don’t understand it .
So I decided to give it away for free as a big “thank you” to all my fans for changing my life. That’s really important for me and the reason why I make this little stupid marketing trick of confusing my fans before the release.
Good thing he cleared that up.
If you ask me, he should be saluted for not being in it for the money.
In a rare interview with Flow Studio, Illinger said as much recently, arguing the overnight success of Tiny Wings and the money didn’t spoil him:
Suddenly the whole world went to my room and everybody wanted something: to buy me, to buy the license, sell merchandising stuff, make cinema movie. It was totally crazy. I am still the guy I was before Tiny Wings and I just want to make cool games, that’s my passion.
Amazingly, he’s still a guy in the bedroom who codes games late into the night. He didn’t set aside a big marketing budget or hire a bunch of people to become a “real” development studio.
Smart.
Though Tiny Wings 2 is really be Tiny Wings 2.0, it feels almost like a real sequel, illinger promised. There are three new game modes, among them one aptly named Flight School where you pick between four different birds and race against three machine-controlled birds across 15 new levels (the other two: Day Trip and Hill Party).
And because the original game didn’t support the iPad natively, a proper tablet version will also be launched as a separate Tiny Wings HD download costing three bucks. By the way, expect Tiny Wings HD to hit all time zones at 11pm Eastern, 8pm Pacific.
And if you’re on the New Zealand App Store, you can download it now.
Release notes for Tiny Wings HD, via iTunes:
• Multiplayer: Play against your friends on a single iPad!
• simple but skillfull “one button” (ok… maybe “one tap”) arcade game about the dream of flying
• the world is changing every day – so it does in this game! Procedural generated graphics will make “tiny wings” look different every day you play
• upgrade your nest by fulfilling tasks
• Three game modes: “Day Trip,” “Flight School,” and “Hill Party”
• Play as the mama bird or one of her four children
• 15 hand-designed levels in the new “Flight School” mode
• iCloud support (even syncs your game between the iPhone & iPad versions)
Here’s TouchArcade’s video overview of Tiny Wings HD.
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More good news: the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions sync game progress via iCloud so you can continue playing on your tablet right where you left off on your phone/music player. The iPad version also includes a two-player mode via split-screen and both builds are optimized for Retina.
I’m gonna be checking out that free update tomorrow and if it’s nearly as good as the original game, I’m gonna plunk down three bucks to have that experience on my iPad.
You?