There’s a lot of games in AppStore. Tons of them. They make the bigger part in top grossing, top sold and top downloaded lists.
From farts to sticky fighters, all the iPhone games have to fight against the abandoning-by-boredom curve. Most rely only on the it’s funny factor. Others create an captivating atmosphere with simple elements – the case of Ramp Champ.
Released in 2009 by The Iconfactory and DS Media Labs, Ramp Champ caught the eye of many because of its beautiful graphics in addition to a simple purpose: flick your finger to roll balls, hit targets, earn tickets and redeem prizes. What makes this game so unique isn’t its formula, but how it is made.
The first thing you notice when playing Ramp Champ is the graphic awesomeness. Designed by the very talented folks at The Iconfactory, each stage has its own custom ramp, ball and targets, all beautifully crafted.
The prizes are also beautiful. Pack it all up with a great interface and you have one of the most pleasing to the eye game out there. I consider it a lecture about graphics to mobile screens.
Only that would be enough to make it worth playing, but there’s a cherry atop: the music. It’s beautiful and immersive. You can feel that they didn’t make it random. Iconfactory’s co-founder Gedeon made a blog post about that – it’s worth reading.
But what really got me was the details. I love easter eggs and kind of crossover references. To my happiness, Ramp Champ offers many of them!
The funniest (in my opinion) are located in the loot area, like the Maneki Neko at the right. Many of us don’t have the habit of paying attention to descriptions and text in games, but if you do, you will be delighted with the engrish within all the japanese-related loots.
Ramp Champ made me think about what I’ve already said on later posts: work with soul, with purpose. It’s the thought and care put into it that makes it so special.
We can learn a lot from it, whether we’re designers or developers.