8 ms·

Letterpress by Loren Brichter of Atebits

51 points by tuhin 14y ago

nicholassmith 14y ago
It's one hell of a good looking app and according to an article on The Verge it apparently clocked in at under 7k LOC. Looking forward to seeing what comes out of Atebits over the coming years.
wmeredith 14y ago
Good lord the App Store search is lame. I get three results when searching for "Letterpress" and this game isn't among them. In fact, I just spent about 5 minutes trying to find this game at all and I can't. Boo.
- twootten 14y ago
  I think it takes a little while for new additions to get indexed into the search. Links will take you there though... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterpress-word-game/id526619424?ls=1&mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterpress-word-game/id5266...
fieldforceapp 14y ago
I really like this take on asynchronous gameplay UI, it's tough get the "glance" aspect of the UI correct and yet make it compelling. The "Draw Something" problem where you're drowning in partially played games perhaps led to it's demise, a victim of the UI's inability to scale? (Sigh... should have spent more time studying design / HCI in school...)
- spartango 14y ago
  No one says you can't study it even now (except perhaps your calendar)... One classic starting point is "The Design of Everyday Things"[1]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107 http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d...
- mnicole 14y ago
  The [free] Coursera HCI course is going on right now, too.
whalesalad 14y ago
Very fun/cool UI. It's surprisingly reminiscent of Metro, err, Windows 8 Style UI. You could wrap an iPhone in some clumsy metal/plastic Windows phone wrapper from a year ago and you'd have no idea what OS was powering this.
- MehdiEG 14y ago
  I haven't tried the game yet but at first sight, it seems to be heavily inspired by Meego Harmattan / Symbian Belle - a beautifully designed UI (at least in its Meego implementation) that unfortunately never went anywhere due to Nokia killing both Meego and Symbian before it was even released.
haraball 14y ago
Very fun and beautiful game, just tried it out. I also like the solution that you can play up to 2 games for free, and then you can pay for it to be able to play more at the same time.
- masklinn 14y ago
  A very similar model to Outwitters's (https://itunes.apple.com/app/outwitters/id432969074?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/app/outwitters/id432969074?mt=8)
  - reiichiroh 14y ago
    Unfortunately, Outwitters was a sales disaster: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/outwitters-sales-disaster/ http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/outwitters-sales-disas...
    - user-id 14y ago
      Loren should do relatively well out of this game though.
    - Steko 14y ago
      Outwitters main problem was the teams were functionally identical so there was little point in paying for them. Yes the uber units were different but in actual gameplay these weren't used at all. If there were other noncosmetic differences, this wasn't apparent to me as a casual player. I guess I spent around $20 in Hero Academy but I spent $0 for Outwitters, a game of similar polish and quality.
      - masklinn 14y ago
        > Yes the uber units were different but in actual gameplay these weren't used at all. That's not completely true, but it is true that they're not hugely common to use: because of their price, misusing them will likely break you, whereas using them does not usually have an absolutely critical impact on the game. They may be slightly more easy to use in pair games. > If there were other noncosmetic differences, this wasn't apparent to me as a casual player. Nope, there aren't, probably to avoid the balance issues of e.g. Hero Academy.
chrislloyd 14y ago
I love the app, but this isn't how you win friends on the internet: http://cl.ly/image/0Y401a2D1c2R http://cl.ly/image/0Y401a2D1c2R ;)
- wmblaettler 14y ago
  I am sure it uses a standard dictionary such as SOWPODS, which excludes proper nouns among other things.
tehwebguy 14y ago
This game rules. It's fun, it's easy to play and it's got the kind of interface that feels very simple but actually has insane attention to detail. Edit: You don't have to use only contiguous letters, if you've played a lot of Scramble that may take some getting used to.
verisimilidude 14y ago
I'm going to love this game right up until someone creates a cheating app/site.
- tehwebguy 14y ago
  Sounds like a good weekend project to me!
  - verisimilidude 14y ago
    True! Let me fix that. I'm going to love this game right up until someone else creates a cheating app/site. Seriously though, cheating apps totally ruin these word games. I remember loving Scrabulous (remember that name?) right up until everyone figured out how to cheat. Then the game just became tedious. Hopefully the tile-taking mechanic in this game will introduce enough strategy to keep play interesting for a while.
    - kip_ 14y ago
      But it's not just about who can play a few 10-12 letter words. You need to use the corners and the squares around them to deny your opponent from quickly flipping them back to their color.
- jowiar 14y ago
  The game is far more strategy-dependant than vocabulary-dependant. The word list comes nowhere near being exhausted on a given board within a game. Now, is it possible to write an AI? Sure, and actually, an AI-contest for this game would be a whole lot of fun. It's not simply "generate words" - you could give everyone the word list and the game would still play well.
  - greenmountin 14y ago
    Not true, for example I've been ruining the game for the past couple hours with a quick (greedy) AI. Play a couple rounds with words like 'tetrasyllabics', where you completely reverse their blocks, and people just give up :( Actually, I'm hoping there's someone else out there doing this too, because then I'll need to throw in the blocking logic.
speg 14y ago
I was playing this game all afternoon. Ten I came home and turned my phone off silent. Wow. The attention to detail in the sound effects want me to go back to my review and give it another star.

51 points by tuhin 14y ago

It's one hell of a good looking app and according to an article on The Verge it apparently clocked in at under 7k LOC. Looking forward to seeing what comes out of Atebits over the coming years.

wmeredith 14y ago

Good lord the App Store search is lame. I get three results when searching for "Letterpress" and this game isn't among them. In fact, I just spent about 5 minutes trying to find this game at all and I can't. Boo.

twootten 14y ago
I think it takes a little while for new additions to get indexed into the search. Links will take you there though... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterpress-word-game/id526619424?ls=1&mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterpress-word-game/id5266...

fieldforceapp 14y ago

I really like this take on asynchronous gameplay UI, it's tough get the "glance" aspect of the UI correct and yet make it compelling. The "Draw Something" problem where you're drowning in partially played games perhaps led to it's demise, a victim of the UI's inability to scale? (Sigh... should have spent more time studying design / HCI in school...)

spartango 14y ago
No one says you can't study it even now (except perhaps your calendar)... One classic starting point is "The Design of Everyday Things"[1]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107 http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d...
mnicole 14y ago
The [free] Coursera HCI course is going on right now, too.

whalesalad 14y ago

Very fun/cool UI. It's surprisingly reminiscent of Metro, err, Windows 8 Style UI. You could wrap an iPhone in some clumsy metal/plastic Windows phone wrapper from a year ago and you'd have no idea what OS was powering this.

MehdiEG 14y ago
I haven't tried the game yet but at first sight, it seems to be heavily inspired by Meego Harmattan / Symbian Belle - a beautifully designed UI (at least in its Meego implementation) that unfortunately never went anywhere due to Nokia killing both Meego and Symbian before it was even released.

haraball 14y ago

Very fun and beautiful game, just tried it out. I also like the solution that you can play up to 2 games for free, and then you can pay for it to be able to play more at the same time.

masklinn 14y ago
A very similar model to Outwitters's (https://itunes.apple.com/app/outwitters/id432969074?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/app/outwitters/id432969074?mt=8)
- reiichiroh 14y ago
  Unfortunately, Outwitters was a sales disaster: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/outwitters-sales-disaster/ http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/outwitters-sales-disas...
  - user-id 14y ago
    Loren should do relatively well out of this game though.
  - Steko 14y ago
    Outwitters main problem was the teams were functionally identical so there was little point in paying for them. Yes the uber units were different but in actual gameplay these weren't used at all. If there were other noncosmetic differences, this wasn't apparent to me as a casual player. I guess I spent around $20 in Hero Academy but I spent $0 for Outwitters, a game of similar polish and quality.
    - masklinn 14y ago
      > Yes the uber units were different but in actual gameplay these weren't used at all. That's not completely true, but it is true that they're not hugely common to use: because of their price, misusing them will likely break you, whereas using them does not usually have an absolutely critical impact on the game. They may be slightly more easy to use in pair games. > If there were other noncosmetic differences, this wasn't apparent to me as a casual player. Nope, there aren't, probably to avoid the balance issues of e.g. Hero Academy.

chrislloyd 14y ago

I love the app, but this isn't how you win friends on the internet: http://cl.ly/image/0Y401a2D1c2R http://cl.ly/image/0Y401a2D1c2R ;)

wmblaettler 14y ago
I am sure it uses a standard dictionary such as SOWPODS, which excludes proper nouns among other things.

tehwebguy 14y ago

This game rules. It's fun, it's easy to play and it's got the kind of interface that feels very simple but actually has insane attention to detail. Edit: You don't have to use only contiguous letters, if you've played a lot of Scramble that may take some getting used to.

verisimilidude 14y ago

I'm going to love this game right up until someone creates a cheating app/site.

tehwebguy 14y ago
Sounds like a good weekend project to me!
- verisimilidude 14y ago
  True! Let me fix that. I'm going to love this game right up until someone else creates a cheating app/site. Seriously though, cheating apps totally ruin these word games. I remember loving Scrabulous (remember that name?) right up until everyone figured out how to cheat. Then the game just became tedious. Hopefully the tile-taking mechanic in this game will introduce enough strategy to keep play interesting for a while.
  - kip_ 14y ago
    But it's not just about who can play a few 10-12 letter words. You need to use the corners and the squares around them to deny your opponent from quickly flipping them back to their color.
jowiar 14y ago
The game is far more strategy-dependant than vocabulary-dependant. The word list comes nowhere near being exhausted on a given board within a game. Now, is it possible to write an AI? Sure, and actually, an AI-contest for this game would be a whole lot of fun. It's not simply "generate words" - you could give everyone the word list and the game would still play well.
- greenmountin 14y ago
  Not true, for example I've been ruining the game for the past couple hours with a quick (greedy) AI. Play a couple rounds with words like 'tetrasyllabics', where you completely reverse their blocks, and people just give up :( Actually, I'm hoping there's someone else out there doing this too, because then I'll need to throw in the blocking logic.

speg 14y ago

I was playing this game all afternoon. Ten I came home and turned my phone off silent. Wow. The attention to detail in the sound effects want me to go back to my review and give it another star.