Developer NimbleBit announces Apple Watch support for upcoming letter puzzle game
Third-party app developer NimbleBit, known for 8-bit style real-time simulation games, announced on Wednesday that its upcoming project will be one of the first game titles to hit Apple Watch's diminutive screen.
NimbleBit first announced iOS word game Letterpad two weeks ago in a call for beta testers, and today revealed plans to offer support for the as-yet-unreleased Apple Watch, reports Touch Arcade.
Along with the news, the developer also released renderings showing what players can expect from the game as played on Apple's wearable, which will come in 38-millimeter and 42-millimeter sizes. As noted in Apple's WatchKit SDK, apps are constrained to 340-pixel-by-272-pixel and 390-pixel-by-312-pixel resolutions, a tight squeeze for any sort of gaming experience.
As Apple Watch is not necessarily designed to be a gaming platform, it remains to be seen if the device -- or its users -- will be able to handle extended play time, especially given the form factor's Lilliputian dimensions and questionable battery life. Apple has not yet disclosed how long Apple Watch will last on a single charge, though CEO Tim Cook estimated in October that owners will "wind up charging it daily."
Letterpad could be a good fit for a first-generation Apple Watch, however, as gameplay does not appear to be especially processor intensive. The object of the game is to create words relating to a specific topic using only a grid of nine letters. In general, word games can be formatted into bite-sized segments, with players perhaps breaking a single puzzle into multiple sessions to be completed during train commutes or random downtime.
NimbleBit is reportedly close to finishing the iOS version of Letterpad, though a firm release date has yet to be announced. The company offered no delivery estimates on an Apple Watch iteration.
NimbleBit first announced iOS word game Letterpad two weeks ago in a call for beta testers, and today revealed plans to offer support for the as-yet-unreleased Apple Watch, reports Touch Arcade.
Along with the news, the developer also released renderings showing what players can expect from the game as played on Apple's wearable, which will come in 38-millimeter and 42-millimeter sizes. As noted in Apple's WatchKit SDK, apps are constrained to 340-pixel-by-272-pixel and 390-pixel-by-312-pixel resolutions, a tight squeeze for any sort of gaming experience.
As Apple Watch is not necessarily designed to be a gaming platform, it remains to be seen if the device -- or its users -- will be able to handle extended play time, especially given the form factor's Lilliputian dimensions and questionable battery life. Apple has not yet disclosed how long Apple Watch will last on a single charge, though CEO Tim Cook estimated in October that owners will "wind up charging it daily."
Letterpad could be a good fit for a first-generation Apple Watch, however, as gameplay does not appear to be especially processor intensive. The object of the game is to create words relating to a specific topic using only a grid of nine letters. In general, word games can be formatted into bite-sized segments, with players perhaps breaking a single puzzle into multiple sessions to be completed during train commutes or random downtime.
NimbleBit is reportedly close to finishing the iOS version of Letterpad, though a firm release date has yet to be announced. The company offered no delivery estimates on an Apple Watch iteration.
Comments
Cant wait to see people ticking incessantly at their wrists on subways and streets if the Apple Watch is a success..
I'm not sure the ?WATCH is suited to gaming although this App looks like it might be at least usable. Don't really see the point if playing a game like that on a watch instead of a phone/tablet.
That could be cool. I'm sure the guys that made that motion tennis game could adapt it to use the ?WATCH as a controller. Would still need an iPhone/iPad to run the game though unless the ?TV is updated with an App Store that allows games.
I think you're right - there is definitely possibilities for fitness based games using the ?WATCH.
Someone didn't read Apple's usability guidelines:
Apple told developers to measure user interaction in seconds.
It's not because you can, that you should. Playing games on your wrist is defeating the purpose of the ? watch: notifications and short simple interactions.
Yes this is probably a case of somebody showing off what they want to do but doesn't mean it will end up approved by Apple.
It will be interesting to see what Apple does if they get a lot of game submissions. Because the HIG clearly states that interactions should be in seconds not minutes. To me that would mean most games are out but I doubt Apple will make a hard rule that says no games allowed. Considering some of the issues app review has had with extensions and widgets I'm a little nervous that we could run into a mess with the Watch where things get approved that probably shouldn't and vice versa. I hope that's not the case.
Yeah, I seriously doubt this game will ever be allowed. They're trying to make headlines for themselves.
That's another way they could do typing on the watch too. They could have a grid of 9 blocks, each with 4 characters to give 36 characters. Unlike T-9 on old mobiles, you could just swipe over a block in the direction of the character or for more accuracy, on touching a block, it could instantly jump to the middle and the letters would be on the outside loop. To insert a character just slide round the loop to select and let go or slide back to the blank tile in the middle and let go to cancel. Swipe left/right over the top part would be space and delete. Swipe hold left would delete words slowly.
I think this game would count as lightweight interaction because you'd only interact to input the solution, it's not like a platform game where you'd always be tapping. They'll only be recommendations anyway, I expect they'll let the market decide what's suitable or maybe just block apps that impact battery life by having too many screen updates.
Aren't there games already (perhaps in crappy-watch form factor for $5) where kids have to give "care" to a digital thing on a wristwatch?
"Feed" the fish
"change the water"
spend "time" with dogs/cats/plants.
And the digital animal/thing thrives or suffers based on electronic "attention".
Aren't those things supposedly addictive for all ages?
That form factor would work here.
The digital thing taps the wrist, and sends a txt "I'm hungry". "I want to go out" "I need more sunlight", etc etc.
5 seconds to give your little e-Fish, e-Dog/Cat, e-Plant some resources and love.
There goes the battery?
I think I'd prefer watches that did not rely on a phone, but were limited to what made sense for a self-sufficient phone.
For instance, current watches do quite a bit within the limits of a watch can do, such as count your steps maybe, tell the time, timers.
Maybe for future watches, have health sensors, if feasible. Not really so necessary. GPS, as some watches do.
Message alerts from phones, of course. Maybe make calls. Maybe.
What else would you want your little screen phone to do? What if you didn't have your phone around?
A map app. Hmm, not so sure.
We shall see if Apple keeps to common sense for watches and what is truly feasible and potentially changes it to being a real game changer.
My $25 Casio does just fine for what I want it to do.
Lilliputian. Great word.
"Failure" is what comes to mind, actually - as successful as those little games on the iPod Nano.
Not to mention that Apple today said it expected a 19-hour battery life under "mixed usage" - only an insane clown would buy that as a timepiece, it must be said.