Amazing Alex Now Available for iOS and Android!
Like a phoenix from the ashes, Casey’s Contraptions has been born again as Amazing Alex! This latest app from Rovio is now available for iOS and Android — via both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. Rovio has stated that the app will be released at a later time for PC, Mac, and Windows Phone. Before all the repetitive questions start, no we don’t know when these will arrive, and no we don’t know if any other platforms will ever receive the app.
The storyline follows a boy named Alex who, instead of being a good child and doing his homework, would rather build crazy Rube Goldberg machines using everyday items. When playing through the normal levels your goals are to collect all 3-stars while completing the required objective. Those objectives vary and will become more complicated as the levels progress. Sometimes your objective is to knock balls into a laundry basket, pop balloons, or simply (or not so simply) knock things over. As expected, as you progress through the game new interactive objects will be introduced and these objectives will get much more complicated and outlandish. Fortunately, Alex’s parents are very open-minded and let their son’s imagination run wild.
Note for iOS users regarding Game Center Sharing:
- July 12th, 2012 — An update is out now in the AppStore the fixes the Game Center bug for most users. I say “most” because if you have greater than 300 friends it looks like you can’t see shared levels (you can see those that you’ve shared). So what to do? Well, you can either trim down the number of friends you have or wait until a fix is released. I did ping @AmazingAlex via Twitter and they said they would pass it along.
Game Center support for Amazing Alex is problematic at the moment. If you’re receiving the error, “This game is not recognized by Game Center” try closing Amazing Alex then either logging out of Game Center or enable, “Airplane Mode”. Now reopen Amazing Alex and the message should stop popping up. Rovio has already submitted a fix for this issue to Apple, so we’re just waiting on it to arrive. We will let you know when this happens.
So what’s included in the initial release?
- For iOS: The app costs $0.99 USD for the SD version and $2.99 USD for the HD version. As far as I can see, there are no in-app purchases at this time, nor is there iCloud syncing.
- For Android: Same pricing as for iOS, regardless of whether you download from Google Play or the Amazon Appstore. As an alternative, there is a “Free” version of the app in both stores. This version only contains 16 levels (The Classroom) and has a link to the “Paid” version if you decide to buy.
- 112 Levels! Spread across four episodes, you can play a full century of levels! We will be creating walkthroughs for these, so please be patient while we get everything up and running.
- Share Solutions! For iOS users, you can share your solutions across Game Center with your friends. This is useful if you are having trouble with a level, or if your buddy is struggling. If you share your solution, it will be saved so you can go back and revisit the level at a later time to see what you have done. Also, you can share across SD and HD.
- Level Creator! The app has only be live for a couple hours and there are already hundreds of user-created levels available online to play. You can either contribute to this list by creating your own, try to conquer levels your friend has built, or beat levels created by some random person in eastern Europe (**cough** Finland)!
- One iOS Achievement! Earn a 50-point achievement called “Completely Amazing” for earning 3 stars on all levels in the first four chapters.
A few notes about the level creator
- The “My Levels” episode, which is the level creator, is unlocked after you complete the first episode.
- Additional objects are added to the level creator as you progress through the episodes. This will make the level creator even more entertaining and give you incentive to work your way through the game.
- As we mentioned above, you can share your creations or download levels created by others. Before you can share your level you have to prove that your able get all 3-stars by clicking the “Play” icon.
- If 3-stars are obtainable then you’ll have the option to share it, but before you do you have to drag items off the stage into the toolbar. This way people can try and create a solution on their own.
- Kids love the level creator! A screenshot of a level my 4-year old son created this morning is below (it’s the last one).
Angry Birds Tie-Ins! (We all knew they were coming.)
- The Classroom: Through the first chapter, there is a poster under the board that reads “Aa: Angry” and “Bb: Bird”.
- Alex’s Bedroom 3-11: First appearance of the Bad Piggy Bank, though he appears in several levels thereafter as well. A nice subtle add-on is that his eye becomes bruised after shattering, just like the pigs in Angry Birds.
- Alex’s Bedroom 3-12: The level is called “Angry Doll” and features the doll in the slingshot aimed at the Bad Piggy Bank. I couldn’t help but yell “Ca-Cawwww” the first time I played it.
- The Treehouse 4-1: The level is called “Angry Birds” and features a slingshot with a ball bearing aimed at the Bad Piggy Bank atop a rickety structure.
