Libra Balance – An enjoyable Ball Roller with great graphics

Libra Balance is Karoly Nyisztor’s debut title on the app store. Sharing the same engine as Karoly’s other game, the Christmas themed “3D Jingle Balls” [Review] it has more content and offers up more of a challenge.

The core gameplay of Libra Balance is not at all complicated, but in practice ends up being pretty challenging and very fun. The entire goal of the game is to guide either 5 or 6 balls depending on the level on a rotating platform into a hole on said platform. The rotations of the platform are controlled via the accelerometer on your device. You must twist and tilt the platform to guide balls into the hole while at the same time keeping the other four balls from falling off the edge. You will have to navigate the balls around objects like columns, traffic cones, barrels, road blocks, and more. If a ball happens to fall off the edge a different result will occur from each difficulty level:

-Easy: The other balls will not be affected; the ball that fell off will just be placed back onto the platform.

-Medium: All balls will be returned to their original starting positions on the platform when another ball falls off (if a ball has already gone through the hole it will not return; only active balls will be returned to starting positions.)

-Hard: Same result as medium, however the catch in this is that all balls will be returned to their starting positions whenever a ball goes through the hole

The level is completed when all balls are put into the hole. You are then awarded a score based on time taken to complete the level as well as whether your balls fell off the platform or not.

High scores are tracked via Agon. The game has autosave which is very nice. There are three difficulty levels as mentioned above. There are also three different level packs unlike 3D Jingle Balls which only has one.

-Playground- The easiest pack. The only obstacles this pack has to offer are hills and indents in the platform. This pack serves as a nice intro into the game.

-Classic- This pack is the first to introduce solid obstacles that you must circumnavigate around with the balls. The levels in this pack are a good bit harder than the ones in playground

- Ancient- The most difficult pack, with an ancient theme. While not introducing anymore gameplay elements, the pack has some very challenging levels. Mix this with higher difficulty level and you have yourself quite a proposition.

The music is very high tempo and gets you excited to play the game. However, it can get slightly repetitive after a while. The sound effects are nothing to write home about, but they get the job done. I do wish there was a ball collision and rolling sound.

The graphics are very well done in 3D. The balls and landscapes look very good on my device and are very smooth. I can tell a lot of work went into the design of the graphics, as they are very detailed. I never had any problems with frame rate. The menus fit the game very nicely matching the look of the game and having balls from the actual gameplay balls rolling around everywhere. The icon is fantastic just as good as the one in 3D Jingle Balls, one of the best on my device.

The content is pretty good, it is no Battle for Wesnoth but you’re getting a fair amount for your money. It has quite a few more levels than 3D Jingle Balls and most levels have a good amount of variety. The game does not feel repetitive to play through. The implementation of high scores also adds a lot of replay value.

I never had a problem with the tilt controls, they are implemented very nicely. However, some may be disappointed to hear that there is no calibration option. You currently are forced to hold the device at a 45 degree angle, which is perfect for me but some may not be acclimated to that position. The physics are spot-on. Remember a ball is going to be more affected by a tilt on the outside of the plate than the center and that you have control of the plate, not the balls. IF you forget this, you might have issues with the controls.

Overall, the game is enjoyable. It could use some more levels, more sound effects, and tilt calibration. What the game does do great is provide a unique experience and great graphics. It provides a more hardcore experience than 3D Jingle Balls with more content, more difficulty, faster rolling balls, and smaller finish holes. The gameplay is fun and I had a great time playing through the game, I can also see myself going back to replay levels and beat my scores to move up the leaderboards. It is a good value at the current price point of 1.99. I would strongly recommend this game to fans of Labyrinth and other Ball-Rollers. There is a lite to try as well if you are not sure.

EDIT The game has just been updated to get rid of the annoying pop-up after each level (there still is a highscore button if you like to check after each level). There were some nice particle effects added to the game as well.

Rankings:
Gameplay: 44/50
Graphics/Artwork: 10/10
Sound and Music: 8/10
Presentation/Polish: 9/10
Replay Value: 7/10
Performance (Stability, Bugs, etc): 10/10
OVERALL: 88%

Get it Here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/libra-balance/id329758637?mt=8

Lite: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/libra-balance-lite-2/id342052249?mt=8

Want More Like This? Try 3D Jingle Balls [.99]: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3d-jingle-balls/id345606804?mt=8

Review by Will090

Best iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

Libra Balance LITE 2 is a 3D balance puzzler with stunning graphics and accurate physics simulation.

* GAMEPLAY *
Your goal is to get all the balls into the hole to proceed to the next level. Tilt, turn and shake your device to move the in-game platter and the balls.

There are three different themes with six mind-bending levels in total in the LITE version.

Libra Balance LITE can be played on the go and absorb you into the game regardless of the time you have.

No worries if you get a phone call or need to exit out the game in a hurry. The game autosaves your progress so you can stop and resume with no hassle or fuss.

You can disable the in-game techno groove music and the sound fx and listen to your own.

Check out your ranking on the online leaderboards and invite your friends to compete with you! In addition, you can submit your highest score to Twitter and Facebook.

* ONLINE OR OFFLINE HIGHSCORES *
When you run Libra LITE 2 for the first time, it asks you to create a profile. You can choose between online or offline profile; if you create an offline profile but you decide later that you want to take it online, just try to look at the global high scores and you will be given the option to take your profile online.

Enjoyed Libra Balance LITE? Then get the Paid version for even more ball balancing fun!

User reviews (paid version)
“The graphics and in-game sounds
are topnotch and the use of accelerometer controls is not only intuitive, it’s creepily accurate – it really feels like you’re precariously balancing the platter in your hand.” enuhski

“This is exactly the type of game I was looking for when I got my iPod.” izdale

Video review:

http://dailyappshow.com/libra-balance

Libra balance 1.0 has just been released, and the next day I was searching the web for reviews and information.
While shifting my eyes over the Google search results, I came across some weird links promoting my app as “free”. Yes, you bet it was a pirate site.

The cracked version has been since propagated to many pirate sites, and it shows high activity, which means that the game is quite popular.
I checked also other games which were released on the same day as mine, and only a few have been cracked since. Don’t know whether this means that their app was just not worth it to be cracked, or these games have a better anti-piracy mechanism implemented. (Actually I did not implement any).

It seems that the number of Libra balance copies downloaded to jailbroken devices is higher in magnitude then the number of sold ones.

I just want to emphasize that pirating my app actually does hurt an indie developer, and not a corporate giant or a million dollar publisher.

In the last three months I was working after my daily job – late night and on weekends – to get this game done in high quality.
It was a huge amount of work and many hours, which I could have spent with my two gorgeous little kids. I’ve priced the game to the ridiculous $0.99, and a LITE version is also available in the AppStore. I think I’ve actually done everything I could do to make the potential users happy, and hoping that eventually this project will bring us some money.

Now a few words to the internet pirates and the guys who just play my game for free:

I’m not really upset with you. I know you might have several reasons for pirating:

“We pirate because we hate the man. We wouldn’t have bought your app anyways. I pirate because I’m broke. I don’t own a credit card…”

However, I would kindly ask you to help me – no, don’t send me checks or such!

Just help spread the word about this article or my app Libra balance, write a review, mention the game on appropriate forums etc.

Thus I will receive some sort of reward for my hard work and dedication.

Thank you in advance!

P.s.
Here is a similar story: http://www.collegekidapp.com/2009/07/dear-pirates-youre-hurting-me-but.html

Libra balance is quite fresh, but already received precious feedback!

For details see the US AppStore page and promodispenser.com:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=329758637&mt=8

http://www.promodispenser.com/App-269-Libra-balance.html

Thank you!

Thank you all who already bought the game! Special thanks for posting reviews!

We appreciate your comments, and will take them in account when developing the next update, which will be soon available.

What’s new in this version:
- easier gameplay
- more responsive controls
- improved, brighter graphics
- 8 training levels to help you get familiarized with the game
- 8 new, ancient-themed levels
- global highscores and geotagged leaderboards
- the ability to submit highscores to Twitter and Facebook
- the ability to invite your friends to compete with you

http://www.agon-online.com/game/9AA82BA6B43A6CD2ED02E89378D886B6B76F6195

As said, this and all further updates will be available for free for everybody who bought the game for the introductory price of $0.99.

The online (and also offline) highscore system called AGON is nearly fully incorporated in the game. As I can advance really fast, the next Libra update will for sure contain this new feature.

Libra online scores (prototype)

The next game pack is also under development, but pssst! It must be a surprise!

A draft list of sites mentioning Libra balance:

Comin soon: http://www.iphoneappreview.com/

http://dailyappshow.com/libra-balance

http://www.apphall.com/application-4.html

http://www.appfreakblog.com/libra-balance-will-get-you-tilting-all-the-wa

http://enuhskigamesiphone.blogspot.com/2009/11/libra-balance-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch.html

http://appshopper.com/games/libra-balance

http://www.appreview.com/Games/Libra-balance/90047

http://www.gamespot.com/iphone/action/librabalance/index.html?tag=gallery_summary;title

http://www.apptism.com/apps/libra-balance

http://www.dailycupofapps.com/2009/09/27/libra-balance/

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?threadid=27257

http://forum.iphoneworld.ca/iphone-appstore/libra-balance-iphone-app-71803.html

http://www.148apps.com/app/329758637

http://appstore.iphonedownloadblog.com/app/libra-balance

I just had some quality czech beers with family after receving this long awaited e-mail from Apple: finally my game can be purchased from the AppStore:

Libra balance link

We are all happy, and waiting for the feedback from our customers. It will be a great experience, can’t wait to have my first sale!

http://twitter.com/knyisztor