I am almost finished with my first iPhone game, called Patchwords.  You can see the online version here.

The game is a word puzzle where you have a set of tiles with two letters each.  You have to arrange the tiles on the game board in such a way that words are formed both horizontally and vertically.   There are four levels of difficulty, which is accomplished by increasing the number of tiles and game board layout.  Some screen shots below.

Original web version of the game

My first ‘wireframe’ using a different game development framework:

After switching to Cocos2d-iPhone, things got a lot better.  The following was the test landscape view of the game.  Shows the background, game board, drag/drop and highlighted game slots.  This landscape view was dropped from development because not all of the four board levels can be displayed this way, plus playability was less enjoyable holding the iPhone or iPod in this manner.  However, all the other elements are kept the same, as you will see in the following screenshots.

Current 9 tile Patchwords game screen.

12 Tile Patchwords game screen

13 Tile Patchwords game screen

And the Ultimate in Puzzle Carnage!  The 16 tile Patchwords game screen:

After you have completed a board, and want to check your results by clicking the “Check Progress” icon.

One of two screens will tell you how you have performed:

This is just a quick walk-through of the game in progress.  Intend to have this finished very soon.

The game is entirely self-contained and can be played without network connection.  However, adding on Game Packs or viewing the Tropy Room, would require a network connection.

The finished game will include 100 games of the 9-tile game, plus playable demo’s of the other boards.  You will be able to buy game packs from within the game which will include 100 games of the 9, 12, 13 and 16 tile games.  Each game pack costs only $.99.  That is a lot of puzzle solving for a buck!

I have to admit though, these puzzles are still challenging for me to solve.  That makes testing the game screens even more of a task, because you have to solve the puzzle to test the “You Won” screen!

One of the screens not shown is the Tropy Room.  This may or may not make it into the final game, but it was supposed to be a ScoreLoop integration.  However, the ScoreLoop model involves purchasing “coins” to play and that is not compatible with our concept of buying game packs as you go.  Ultimately the main menu will include a “Puzzle Packs” entry where you can view the packs you have purchased, scroll through the games that you have played/not played, and basically see your overall progress as you become a Patchwords Master.