Emerging Paid iOS Apps: Sales Give Old Titles a Boost With Big Fish Games Dominating The iPad Charts

The top paid apps within the App Store were fairly stagnant in terms of new emerging applications this week. However, the iPad showed many changes with many titles cropping up from Big Fish Games. Like Electronic Arts' massive iOS sale last month, the casual developer has marked all of its titles 50% off, giving a boost to most of its adventure-style games. Since many of them have been highlighted by us on these lists before, such as Big City Adventure, we have focused on those that have not been seen. Interestingly enough, virtually none of the apps this week, for either device, were decidedly new. Some held new updates, while others held sales. Either way, most were a few weeks old, and for the first time in a while, most of the rising paid iPhone apps -- that have not been seen terribly high before -- were outside the top 20. New Titles Within Top iPhone Paid Apps List Words With Friends -- The paid version of Zynga's Words With Friends is the new #1 paid iPhone app, thanks to Mother's Day sale, marking it down to $0.99. The multiplayer, Scrabble-like game is developed by Zynga's Newtoy, which the company acquired last December. Its rise is also helped by recent updates and improvements for Facebook-integrated social play on May 6th. The paid version of Words With Friends is also #1 on iPad. Doodle God -- Moving down to #5, we come to an older game by the name of Doodle God. The $0.99 app (updated March 24th) pits players into the role of a god as they mix and match various elements in order to create the world. Monetizing also through in-app purchases, the game is developed by JoyBits, a veteran Russian mobile developer out of St. Petersburg that was founded in 2002 and hosts a myriad of mobile games and J2ME products. Stick Stunt Biker -- The next interesting and emerging application is all the way down at #23, and it's another old one. Stick Stunt Biker was updated April 20th with new levels and obstacles, but the currently $0.99 application is also 50% off. A sort of physics-based driving game, players attempt to navigate bizarre track layouts while staying upright. Its developer is Robert Szeleney of Djinnworks a young Austrian studio founded in 2009. Stick Stunt Biker also monetizes via in-app purchases. Fast & Furious The Game -- Fast & Furious The Game runs $0.99 and is rising, likely, due to the recent theatrical release of Fast Five. A racing game akin to the movie franchise, the game is published by I-Play, the publishing arm of Oberon Media, a larger veteran (founded in 2003) casual and mobile games developer with offices across North America, Europe, and Asia. Fast & Furious was last updated April 30th, but only with minor bug fixes. It is currently #27 on the top paid iPhone apps chart. Stitches -- Stitches marks the only truly "new" application to the list this week, having been released April 29th. Running $0.99, the game is reminiscent of the old tabletop game, Operation, as players attempt to remove odd items from a sickly patient. Its developer is Applied Studios, a small digital media and web company based out of Georgia. Stitches is, in fact, their first iOS title and is currently #32 on the top paid iPhone apps list. New Titles Within Top iPad Paid Apps List Drawn: The Painted Tower --Big Fish Games is one of the larger casual and mobile game developers around with international offices in Seattle, Vancouver, and Cork, Ireland. With a larger repertoire of iOS games, the company is currently cutting all of its prices in half. As such, Drawn: The Painted Tower is the #2 app this week on the paid iPad apps list. A puzzle-adventure game players are tasked with the rescuing of a girl locked away in a tower who has the power to bring paintings to life. One of Big Fish Games' older titles (last updated February 18th), the beautiful art style and more unique story has made this title the most popular of Big Fish's collection. The game is currently $4.99. Amazon: Hidden Expedition -- Skipping over other Big Fish Games titles highlighted in these top lists before, #10 actually brings us to an even older game, Amazon: Hidden Expedition at $4.99. One of the first iPad game applications, the title is another adventure game, but this time seated within the Amazon Rainforest, as layers seek the hidden "Beetle Temple." Though it was updated April 26th with general performance and optimization improvements, the rise is still primarily due to the drop in price. Even so, it's ranking in relation to its age, is a testament to its quality. Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad -- In at #11 is an app not seen this high on the charts before called Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad from Splashtop Inc. As the name would suggest, this $2.99 app allows users to view and control their computer from their iPad as if they were sitting at it. Updated just today (May 9th), the app has improved itself, allowing users to find their computers across the Internet as well as blank their screen for privacy purposes. Splashtop is a privately held San Jose, California-based software company whose Splashtop OS spans PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones. Competitors include LogMeIn and iTeleport. Azada HD -- Moving back into the realm of games, #17 marks one of the "newer" (released February 10th) Big Fish Games titles on the list this week: Azada HD at #17. Once again, the app is half off at $4.99 and is an adventure-style of game. Now, players must solve puzzles to help free a character named Titus from a magical spell imprisoning him within a haunted room. Awakening: The Dreamless Castle HD -- The last new face to this week's list comes in at #24 in the form of Awakening: The Dreamless Castle HD. Another Big Fish Games adventure title -- costing, currently, $4.99 -- players must escape a strange castle they have awoken within. The game's last update was March 23rd, consisting of both performance improvements and Japanese support.

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Emerging Paid iOS Apps: Sales Give Old Titles a Boost With Big Fish Games Dominating The iPad Charts

Christopher Mack

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