The Gauntlet’s Revenge switch to free to play on Android was a bit of a distraction, but we’re back on track with the Outwitters port. This past week the map backgrounds were all rebuilt to resemble the originals as closely as possible (though I did improve the twitchy egg animation for Reaper & War Garden – you’re welcome). According to Alex, we’re still set to have it all wrapped up by the end of the month. That may mean a February release rather than January like we intended.

As for January being prototype month for Game 5, that ship seems to have sailed. My work stack for the port is a lot smaller than Alex’s, so for me it feels like waiting for Christmas. I’ve got like eight turn-based strategy games prototyped, so I’ve shifted focus to something I’ve always wanted to experiment with: an adventure game with a story. It won’t be game 5, but it’s fun to play around with.

So, real talk, Gauntlet’s Revenge has been under-performing on Android as a paid app. By a whole lot. In light of this, in the spirit of making lemonade from our lemons, Gauntlet’s Revenge just went free with ads on Android! Now there’s nothing standing between you and your shot at the Dot King.

A “remove ads” IAP is included so you can play the game as it was originally intended. We are unbelievably sorry to the few players who did purchase the app. There’s just no way for us to exclude you from a change like this, and we totally understand if you’d like a refund on your purchase. Send your request through this form along with your Google Play order number and we’ll get it issued as soon as possible. We wouldn’t consider a drastic move like this unless it absolutely had to be done.

There are no plans to make changes to the iOS version of the game at this time.

Want to try out bleeding edge (mostly working) software? The beta for the next Outwitters update that’ll eventually bring Outwitters to Android is now live for iOS. If you’re interested in helping out and taking it for a spin, head over and sign up.  Details on the beta requirements and what it means for your current Outwitters play can be found here.

With Gauntlet’s Revenge, it was brought to our attention that we should try modifying our Android icons to look more “Androidical”. Rounded corners are an iOS thing, and Android lets you use all kinds of weird shapes. That suggestion led to this modification of the Outwitters icon for our upcoming Android port.

It’s been a pretty productive year for One Man Left. The early months saw the Brimstone Pinball DLC come together for Tilt to Live 2, followed shortly by the evolution of Gauntlet’s Revenge from DLC to full game. We almost even squeezed in an Android port of Outwitters before New Years caught up with us. We’ve typically only managed about one game a year, so that’s not a bad collection of completed projects.

We really cannot thank you guys enough for supporting us year to year, if you managed a purchase. We’ve been chugging along full time at this for almost 5 years now, and that is 100% thanks to you.

Looking forward to 2015, I’m really itching to dive into some fresh material. While Alex has been putting together our Android ports, I’ve been brainstorming and sketching game ideas for about 2 months now. Alex will join me in January for what we have dubbed “prototype month”. I don’t think we’ve ever had this many different game ideas to choose from. Come February 1st, we will be ready to make the living crap out of something.

So what can you expect out of One Man Left next year? We’re leaning toward smaller projects, which means a faster turn-around for you guys. With any luck, we’ll have Game 5 ready around summer time. It’d be great to have two games done in 2015, but that’s just a flimsy New Year’s resolution at this point. A lot can happen between now and next December 31st. Naturally, we’ll be blogging it all right here as it develops.

And holy crap I’m getting married next year.

It’s getting late in December, so happy everything, everyone! I had too much fun making this ad. EVERY One Man Left game is now on sale for the holidays. We hope you’ll consider taking one of these for a spin while you celebrate whichever celebration is yours. Thanks to everyone who’s supported us over the years, and happy holidays!

On the App Store:

• Save $1 on Tilt to Live, Tilt to Live 2, or Gauntlet’s Revenge (33% off)
• Save $2 on the Tilty-Tilt Boom Boom Bundle (3 Tilt to Lives, 44% off)
• Save $2 on Tilt to Live HD’s Full Version (40% off)
• Save $2 on the Outwitters Uber Pack (50% off)
• Save $1 on the Outwitters Map Pack or Extra Game Slots (50% off)

On Google Play:

• Save $2 on Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous, or Gauntlet’s Revenge (66% off)

We’ve released an update recently giving our latest game, Gauntlet’s Revenge, a little extra Android love. Thanks to those who have supported us this year!

New Features:

• Snazzy new icon.
• Native resolution support and custom UI for 4:3 Android tablets
• Added sharing option for scores with G+, Hangouts, Twitter, etc. on game over screen.
• Fixed graphics display to reduce banding (crisper graphics)
• Android back button now works as expected and consistently throughout the game.

We’ve squeezed in an iOS price drop before the App Store’s annual holiday lockdown. The Tilt to Live Tilty-Tilt Boom Boom Bundle will be available throughout the holiday season for just $3.99 USD (normally $5.99). So for a buck more than it costs for one Tilt to Live, you can grab all three! Would make a handsome gift for anyone unwrapping a new iDevice in the near future. Wink.

Alex is still locked away in his laboratory working on the Outwitters Android port (which is being discussed in more detail over here). That project doesn’t require any new artwork, so I’m left to my own devices for a while longer. To date, I have 7 different turn-based multiplayer games working as paper prototypes in Adobe Illustrator. Alex shifts his focus to prototyping in January, so we’re on track to have a good, large pool of projects to choose from.

I just realized that by the time we shift into production for Game 5, I’ll have been paper prototyping and marketing for more than 3 months. I have not opened Unity since early October. Hopefully I’ll remember how to do my job…

And before we start prototyping full time for our fifth game, this is what Alex has been busy working on. More details on the Android version are being shared in our forum thread. Come join the discussion!

Alex is working on this thing that I’m not allowed to talk about yet, so what am I doing while he’s busy? The same thing I’ve been doing since Gauntlet’s Revenge was released: brainstorming like mad for Game 5.

Amid the porting and the bundling, we’ve been quietly tinkering away on paper prototypes. It’s really early in the process, but so far we’ve been leaning towards turn-based multiplayer concepts. We’ve given ourselves until the end of January to explore, then we’ll go over the lineup and pick a project. The little guy to the side is just some placeholder art from one of my prototypes who happened to have a 5 on him.