

Apple Design Awards 2014 - shutton
https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/

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Igglyboo
I totally agree with Monument Valley. One of the most beautiful and unique
games I've played in a long time, it's also a great example that you don't
need to push a lot of pixels if you have good artists.

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pling
I agree it looks pretty but it took me 40 minutes to complete all ten levels.
Thats not very good value for money.

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onmydesk
40 minutes for a couple of bucks, you ever been to an amusement arcade?

Not good value for money!! AN APP!!! And on HN as well. Unbelievable

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pling
I get your point but I think this is more about potential. After 40 minutes
you feel slightly deflated that it was the end of the game.

If you compared it to Cut The Rope for example there's a lot more potential
realised there.

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oneeyedpigeon
Nice to see an appearance for Threes - the developers deserve a bit of
recognition after 2048 went crazy, and Threes is a really nice user
experience.

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basicallydan
So happy about Threes. Such an underrated game. Almost addictive but not
quite; slick, classy, fun, kinda cute game. Great work. Well done!

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untog
It is, but increasingly I've seen far, far more people playing 2048 than
Threes. Which, IIRC, is a wrapped webapp.

Not that it's strictly relevant to the Apple Design Awards, but perhaps a
reminder that it doesn't necessarily matter whether you win or not.

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arrrg
2048 is free with ads. Of course more people are playing it.

This award (and all the others given out this year) was nevertheless a nice
recovery from Apple (compared to last years’ winners which were pretty
crappy), showing what they value and telling the world about it.

I hope they continue to show off these values in the editorial decisions they
will make in the App Store in the future (but they have been relatively good
about that in the past, with a few missteps).

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wdr1
I have both on my phone. Honestly, I find 2048 to the better game.

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arrrg
It’s an easier game. That makes it a better game for some.

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eieio
Good to see Blek on there. One of the most interesting and unique games I've
played in a while, and it's absolutely beautifully designed.

I haven't seen too many people talking about it on HN even though it's been
near the top of the charts in the app store recently: definitely check it out
if you have a chance!

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weaksauce
just picked it up and it's quite good. super interesting game mechanic and not
one that I have played before.

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eieio
I love the mechanic and it actually took me a bit of time to fully grasp how
it works (although perhaps I'm a bit slow).

Just in case you haven't realized, the line that you draw will continue the
_exact_ pattern that you draw, no matter what you draw, until you release or
connect the line with a dot. There is a time limit on drawing but you have a
lot of time.

I had originally assumed that some kind of physics were applied to the line
once you release it but this is not the case.

Once I realized how the game worked, I got really into finding elegant
solutions for the later levels. You can "cheat" many of the levels with ugly
solutions, but there's almost always a very simple pattern you can draw that
will solve the level. Finding these simple patterns is extremely satisfying.

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k-mcgrady
Monument Valley and Yahoo News Digest are both really nicely done. Definitely
deserving of the award (not that the others aren't, I just haven't used most
of them).

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joshdance
Monument Valley was one of the best mobile gaming experiences I have ever had.
My jaw literally dropped a few times at the clever reveals.

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ececconi
Monument Valley is one of the most beautiful and serene games I've ever
played.

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gdubs
I definitely recommend checking out the ADA winners if you're an app
developer. It's really good to see what Apple deems award-winning, and can be
very inspiring for your own work.

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sdernley
Sky guide looks great. Hadn't heard of it before but can't wait to download
and give it a try tonight. Anyone else using it?

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arrrg
It’s excellent! The attention to detail is awesome, as is the thoughtfulness
put into each and every feature (and the feature selection). Plus, the dev is
super nice and friendly when you report bugs to them.

I have gained a much better understanding of what I see in the sky. It’s nice
to be able to pull up this app as soon as you see something in the sky and be
able to tell what it is. Of course, other apps do that, too, but none do it as
nicely.

I recommend going ISS watching with it. (Requires an IAP, I think, but as
always app prices are disastrously low.) The ISS is really bright and easy to
see, plus the thought of six people soaring by up there is quite uplifting.
And without the app this would always be a thing you have to plan for, not a
thing you accidentally see after dinner, then walk out to the big town square
to see the ISS go by with the people you were eating with.

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kosei
What's most interesting to me about this is that not a single one of these
apps is a free-to-play app. Freemium apps have a lot of room to grow on the
design front and this could be a serious differentiator for certain apps.

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NicoJuicy
I'm no Apple fan, but seeing Threes in the list..

I have to admit, thumbs up

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danra
Device 6 is amazing. Reminded me of a David Lynch movie.

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quarterto
> Adding further polish are cClever sound effects and a catchy music score add
> further polish.

Might want to have a look at that copyediting.

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shutton
Looking at the winners there doesn't seem to be anything massively inspiring
and only one dedicated OSX app.

I'm not sure how much of a big deal these awards are.

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emsy
I agree, they are kind of like the obvious choices. But then again, you can
only innovate in the boundaries of the App Store approval.

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coldtea
Yeah, but they are quite large boundaries, given that it has over 1 millions
apps in all kinds of genres and ideas.

If you can't innovate within those boundaries then you might be Frank Zappa or
The Residents but you're not Jimi Hendrix or The Beatles. That is, you might
be too wild for your own good.

