Some thoughts on the current state of iOS audio games

if the app/game or whatever is no longer being updated, or no longer performs as expected (or crashes on launch) i think those apps should be removed from the app store.

It's true that nebula game hasn't been updated for years, and though it precious sometimes, it rarely happens. The game is still functioning normally for the story mode and free mode, perhaps not for multy player.

I get what you are saying, like in the most recent update of papa sangre 1, the game is a piece of cake, because something in the game broke down.

I wish Nebula would be updated. The only thing that's buggy about multy player mode is the ship sounds go away. Which does make the game interesting as it becomes a hide and seek battle. I don't think paid games should be removed from the app store with out a refund.

I too have sadly been noticing some great games, and apps in general stop being supported. I really need to finish Audio Defense and Papa Sangre 2 before they may no longer work in IOS 10.

I fear this trend may continue, or increase though. While viewing a recent popular thread, I couldn't help but noticing that everyone said that an app looked interesting, but everyone wanted a free promo code. This seems to happen a lot. It's actually hard to make money in the ap store in general, because there are so many apps fighting for people's attention. And if a developer targets a smaller specific group, it makes things even harder. This is why the free-to-play and add infested apps are everywhere. Quality apps are so undervalued, that they need to find a way to make money back somehow. Believe me, I hate micro-transactions as much as anyone, but in a way, I get it.

I am disappointed to see so many in the blindness community expect everything for free. We might not be able to afford something that second, but saving for a month or two isn't the worst thing. I've been dirt broke before, so I get it. But if we aren't willing to financially support talented app and game developers, we will continue to see apps and games stop working, and small developers stop making content.

This has been bugging me for a while, and I've finally said something. There, I'm done.

Hi! I am also frustrated with games not working. I deleted papa sangre 1 because of that annoying bug. There also were two apps, blindfold pingpong and blind earth escape, but now when I open them they just crash. I really wish they could be updated. As for preferring free or paid apps, it really depends. I don't want to spend five dollars on something I don't even enjoy. I like free aps with inn app purchases, and apps like many of the cohie games that you get to try it for a little while, and then if you want to continue then buy it, because I want to try it out before i spend money. My favorite audio game... that's hard! Does it include apps that are no longer in the app store but that still function? If not, then I would have to say Full Metal Runner. If so, it's a draw between Full Metal Runner and Musicmemory.

I don't mind paying for an app. However if a paid app just stops working or is removed from the store and I can no longer use it than I'd be anoied that something I brought I can no longer use.

For anyone that hasn't been following Apple News, Apple is going to start removing apps that haven't been updated in a while if developers of said app aren't going to be responding. Sadly, we know that somethin' else have moved on, not to mention other older games like Bop It or Smack me.
Where are we now? At a point where i'm worried all we'll have left is overpriced card games that try to unnecessarily reinvent the user interface... which is sad. I'm not trying to say that everything should be free (I recently spent $40 on Manamon even though I think that game should have been $10 less), but I can't see how paying $10 to $15 to play a single card game, which has no graphics, is worth it. I'm more than happy to get games like Dice world or Lost cities, because I can convince sighted friends or family members to play them with me.

I'm not sure what my favourite game is. A few that I really enjoyed would include all somethin' else games, adventure to fait, or the sadly pulled Aurifi. I would absolutely love to see more games that either have good audio and let you compete with friends, or more RPG's with a story and a lot of gameplay.

Oh no, that's really sad! I looked at some of the games I play a lot and they haven't been updated in a long time. But I wonder, if the app is removed will it still function like Musicmemory or will it be unusable like Solara? I really, REALLY miss Aurifi! Last year, I got a new phone and we tried to back up my old phone and put it on the new one, but some of the apps didn't go through. Sadly, a few of the apps that didn't go through were no longer available. The bright side to losing all these games, however, is that Blindfold games is quickly filling the void of all the games we are losing and are going to lose.

I think the app might still function. I have ferrari sound on my iPhone, and that was pulled a while back for some reason or other. it's not made for 64 bit devices but it still runs well enough. You just can't buy it anymore.

Don't be sad, those games still work in IOS10. I really miss Aurify. I think nothing should be removed. After all, I know people running iOS5.11 for goodness sake.. like my dad. I get free games and always purchase things if I can. Like I said I spent like $50 on that game, and it was worth it to support the daevs. I'll keep doing it too. I also buy stuff in Dimensions sometimes.

I agree with the original post. I think that the games not getting updated to keep up with demand should be removed. Like Ken, I miss Aurify as well. I really hope Soul Trapper gets removed as that developer is not coming out with anymore games.

O wow! I didn't know about Applevis until last year, but my friend recomended a list of apps before that and Aurifi was one of them. When I got Aurifi, I was still not really familiar wit Voiceover and didn't really know how to use it that well. I wish I could try it now that I'm really familiar with Voiceover.
I feel like if an app has not been updated in a while but still functions properly with no or limited bugs shouldn't be removed. After all, there's not much for the developer to update! But is a game is literally full of bugs and isn't really usable and the developer is not updating then it should be removed.

the apps would still need to be updated to keep up with the more powerful devices. eventually, if they weren't updated, they'd have to be removed because the time needed to update it, not to mention the cost, would be far worse to deal with than simply puling the app.

Here is a message I recieved from Gray Company.

Hello Jeff!

We’re glad you liked Nebula. We’re a small startup in Brazil that works with mobile development.

The thing is, the current Nebula was developed in 2013 with a not so good platform, it was released for iOS 7 and in 2014 updated for iOS 8. As we stopped working with this platform, we’ll have to remove the game from the store (it has been crashing a lot with the newer versions).

Now we are working with Unity, a specific platform for game development and now we have a sound engineer, that will bring a lot of good audio experience. We’ve started planning a Nebula reboot with a simplified game mechanic and new goals, we are just about to start developing. Working with Unity will allow us to release it for other platforms too.

In this year we’ll release another games, some not accessible, but we have 2 special ones in mind that I’m sure you will love. We’ll need some beta testers, so if you are interested, keep in touch!

Best Regards!

It's sad that Nebula is being removed from app store, I really loved that game, but it's cool that they are going to release more cool games!

I'm going to miss Nebula I hope a reboot means that the game will be back and even better! Fingers crossed.

There aren't enough sports games out there. The Blindfold series of games are doing a good job at trying to recreate some of the games, but some of the sounds really aren't that realistic. In Blindfold Basketball, for instance, where is the basketball three point shot? When you set the ambience to outdoor, you get the same shot sounds as a basket being shot indoors. I promise I'm not bashing on those games because I play them all the time, but I am just pointing out part of a problem. My main problem is that there aren't any mainstream sporting games to play. Where is an accessible baseball game with realistic sounds and stats? Where is a realistic soccer (well, reall football) game? Where is an American football game? Golf? Boxing? So many of the games that are coming out now are simply text adventure games and card games. There is not a thing wrong with that, but I'm still hoping for some mainstream sporting games. Oh yeah, and I'm still holding out for a lightsaber duel game or a Star Wars game, one like A Blind Adventure, would be nice. At one point, I think KidFriendlySoftware mentioned a baseball game. Hopefully something will come of that. Oh well, I've rambled on for long enough.

Its sad about nebula being removed, but on the other hand, the thing about the new nebula game sounds great as well as the other games.

I want to see a few more racing type games. that and a few myre fps's and flight sims. I've never been a big fan of text adventures

They have a much bigger chance of getting scrapped. Why make something that does not last. Better yet, why make a series that won't come to a conclusion. Take the dev of audio game hub for example. They made heart of winter and discontinued it. In my opinion, Apple should really make a strict policy regarding series related games. No release until the entire series has been submitted.

I really want to have a lot of business type sim games to be made accessible in the future. Like a lot of the restaurant and café games. We have the maverick games but I haven't gotten an update from like in ever. I think the devs might be abandoning them. I know a developer posted about a cooking game and I can't wait for it to come out.

Remember what I said about cost? well, developing an app isn't cheep, and audio games are a hell of a lot more expensive from the get go. even if you're the only person working on them. That means you have to spend your own money on sound libraries, licenses to use some sounds perhaps, etc etc etc. Welcome to the world, folks.

I agree but not everything could be fre. Like Joseph said everything is a cost. They have to pay for sound libraries and other things. And they do need to get paid for their time and effort in making the game. Plus audio games are more expensive because it takes more time to produce. If I can't afford a game I just save up till I get enough money and if its worth it then I buy.

If Gray company is using Unity, that could be a good thing and a bad thing. If they're able to input VoiceOver into the game, then hey look! We can play lots of games because there's an accessibility plug. But, if VO doesn't seem to work, then I can't really say anything about that right now.

I don't really like text adventure games either, the only one I really love is Alter Ego because it's more complex than others. Like Ornella, i am really into the sim type games. I also saw the post about the cooking game and am anxiously awaiting its arrival, I wonder when it will come! I don't really like audioames with storylines because they don't have as much replaay value, although I am kind of enjoying Timecrest. As for buying apps, I feel like people would be more apt to pay for in app purchases or a try it then buy it model than to just buy the app right away, because with try then buy or in-app purchasses you know what to expect so you would want to buy it more.

I agree. With some of the text games, when you are finished you don't want to play again because you know what answer you're going to get. As for alter ego, you could keep playing and playing again because there are many different ways you could choose to live your life.

I don't like text games too. My favourite games were audio defence and papasangre 2 untill they started crashing. It will be very bad if blindfold racer will be removed. It didn't have updates since 2014.

I hope not too, and I doubt it because a lot of people still play that game and they just released a new version of it.

What is that game?