We’d also like to thank Mat Jarvis (aka High Skies) for allowing us to include his Sounds of Earth mini-album in the bundle!

I don’t think we really need to say more — other than go get that Android Bundle — and rejoice! ]]> http://www.hemispheregames.com/2012/01/31/humble-android-bundle/feed/ 3 http://www.hemispheregames.com/2012/01/17/osmos-now-available-on-android/ http://www.hemispheregames.com/2012/01/17/osmos-now-available-on-android/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:30:13 +0000 Meal Worms http://www.hemispheregames.com/?p=3584 We’re delighted to announce the Android version of Osmos is now available on the Android Market!

“Must — consume — all — motes!” This lil’ guy is already in the Osmos spirit.

To celebrate the launch, Osmos on Android is 40% off ($2.99) for the first week! Get the full version here. Get the demo version here. Osmos runs on all Android tablets and most modern phones running Android 2.2 (Froyo) or later. Don’t worry: if your device doesn’t meet these requirements, you shouldn’t be able to purchase Osmos on the Market. There are lots of different Android devices out there; please feel free to let us know how the game is running for you!

Big thank you and congratulations to the fine team at Apportable for their hard work on the port. They’ve done a fabulous job, and we’re so pleased Osmos can now be enjoyed on Android devices.

Thank you also to all the fans of Osmos, and to the Android supporters who have cheered us on during the port. Stay tuned for an upcoming series of Android-related blog posts covering Apportable’s tech and our experiences with the port and Android ecosystem.

‘Droids: commence Osmoting!

Android lovers have been chomping at the bit to see Osmos in their hands, and thankfully the long wait is nearly over. Osmos will land in Android-land on Tuesday, January 17 — ‘droids everywhere rejoice!

The fine folks at Apportable have been doing the heavy-lifting on the port, and Osmos runs on all Android tablets and most modern phones running Android 2.2 (Froyo) or later.

The multiple-award-winning Osmos will appear for sale on the Android Market for $4.99 and will be available in a single universal “HD” version supporting all devices at their native resolution.

Stay tuned…

First prize – and a $500 Amazon gift certificate – is being awarded to Alex Christofferson, a student at
Tatnall school in Wilmington, Delaware. His one minute video is very well presented, and chock full of physics. (It’s also backed up by a lab report containing some amazingly thorough and well-thought-out measurements and analysis!) Here’s his video:

In addition, these three excellent submissions received $50 runner-up prizes:

• a video by James Lincoln
• a video by Nicole Morrison
• a video by David Chenoweth

Thanks to everyone who participated!

And many, many thanks to Andrew Vanden Heuvel for running this whole contest! He did everything from conception, to creating the site and video, to organizing and selecting the winners! (All we did was provide the prizes. ) Thanks again, Andrew!

In related news, Mat Jarvis (Microscopics/Gas/High Skies) just posted some great “Tips for a Long and Happy Life”, showing some basic and advanced physics tips on how to Master the Blobiverse. It’s a good thing Mat wasn’t allowed to compete in our contest!

But, if there’s one outstanding Osmos-wish that we’d love to see fulfilled, it’s to see the game used for physics education. For those who have played it, the physics & math inspirations in Osmos are clear (in particular: Newton’s laws of motion and orbital mechanics, but other subjects as well), and this is something near and dear to our hearts.

So, when we saw a recent blog post by Andrew Vanden Heuvel, (an online physics & astronomy teacher with the Michigan Virtual School,) basing a physics lesson on Osmos, we were delighted! In it, he asked students to experiment – looking for physics concepts that could be demonstrated using Osmos as their laboratory – calling people to post videos of these demonstrations.

We thought this was awesome. So we got in touch, offering to “sweeten” the pot and give out some prizes for the best videos. Andrew went one better and created a new website dedicated to the “Physics of Osmos”, and just announced the contest!

First prize is a $500 gift card to Amazon.com (which can be used for books, a tablet, or whatever you like really)! There will be three runner-up prizes as well. All the details, including eligibility, can be found on the contest page itself.

Yay, physics!

Things are coming along very nicely.

Stay tuned…

In celebration, we’re throwing a one-day, 99-cent sale on all App Store versions of Osmos! That includes iPhone, iPad and the Mac App Store. “When?” you ask. [edit: it's on right now!!] On the last Thursday of Winter: tomorrow, March 17th, 2011. Consider this your heads up!

This is definitely the lowest we’ve ever priced Osmos on iPad or Mac. So if you, a friend, or a friend of a friend hasn’t already picked it up, pass on the news…

Thanks,
The Hemi-team

Here’s a selection of a few of our recent favorites:

• “Think Like a Bacterium: Osmos, Naïve Quorum Sensing, & the iPad” by the Sport Linguist relates Osmos to “quorum sensing” and “technological human enhancement”.
• This “review” by Alexandre Guimond begins with Carl Sagan and ends with how Osmos is “the metaphorical statement of what we have become as a species, and how far we have come to understand the Cosmos.” Wow.
• “Osmos and The Free Market” by Daniel Primed takes an economics slant and compares Osmos to the free market. Interesting… though I guess that raises the question of whether or not our economy is a zero-sum game like the mass in Osmos.

And last but certainly not least, a four panel rage comic summing up the Osmos experience for one player

original comic posted by lordmortekai on reddit

During the sale, we put together some free shwag to thank and encourage people to spread the word: Namely, some free Osmos wallpapers and a ringtone. So, in case you missed them, here they are!

iPad	lock screen	home screen
iPhone4/retina	lock screen	home screen
iPhone/480×320	lock screen	home screen

And for those of you that like your ringtones a little… chiller. Here’s a dreamy ringtone from Gas, an excerpt from the track “Discovery” which you may also recognize from the menu screen in Osmos.

Gas Discovery ringtone

Anyways, this is the time of year when various reviewers and websites post their end-of-year awards and ask their users to vote on the best games of the year. Happily for us, Osmos for iPhone and/or iPad has received a bunch!

For starters, if you’re in a voting kind of mood, Osmos has been nominated for four Best App Ever Awards. [Edit: voting has closed, Osmos for iPad won Most Innovative Game!] Best Use of iOS Hardware, Most Innovative Game, Best Game Graphics, and Best Game Controls.

And here are the rest. (I’ve probably missed some, so if you happen to spot any not on this list, please let us know!)

• The big momma of all these is Apple’s selection as iPad Game of the Year! Woot woot.
• Macworld chose Osmos as Puzzle Game of the Year!
• IGN awarded Osmos with Coolest Atmosphere and Best Soundtrack of 2010. It was also nominated for Best iPhone Game. “The combination of the exquisite electronic soundtrack, the cool, colorful look of the different motes, and the zen pacing makes Osmos the coolest iPhone/iPad game of the year.”
• IFC selected it not just as a top iOS game, but as one of the top games of 2010 on any platform. Seeing Osmos amongst such titles as Limbo, Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed, Super Meat Boy, etc. is wild! “Rises head and shoulders above so much of the games content to be found on the App Store because of its thoughtful mechanics and abstract presentation. …beautiful and the ambient trance soundtrack transports players to blissed-out interactive nirvana.”
• Osmos has been nominated in this year’s Crunchies for “Best Touch Interface”. These are some pretty far-reaching awards, with other categories including nominees such as Twitter, Facebook, the iPad, Netflix… crazy company!
• Pocketgamer called it one of the ten best iPad games of 2010.
• TouchArcade selected it as one of the best ports of 2010. “Osmos is one of those titles that feels like it was made for a touch screen, and after owning the Steam version on my laptop, moving to the iOS version felt like an upgrade. Really, no matter which version you play, Osmos is stellar from top to bottom.”
• iLounge put out an iOS buyer’s guide, with all kinds of interesting articles and suggestions. They’ve included Osmos in their Top 100 Games of 2010. “Beautiful like a jellyfish tank set to ambient music from a hip lounge, Hemisphere Games’ Osmos challenges you to grow in size to overwhelm or absorb organic blobs in pool- and space-like settings. As soon as you think you understand the action, Osmos introduces the ability control the speed of time, and the challenge of outpacing new rivals. Brilliant and unique…”
• The APPera named it one of the best iOS games of 2010.
• Oh, and while this isn’t a top list, it was fun to read how “people should have wasted their time on” Osmos rather than Angry Birds. “[Osmos] is everything that games too often are not: beautiful, satisfying, sometimes even relaxing. It’s a full PC game shrunk to the iPhone, and there are some gorgeous touches. For example, that popping you feel after using the slow-motion feature and hearing the soundtrack drop in pitch? That’s a new synapse firing off in your head.”

Toot toot!