Inside Social Games

Granted the iPhone is a smart phone, but the apps have turned this expensive piece of hardware into everything from flight sticks to golf clubs. However, we’ve come across an interesting game from a company called Toy Kite that takes the phone and turns it into something you might not expect: A sword. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you?

Released just over a month ago, iSamurai has players literally swinging their phones about like swords. Presented in an anime style, the game makes use of the iPhone’s accelerometer to recognize certain motions. Players can swing left, right, overhead, and thrust the phone into various attacks, and conversely block them in similar fashions (the video below demonstrates it best). When playing alone, the game calls out its attacks and you are required to respond quickly in order to block the incoming strike while trying to find an opening for your own offensive.

It sounds all well and good, but the real fun comes with the multiplayer interaction. Players can actually connect with other phones and fight together in a relatively intuitive manner. Of course, the key difference is that rather than listening for called out strikes, you actually have to watch what your opponent does and respond accordingly. If they do a “left strike,” for example, you will need to perform a “left block” within a relatively short amount of time to defend yourself. If successful, the iPhone will play the sound of a sword clang and if unsuccessful a sort of hit grunt. The game, or duel, rather, will go back and forth like this until there is a winner.

The only real complaint that can be had with the game is that it can easily devolve into a contest of who can swing the iPhone faster without dropping it, but it is an interesting idea for sure. For a current price of $0.99, it is certainly a fun little app to mess around with. Other than that, it the only concern is actually holding on to the phone itself. Suffice to say, it might be wise for Apple to start including wrist straps for their iPhones in the near future (if they are not all ready doing so), because games like this will certainly lead to some serious replacement costs for those that really get into it.