Black Friday

by Kelsey Hoff on 27th Nov 2009

From all of us at Pocket Monkey Games to all of you out there, a very happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I had planned to write this blog yesterday, but ah, you know how it goes. The cooking, the prepping, the eating, and the sluggish excuses for movement after the meal...it just didn't get done. But I'm hoping you all had a great time with great food.

And for those of you in other counties, well, shoulda been here. ;)

So today is a very special holiday all on its own: Black Friday. A day where you're all hoping to cop a few deals. Pocket Monkey Games has just what you need to break you out of that post-Thanksgiving daze: A sweet deal on Finger Slinger! Our weekend sale is still up through the end of today. Just $.99 to get you (or at least your gaming finger) moving again. Better yet, you won't even have to fight the crowds to get your game! Just visit the AppStore for some instant gratificaiton.

So hop on it, folks! Get your hands on this game and when you do, comment and tell me what you think! I'd love to know. :)

Happy Black Friday!

PS. PMG CEO Kris Jones and I had an epic TwitPic battle to see who had the nicest Thanksgiving dinner. You can see our pictures, and vote for who you'd rather have Thanksgiving with, on our Twitter accounts. Mine @PocketKelsey and his @Kristoferjones.

Finger Sling

by Kelsey Hoff on 18th Nov 2009

Excuse my absence, dear readers. Us here at PMG have been working on games, games, games for the last few weeks and I'm pleased to bring you info on a brand new game as well as an update on Nerdzilla.

Our newest game has been submitted and we're anticipating its arrival in iTunes perhaps this weekend (fingers crossed, no pun intended). The game is called Finger Sling and I'm tempted to describe it as castle defense although that would be sorely misleading. You've got a ball in the center of the screen being bombarded by other balls all trying to push it outside of the ring it's sitting it. You've gotta keep this from happening by slinging YET ANOTHER ball at oncoming projectiles. The game is all about reflexes and smooth game play, something I'm sure you'll be able to get into. In fact, some people have already gotten into it. From one previewer:

"...A unique gameplay experience which is reminiscent of the early iPhone games that made the platform so enjoyable with its intuitive touch control interactivity."

We here at Pocket Monkey love this game and we're willing to bet the money we've invested in it that you'll love it too. But in case you need a little more persuasion, here are some pictures and even A VIDEO for your curious eyes:          

And pictures!

Of course, Finger Sling comes equipped with OpenFeint so you can unlock achievements enhancing your game play experience. So be on the look out for this game. If enough of you are curious about it, we may even do an opening weekend promotion/discount. Sound good?

Now, I told you I'd keep you updated on Nerdzila. We got a call from Apple saying that they don't promote violence in a school setting (they must not have ever been part of a hazing fraternity). SO we've gotta change up our style! Therefore, I'm posing this question to you intelligent game lovers: If you could slap nerds in a non-school-related-environment, where would you slap them?

I'll also leave you with this next question: HAVE ANY OF YOU PLAYED THE NEW LEFT 4 DEAD 2 YET?! HOW WAS IT?! I definitely plan on crashing CEO Kris Jones' house to play that game night and day. Unless you all tell me its terrible. In which case, I will still play it out of sheer loyalty.

Nerdzilla Stands Up for Cool Kids Everywhere

by Kelsey Hoff on 26th Oct 2009

Allow me to introduce you to my new, favorite game from Pocket Monkey: Nerdzilla!

This game is a whack-o-mole type game where you have to slap the nerds who keep raising their hands in class, making us cooler, but obviously less-intelligent people, look bad in front of the professor. Each level is a class that must be passed and they get harder and harder as these nerds start wising up to your attacks. They'll start using books to block your hits and some of the little rascals will even need to be slapped an extra time just because they're so resilient.

NOW, I know some of your brains are ticking, telling you things like, "Wait a second...I got straight A's in my advanced Trigonometry class and my Organic Chemistry class...am I possibly, per chance, per tiny whim, one of these so called 'nerds' to which Kelsey is referring?"

My answer: YES. YOU ARE. Why on earth would you take ADVANCED TRIGONOMETRY?! YOU TRYIN' TO MAKE ME LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF MY PEEPS?!

It's cool, it's cool, because you'll enjoy this game too. Nerds, not only will you be able to show off your excellent hand-eye coordination skills, but you can also assuage your insatiable need to get passing grades by Acing each level with an A for your excellent self-hate.

For all you cool kids out there: Well, I'm sure you don't need to be lectured on the pros of beating that kid that made you look bad in front of your woman, Susan Packard, in the 7th grade.

Here's a little tip: I find that naming each nerd really helps you get into the game. I've named every single one "Chad" because all the Engineers I can think of that I don't appreciate are named Chad. Erics, Ryans, and Jasons are OK in my book. Sorry Chads!

Here's a couple screenshots for you to feast your eyes upon.

This game is great just because it is so extremely addictive and the drive to get a better grade at each level really keeps you going. I couldn't put it down until I was a straight A student. Also, this game comes with OpenFeint and unlockable achievements. If you want more information about Nerdzilla and it's progress through the endless tunnel that is Apple, please follow me on Twitter @PocketKelsey

A Swingaling Thing

by Kelsey Hoff on 16th Oct 2009

Hopefully, you’ve all heard by now that Pocket Monkey Games has come out with a new game called Swingaling.  Hopefully, you’ve all purchased a copy (right?). If you haven’t, let me tell you a bit about the game to whet your appetite because it’s a super rad game.

With Swingaling we were looking to change a lot of things: Art, game play, everything. The art is most noticeably different. It’s a cutesy, rounded, colorful style that allows you to really get into the idea of flinging a squirrel-like-ball through the trees into a cracked out dust bunny (didn’t I tell you this game was rad?).

Picture Doodle Jump, but in horizontal fashion. Your objective is to gain yardage and avoid baddies by swinging from tree top to tree top. We’ve adopted the casual “pick up and play” style Doodle Jump taught us to love and formed it into a game of our own.

Here’s a couple pictures of said cute-squirrell-ball.

I’m going to claim Slugston, a slug tied to a propeller, as my favorite baddie. He’s cute and angry!

Our concept designer, Koreena, and I want you to see an inside look at our game production that you won’t have seen anywhere else. Voilà! Our first rough draft drawings of the characters!

To see how our game has evolved, you’ll have to buy the game to see for yourself. And we’ve got a sweet deal for you if you’re planning on looking into Swingaling. This game normally goes for $.99, but on MONDAY the 19th ONLY, PMG will be giving you a chance to download it FOR FREE in the App Store. Yep. Fo’ free. So set your iPhone alarms for Monday and grab yourself a free game :) And then tell your friends.

Hopefully this promotion will get you excited for PMG’s OTHER upcoming games, one of which being Nerdzilla, which I’ll write about on my next post.

If any of you have purchased Swingaling, leave a comment! That way we'll know who you are, find you, and love on you. Bet on it.

As always, follow me on twitter @pocketkelsey

xoxo K

Hello Brave New World

by Kelsey Hoff on 15th Oct 2009

Hello readers! Welcome to my personal blog about all things cool, iDevice related and otherwise. This being the first blog, I’ll take the freebie pass and introduce myself to you. It’ll be much like one of those extremely annoying surveys you’d find on a myspace bulletin, but you don’t have to pass it on (if you don’t want to)

My name is Kelsey Hoff.

I live in beautiful, spectacular, Portland, Oregon. Yes, therefore I like rain.

I’m 21 and it’s awesome.

I work for Pocket Monkey Games with CEO Kris Jones.

In fact, he and his wife live right down the street from me.

I like Apple. A lot. To me they can do no wrong.

Except when they neglect game designers and take weeks to approve your game simply because they’re working on a new update to their software. PUL-LEASE!

My iPhone and I are best friends. It's name is Cherry.

I like Apps that are artistic and unique. The artwork is everything to me.

If another game that copies Flight Control comes out and makes it big, I will have lost faith in the iDevice community.

I guarantee you that I can school you at Soul Caliber. I basically rule that game.

When I need artistic inspiration, I sit down and play Castle Crashers.

I really hope Castle Crashers comes to the iDevice very soon.

I have a pet parakeet and I am teaching him to say everything he says in an English accent, in honor of Chris Thomas. And because I like English accents.

I like to cook. It's super rad.

I'm also a professional photographer.


Some of you may already know me from Pocket Monkey Games and, well, some of you may not know me at all. But I look forward to informing you, my dear readers, on all things iDevice related. And of course, all things cool, as previously stated.

xoxo K


PS - Follow me on twitter! @pocketkelsey