iPad, iPod touch, & iPhone app reviews from our editors—and you!

3 out of 5 mice
Reviewed Mar 26, 2010

No Macworld user reviews

Filed Under:

Games

Developer:
Kenneth Mayfield

Age rating: 4+

Compatibility: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.

Macworld
» AppGuide

SteamPunk HockeyCurrent Version: 1.4.5

GET IT

See more Games app reviews under $5 »

Table hockey with a victorian twist!
As reviewed by MacWorld. 100,000+ downloads in 60 days. Peak ranking: #6 USA, #3 Germany, #2 France, #1 Japan & Italy (games/family/free), #30 Top Free overall (Italy), #11 all Games/Free (Japan). #38th Free Game in USA! **Featured New & Noteworthy** 02/2010 Games section.

Video & reviews at steampunkhockey.com
Twitter: @Steampunkhockey
support@steampunkhockey.com

Version 1.4.5 features:
∝ Single and Two-Player modes
∝ Up to FOUR discs at once
∝ One-button *fast* start-to-play
∝ Auto-save settings, level, score: play anytime!
∝ Replay unlocked levels
∝ Forty-eight levels premade
∝ Endless random levels thereafter
∝ Four selectable backgrounds
∝ AI slow/medium/fast selector
∝ Switchable soft/hard bounces
∝ Particles on/off
∝ Five obstacle types: accelerator, bead, barrier and gliding pylon, exploding "breakout" brick
∝ Shake to push puck into action
∝ Musical sounds
∝ Obstacles on/off
∝ Physics-based motion
∝ Several paddle and disc sizes
∝ OpenFeint Leaderboards and Achievements!

Player reviews:
"Steampunk Hockey is undoubtedly one of the, if not the most gorgeous hockey game out on the iPhone and iPod Touch - combining Victorian sensibilities amid the trappings of a sophisticated mobile sports game." 5/5, AppSized review

"Air-hockey as Jules Verne would have imagined it!" 5/5

"Best "air hockey" app on the iPhone..by far." 5/5

"I really like the art style. And the sound effects are perfect too. And it's one of the best hockey apps out there." 5/5

"This is the best hockey game I've seen so far. Thank you for letting us have this wonderful game." 5/5

"Love the musical sounds" 5/5

"Beautiful. My favorite hockey game." 5/5

"I can now delete my other air hockey games I've downloaded. I'll never play them again. They weren't bad, and they were fun, but Steampunk Hockey is just a cut above the rest." 5/5

"Extremamente aditivo. Bons gráfico, gfx e muita rapidez de movimentos." 5/5

"Echt een aanrader en zeer verslavend" (Highly addictive, and very recommended) 5/5

"Très sympa. Bien plus originale que les autres de ce type graphiquement meilleur [...]" 4/5

"Wirklich ein sehr gelungenes Game mit super gestalteter Grafik und kurzweiligem Spielspaß. Läuft super gut und die steuerung ist präzise." 5/5

"Amazing!!! This should be the number one PAID app. The developer outdid him/her/themself with this one!!! THANK YOU" 5/5

"The best hockey game I've ever played on iPhone. Thanks every one straight from my heart who are behind the game." 5/5

"It is an absolute joy to play, the sound effects elevate this simple air hockey variation into something very tactile and special." 5/5

"This game is so much more fun than most regular air hockey games. The graphics are great, with a magical-like feel because of all the colored sparks, but what I love most are the sound effects. Every time the puck is hit you hear musical notes. Sweet!" 5/5

なにより、このゲームの雰囲気は素晴らしいです。
ＳＥもデザインも、アンティーク家具のような高級感があります。
初めイヤホンでプレイしましたが、実際に家の外で音楽が鳴ってると勘違いしてしまうほど、サウンドに深みがありました。4/5

Hockey re-imagined with the finest of Victorian technologies!

No expense is spared to bring you the newest electric entertainments of our modern age.

Featuring meticulously hand-designed brass and crystal precision simulations, SteamPunk Hockey remakes an old tradition into a modern experience for young and old alike.

Control the virtual electric and magnetic properties of your paddle to score upon the opponent's goal with your choice of gam

SteamPunk Hockey Screenshots

SteamPunk Hockey Review

Ye olde air hockey game looks stylish, offers anachronistic fun

by Bryan Schell, Macworld.com

Steampunk is a movement within science fiction and alternative culture which melds futuristic technology with Victorian society and imagery in a quirky, anachronistic way. Think gentlemen in bowler hats and ladies in bodices shooting laser guns while riding flying motorcycles that run on steam and have cogs. If that sounds totally awesome to you, you might want to pick up a little game called Steampunk Hockey. Developed by Kenneth Mayfield, the game's unique style is ultimately its best selling feature.

Built-in obstacles provide some variety to your usual air hockey tedium.

While Steampunk Hockey doesn’t offer up Wayne Gretsky and Alex Ovechkin in stovepipe hats and monocles, it is a pretty solid take on an air hockey game for iPhone. The thing this game has going for it is not the gameplay, it’s the design. From the load screen to the sounds to the incredibly Victorian wording of the game options (“select a mallet to suit your talent: nimble-fingered or noble-fingered”), Steampunk Hockey goes all out to deliver you a quality anachronistic iPhone air hockey experience.

The gameplay itself is very simple. You put your finger on a golden bejeweled hockey paddle and you hit it around on an iPhone-sized table until you or your opponent scores in the opposing goal. Built-in obstacles, different puck sizes and the game's AI add a little spice to the mix.

Definitely one of the funniest game menus I've ever seen.

The game’s two player mode is definitely its strength, because young Victorian gentlemen rarely enjoy parlor games by their lonesome. You'll be able to keep track of your scores thanks to a partnership with OpenFeint, but unfortunately the multiplayer is limited to sharing a single iPhone. Still, while I was a bit worried that two heads leaning over two different players’ fingers wouldn’t leave much screenspace to see what was going on— somehow it worked out. Among steampunk fans, Steampunk Hockey will become a classic, played at steampunk conferences worldwide. For the rest of us, it will have the staying power of the air hockey table at the local arcade: really fun until the skee ball machines open up.

[Bryan Schell wears a monocle when he plays ice hockey...it helps hide his laser guns.]

Click here to comment on this review »