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School of Journalism and New Media
University of Mississippi

J-school student publishes book on best gaming apps

Posted on: April 5th, 2012 by

In his recently published book, “Buttonless: Incredible iPhone And iPad Games,” Ole Miss sophomore Ryan Rigneylooks at the genesis behind more than 65 titles for Apple’s iOS platform, such as Canabalt, Angry Birds, Words With Friends and more. In a chapter excerpted on the gaming site Gamasutra.com, Rigney look at the unusual story of Nimble Strong, a game inspired by Cooking Mama, Phoenix Wright, and New York City cocktail culture:

So here’s the story: you’re a total screw-up. You’ve lost both your wife and your best friend, and you have no job. Somehow you manage to land your sorry self a position as a bartender at a local pub. The only problem is, you have no idea how to mix drinks — ANY drinks. Fortunately, outside knowledge of cocktail mixing isn’t required because your patrons will happily teach you how to make them.

During the game your customers will saunter up, tell their stories (which are usually pretty interesting, surprisingly enough), and order drinks. There are over 70 drinks in the game, and the ingredients are all at your disposal. In order to make the requested drink you’ll have to know the actual recipe, and that’s where your patrons come in handy.

The rest of your challenge is pouring the correct amount of each ingredient into a glass, which you do by holding anywhere on the screen. The goal is to pour just the right amount in one try, and that can sometimes be pretty difficult. Nimble Strong: Bartender in Training is educational and entertaining, since it’s essentially a bartending class wrapped up in a fun, Phoenix Wright-style puzzle game.

You can read the full chapter here.