Social aspects in gaming

All,

I've been thinking of various items to add to the next Word Mix updates, as well as things to integrate into my next couple of games I'm working on (yes, I AM working on other games, very hush, hush for now though :) ).

How important are social features to you? I'm thinking things like head-to-head play, multiplayer (across network), achievements, high scores, challenging other players, etc.?

I can see how social features like those stated above can get you more involved in a game and with those who enjoy the same games that you do, however sometimes you just want a game that you want to play by yourself with no intrusions into the outside world.

What do you think? Are these types of features important to you? Are they important to you for games such as Word Mix?

Please leave a comment to this post or feel free to email me directly at "greenrift@gmail.com". I'd appreciate your feedback!

v1.4.3 update for Word Mix Lite

v1.4.3 was a small update. The fullscreen ads that showed up every other game have been disabled. Sorry for any trouble they may have caused you.

Thanks for the continued support!

Web hosting issues on 2/24 (Wednesday)

UPDATE: Looks like everything is back to normal. Sorry for the interruption or problems you all may have had.

All:

If you are experiencing issues with dictionary downloads or the leader board screen, please be patient. These items are hosted on a web server and the hosting company is having problems today. If you are doing a fresh install of Word Mix (Lite), the game should detect the server being down and automatically default to loading the "built in" dictionary that comes with the game. Again, I am sorry for these issues, but they are out of my control for the time being. Please be patient and I'll post something when I see that things are back up and running properly.

Thanks!

V1.4.1 update

Please upgrade your Word Mix and Word Mix Lite to version 1.4.1 on the Android Market. This update fixes a bug with the Puzzle game.

Version 1.4 Released!

Version 1.4 of Word Mix & Word Mix Lite has been released.

Updates include:

1) Two new dictionaries. A common words dictionary (loaded by default) and an advanced dictionary. See the application settings to change dictionaries.

2) With the added dictionaries there are now over 12000 levels of play!

3) A leader board is now available. See "High Scores" from the main menu. The leader board only keeps track of "Timed" games. "Puzzle" games are not tracked.


Unfortunately there were a few bugs introduced with this update. When you tap "End" on a puzzle game and select "End Level", the next level sometimes presents a "Game Over" when you come back to your game. Also there are some layout issues with the leader board. These issues will be addressed as soon as possible.

Thank you all for your continued support of Word Mix!

Concerns about permissions for Word Mix Lite

This post is to address permissions concerns users have been commenting on in the Android Market for Word Mix Lite. Word Mix and Word Mix Lite require various permissions in order to provide network services such as looking up words on Dictionary.com as well as permissions to handle saving the state of your game correctly when your device receives a phone call. Word Mix Lite has a few extra permissions that the ad companies which Word Mix Lite uses requested to be listed. Here is a list of the permissions and why they are there:

Network communication: full Internet access - This is to be able to look up words at Dictionary.com

Network communications: view network state - Allow the game to behave appropriately when no network services are available

Phone calls: read phone state - This is to make sure Word Mix behaves appropriately when your device receives calls

Services that cost you money: directly call phone numbers - This was requested by Greystripe ads in order to allow the user to click on ads that allow the user to make toll free calls to get more information about an ad. These ad campaigns are few and far between.

I've been in contact with Greystripe Ads regarding the "Services that cost you money" permission. They have stated that that permission can be disabled and no ads allowing the user to make toll free calls will be displayed.

Greenrift Software has decided to remove that permission in future updates to the application. Be looking for an update to Word Mix and Word Mix Lite in the next week or so removing this permission as well as providing some much needed dictionary updates.

Thank you all for your patience regarding this and thank you for your continued support!

Word Mix Reviewed!

Check out the latest review of Word Mix from AndroidTapp.com.