One of my favourite recent App Store trends is how developers have started to place an emphasis on environment interaction, and using the level to manipulate your character rather than traditional control inputs. The compelling and curious Stretch Dungeon [Free] by Nitrome was one such title, and the upcoming Splitter Critters looks like an incredibly promising example of how puzzle games can feel fresh and fun through this environment-centric focus. Today, Big Bucket (of The Incident [$0.99] and Space Age [$1.99] fame) have announced that their latest title Stagehand - which we first brought you news of in November of last year - will finally release for iPhone on February 8th. While on the surface its pixel art graphics and platforming action may make it seem like little more than an retro auto-runner, rather than controlling the character, you have to move pieces of the stage to progress through the game's levels. It's great to see yet another excellent example of what the developers have described as a 'reverse platformer', and is definitely one to watch when it launches on the App Store on February 8th.
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Big Bucket's rationale behind their decision to put the player in control of the stage in Stagehand rather than the character makes a lot of sense in practice - the lack of precision in some platforming titles on iOS puts many off the genre, and so having to manipulate your environment rather than rely on virtual contr...