And for really cheap, too! In celebration of Curiosity's landing on Mars, Tiger Style's super cool iOS game Waking Mars is on sale for $1.99 on the App Store. It's worth it.
I did Waking Mars as my Gaming App of the Day back in March, and always felt like that kind of short writeup didn't do the game credit—it's a lovely game with a cool story, terrific music, and mysterious and organic gameplay.
Late last night, after the Curiosity chatter had died down a bit (well, not on Twitter—the chatter still hasn't died down on Twitter), I fired up Waking Mars and played a bit. It was a great way to cap off an exciting night—there I was again, beneath Mars, exploring tunnels and growing new plant-life.
The thing that made the Curiosity landing so cool to me is how grounded it was (so to speak). It's science at work, no more no less—a real-world accomplishment that feels grander for how elementary it is. This really happened! We really shot a robot into space successfully! Waking Mars has a relaxed, respectful view of science that feels right in line with that.
And hey, who knows? Maybe the next images we'll see from Curiosity will be of huge, oxygen-spewing plant barnacles. Stranger things have happened!
Okay, stranger things haven't happened. But still, it'd be neat.
Waking Mars [App Store, $1.99 on Sale]