Penny Time is a casual skateboarding game from Penny Skateboards Australia and developed by IV Motion. The game is based on the Penny Skateboards Australia brand so you’ll find it’s logo and branding all over the game. Penny Time is a side scrolling platformer of sorts where you’ll be riding your plastic skateboard through suburbia. The game consists of swiping the screen either up, to the side, or down in order to perform ollies, hippy jumps, and power-slides to avoid obstacles in your way. Will the gameplay catch your attention? I will say that the art style of the game definitely caught mine.

Graphically, the game is a joy to see. The game consists of 3D polygons, but done in a really retro way with solid colors and has a very blocky feel to it. It works for this game though and you can check it out in the trailer below. Animations are very smooth and I really like the camera work in the game too. On the audio side, Penny Time is also a real treat featuring a soundtrack by Hunz which again, is very retro/techno and works great for the game.

Gameplay in the game is quite simple really where you’ll mainly just be doing a series of swipes. See a white circle, swipe up to ollie. See a blue circle, swipe to the right to perform a hippy jump. See a yellow circle, swipe down to perform a power slide. This makes the controls very simple to learn and you can swipe anywhere on the screen to perform these actions. Though the controls are easy, that doesn’t mean the game isn’t challenging. In fact, it very much is.You really need to pay attention to those circles otherwise you’ll have to start all the way back at a checkpoint.

Penny Time is really the first casual skateboaroding game of this type that I’ve looked at and for a casual game, it’s actually really fun. Sure it’s not deep like what you think a traditional skateboarding game would be like where you string together your own tricks and what not, but this is great for those who just want something fun to play. On that note, it’s also very accessible to younger players and they’ll have no problem playing this either.

Penny Time is available now in the App Store for $0.99. It is a universal app and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description

Penny Time is a side-scrolling action game where you’ll ride the original plastic skateboard in search of points, multipliers, tricks and secrets!

Set in a post-retro game world not too far removed from suburbia, the player soon discovers that their Penny board has the ability to freeze time. You’ll ollie, hippy jump and power-slide your way under, through and over frozen obstacles to victory, and choose whether you cash in your earnings along the way or risk it all by playing increasingly difficult areas for even greater points. Each of the game’s unique levels feature two gameplay modes which will immerse and challenge both casual and experienced players alike.

FEATURES
– Mesmerising soundtrack created by Hunz (Purchase | hunz.bandcamp.com)
– Shred your way through five unique and challenging levels.
– Fully colour-customisable Penny skateboard
– Skate in search of points, multipliers, tricks and secrets
– Cash in your earnings or risk them for more
– More planned FREE downloadable content. inc characters, accessories and new modes.
– More upcoming competition play.
– 80+ achievements to discover and unlock.

[via App Store]