Majesco Entertainment Company, an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced KarmaStar for the iPhone™ and iPod® Touch. Developed by acclaimed game designer Harvey Smith (Deus Ex), the game is a tactical card game and features a quirky, signature art style. A light-hearted strategy game that lasts about 10 minutes, KarmaStar challenges players to maneuver through life against two opponents in just eight turns to build up personal traits and make opportunistic use of Wildcards and Bonus Scores. Just like real life, the game supports different paths to victory.

"The iPhone and iPod Touch have effectively reinvigorated mobile gaming, allowing publishers to offer a truly rich and immersive play experience never before seen on a mobile device," said Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations, Majesco Entertainment. "With titles such as KarmaStar, Majesco is continuing to expand our reach to new platforms where we can offer the most enjoyable casual gaming experience to everyone."

"Working on KarmaStar was exciting for several reasons," added Harvey Smith. "While my primary project is a console/PC game, I love the iPhone. It's an amazing device and working with a tiny team allowed me to touch many aspects of the project. Majesco was supportive as we experimented with our game mechanics, which was critical since KarmaStar is a card-game/board-game hybrid. In general, my respect for strategy game designers just went through the roof. I'm really glad I got the chance to work on a game like this."

As players advance through each stage in KarmaStar, they must build up five personal traits -Health, Mind, People, Love, and Money - and overcome obstacles from each phase of human existence. The game is a combination of immediate tactics, longer-term planning and luck. All the while, players must make decisions about how they treat other players when faced with an assortment of life's most embarrassing and triumphant moments. Building traits early can pay off later and players will learn that sacrifices can sometimes lead to greater rewards.

Combining a host of technical features - including the ability to play alone against the game's AI or with two other players via WiFi - KarmaStar offers silky smooth animations and frame rate to make the playing experience that much more rewarding. Whether playing alone or against others, KarmaStar also tracks the player's achievements, career high score, wins and losses, while giving players the option to listen to music from their iPod music library during play. 

With Whack-A-Groox, a visual and technical gem hits the AppStore now. The producer agency "nothing" gives further proof that small and independent enterprises can deliver top-notch games for big platforms.

Out of the snowy solitude Switzerland is when it comes to digital game production, the web-agency "nothing" brings its first iPhone game "Whack-A-Groox" to Apple's AppStore. Great graphics combine with a straightforward gameplay for a literally whacky trip to ice planet Easho. "nothing" didn't fail to think of a way to make creative use of the handling via touch screen, either, when integrating a snowball-maker. This is quite a twist for the game that has its roots in the concept of the "shooting gallery".

Realized with very little budget, the game shows that little can stretch very far and still satisfy highest quality standards. And it shows yet again that the global landscape of game development has been changed by the arrival of new distribution channels that are open towards independent small producers.

The web agency "nothing" is such an independent small game producer, who is also specialized websites and web applications. Founded in the Swiss capital in 1999 by Bastiaan van Rooden, it has frequently attracted the attention of different crowds in the digital scene. With the game Plobb! for Mac OS X voted as Apple Staff Pick in 2007, prize-awarded Flash applications and graphics published by Wired – among other -, nothing is versatile at a very high level. No wonder, for the company symbolized by an orange rocket counts an equal number of designers and developers in its crew in order to blend technology and design together for innovative creations.

Prices of less than a cup of coffee and easy download and installation processes, too, boost the numbers of casual gamers who buy a game for their train ride or coffee break. nothing's "Whack-A-Groox" will definitely be a hot competitor to watch out for in the fight for winning the customers' favor.