6 posts tagged with "backseat-games"

SHIP LOG: Backseat Games · App Store 1.5 · Built with Cursor

Backseat Games 1.5 is live on the App Store — Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas looks you can buy separately, plus Hangman that finally matches the rest of the doodled roadside.

Right after 1.4.0 went live, the next train was seasonal: families should be able to buy a full holiday look before travel. Classic stays free. Each season is its own one-time IAP — preview in the Store, buy once, apply anytime in Settings.

What’s new in 1.5​

• Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas theme packs — home heroes, sky bleeds, seasonal logo beats, critters, and holiday bingo icons
• Each pack is a separate IAP; Classic remains the original road-trip look
• Hangman moved off formula line draws onto doodled sprites, so misses feel playful and the figure can wear the season (hitchhiker, skeleton, pilgrim, snowman)

Holiday looks​

Hangman that can wear a season​

Go play​

Backseat Games on the App Store

Free to download and join. Classic theme is always free. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are optional one-time unlocks. More on the Backseat Games home, privacy, and support pages.

SHIP LOG: Backseat Games · App Store 1.4.0 · 2026-10-16 · Built with Cursor

Backseat Games 1.4 is live on the App Store — two new road-trip games on the host board, Hangman Solo that feels like the rest of the car, and a five-sign hero that finally matches what you can play.

What’s new in 1.4​

• Hangman and Color Catch join License Plates, Sign Game, and Travel Bingo — five games on the roadside signpost
• Hangman Solo with Easy / Medium / Hard from a local word list, cream road-dash letter tiles, and a hitchhiker drawing that grows as you miss
• Host chrome painted so the new games read as real signs, not stickers

The polish pass landed on TestFlight earlier this month (Hangman roadside solo); today that train is on the public App Store.

Go play​

Backseat Games on the App Store

Free to download and join. One-time host unlock if you want to run the lobby. More on the Backseat Games home, privacy, and support pages.

Hangman and Color Catch already landed on the board last week. This pass was about making Hangman Solo feel like the rest of Backseat Games: road chrome, a difficulty you pick once from a local word list, and a hitchhiker drawing that grows as you miss — so the car game reads like a roadside stop, not a generic puzzle screen.

1.4.0 with this polish is on TestFlight now (not live on the App Store yet — expecting that later this week).

What happened​

• Painted Hangman and Color Catch onto the host hero so all five games read as real roadside signs
• Gave Hangman Solo an Easy / Medium / Hard choice backed by a local phrase list
• Cream road-dash tiles for letter slots, a wooden hitchhiker drawing as you miss, and host setup that makes solo difficulty an explicit pick
• Tightened the Solo difficulty sheet so Easy / Medium / Hard are clear before the trip starts

The polish build was ready for TestFlight — then Apple closed the approved 1.2.1 marketing train. This week’s story is less “new features” and more “ship the hardening under the next version Apple will accept,” while Android stays parked for the long haul. 1.3.0 is live on the App Store now; the next release is where new games show up.

What happened​

• Hardened the three launch games: invalid Sign Game feedback, plate collection, scenery rotation, review prompts, and host-gone recovery (mostly polish, not screenshot-bait)
• Pinned expo-store-review to 56.0.3 so the iOS archive compiles cleanly against Expo 56.0.9
• Bumped the App Store marketing version to 1.3.0 after Apple closed the approved 1.2.1 train — and that build is live in the App Store
• Left Android parked for quite some time (Play listing assets recorded; no public Android push and no “coming soon” tease)
• Lined up the next version around new games, not more 1.3.0 polish

Solo Mode was the reliability win from v1.1 — this week I made it free and moved the one-time purchase behind Play online, so families can try the app offline before deciding to host a multiplayer session.

What happened​

• Bumped to v1.2.0 on TestFlight with Solo Mode free and IAP gated behind Play online
• Confirmed App Store / support pricing copy matches that line: joining and Solo stay free; the one-time host unlock sits behind Play online
• Finished Travel Bingo per-item art across landmarks, businesses, scenery, vehicles, signs, and animals — generated icons and refreshed state plate art
• Travel Bingo tiles moved from small stock emojis to custom illustrated sprites (same board, much clearer at a glance in the car)
• Added plane propeller spin overlays and accessibility fixes; logged new game ideas in the backlog
• Published Backseat Games marketing, privacy, and support pages on Homol Works (App Store URL, hero, and game lineup)
• Refreshed the marketing hero and on-site game descriptions to match the current three-game lineup

Backseat Games got a v1.1 delight pass — and Solo Mode so play still works when the relay lobby cannot. Offline-first turned out to be a product feature, not a fallback.

What happened​

• Shipped jingle, SFX, icons, critter motion, and first-run teaching as one release theme
• Added Solo Mode for offline play without a relay lobby
• Useful for App Store demos and real car rides with spotty connectivity
• Update is live on the App Store — Solo Mode and delight assets look right on device
• Visual polish landed across the games (Travel Bingo board + License Plate Game cards)