spindoctorlogoIn the early 90's, a small software company called Callisto Corporation released a number of games for the Macintosh, along with a few other productivity applications. One of those games was Spin Doctor, which some long-ago Mac Performa owners may remember because Apple licensed a 10-level Spin Doctor Challenger edition for bundling with "about a million" Performas, according to developer Seth Lipkin.

Lipkin has since ported Spin Doctor, which was sold "in a big box" for $40 when it was first released in 1994, to the iPhone. The game is a bit like chess in the sense that it is easy to learn and difficult to master. It consists of a glowing wand making its way from dot-to-dot through a literal minefield of doors, switches, acid, fuses, bombs, and more. The user controls the direction of the wand -- which never stops moving -- as it moves its way across the map over more than 100 levels with several difficulty modes.

spindoctorscreenie
Spin Doctor for iPhone is $0.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

slipkin Avatar
168 months ago
Thanks!

I'm the developer of the iOS version of Spin Doctor (and one of the small team that developed the Mac original).

Thanks for the good words and fond memories expressed here!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ima_pseudonym Avatar
168 months ago
I remember this game

Apple should buy free copies for anyone who can prove they owned one of the gazillion different performa models - especially the 63x series. Those were some of the worst boxes Apple ever made. I had two of them.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Garrod Avatar
168 months ago
Spin Doctor! The first game I ever played on my first ever Mac and I loved it! A port to OS X would be welcomed - I'd buy it in an instant!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coder12 Avatar
168 months ago
Man.. the good ol' days :) Playing this... Mazewars. Back when there was still Mac Paint! Remember that?


Imagine if they ported Mazewars to iOS now--that would be tremendous fun for multiplayer! (Hint hint ;) )
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bobnugget Avatar
168 months ago
Wow, I remember having the demo of this on my LC III, then picking up the full version with one of my later macs. I'm going to purchase this one right now! Hope it has the awesome sound effects...


Edit: ...just bought it and it still does. The press in one or both of two corners bounce/change dot control scheme works very nicely too. Great port so far!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Diode Avatar
168 months ago
Ha - a Performa 638CD was my first home computer and I remember playing this game.

Memories...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases First Betas of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3

Monday December 16, 2024 10:06 am PST by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software update. There's no word yet on what's included in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, ...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...