Trism, developed by Steve Demeter, was one of the first games in the App Store when it launched 10 years ago. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the App Store, a new version of Trism, Trism 2, is available for download today.

The original version of Trism came out on July 11, 2008, one day after the iOS App Store went live. Trism was a gravity-based puzzler where the goal was to match up three or more like-colored pieces, making it one of the first match-three games to become ultra popular on the iPhone.

trism2screenshots
Two months after its 2008 launch, as it soared up the App Store charts, Trism had earned Demeter $250,000, cementing its place as one of the most well-known original iPhone games.

Trism continues to be available for purchase from the App Store even today, but Demeter has decided to follow it up with the first sequel 10 years later, Trism 2. Like the original Trism, Trism 2 is a match-three game where the goal is to pair three or more bricks of the same color to make matches.


The game boasts an interactive open world, a "deep narrative storyline," branching subquests, episodic content, and multiple endings. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller tweeted about the new app this morning.


In an interview with Variety last week, Demeter said he first began work on Trism 2 in 2010, but it became a "nightmare cycle of starting and restarting, creating and destroying."

"I poured my heart and soul into that game," he said. "I would develop and iterate and then a new thing would come out, like 'Candy Crush,' and I would go back to the drawing board. So I'd develop and iterate again, and then something else would come out."

Trism 2 was built and rebuilt again until it was perfect, with the aim of a Trism game that's "Zelda meets Bejeweled." The game is launching with two complete islands to play through, with another four in the works as downloadable content. There will be no paid DLC, micro transactions, or in-app purchases.

"The game is about the fans," Demeter told Variety. "I really wanted to make this a love letter to them. I couldn't make it free-to-play. I just couldn't. I thought about that early on, but I just couldn't do that."

Trism 2 can be downloaded from the App Store for $2.99. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Rudy69 Avatar
93 months ago
$2.99? Do I look like I’m made out of money? *sips on my Starbucks*

- posted from my iPhone X
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
93 months ago
Blast from the past.

Bring back Rolando. That game was great.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
palmerc2 Avatar
93 months ago
$2.99? Do I look like I’m made out of money? *sips on my Starbucks*

- posted from my iPhone X
$1,000 iPhone X? Put it on the credit card
$1,000 iPad Pro? Paid with savings. Better get one for my dog too.
$3,000 MacBook Pro? I’ll take two.

$2.99 app?!? Better consult my financial advisor.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timborama Avatar
93 months ago
Blast from the past.

Bring back Rolando. That game was great.
Agreed, Rolando was the best phone app EVER.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rojo Avatar
93 months ago
Wow, the sequel is absolutely TERRIBLE. It strips away all the uniqueness of the original game (pulling the rows, tilting the direction, etc). It’s now a dumbed-down Candy Crush clone on a tilt, with an absolutely non-essential “story” component that is childish and wastes soooooo much time.

I was super addicted to the original, but it was hard to get past just a few levels of this. Instant boredom and frustration. I’ve never been more disappointed about a game sequel than this....
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
93 months ago
The game boasts an interactive open world
I am very confuse…

…with the aim of a Trism game that's "Zelda meets Bejeweled."
WAT. Do we really need this?

There will be no paid DLC, micro transactions, or in-app purchases.
OK, I'm sold.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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