Puzzle Mayor- Strategy City Builder w/ Match-3 Mechanics

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by jackzliu, Jun 27, 2015.

  1. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    #1 jackzliu, Jun 27, 2015
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2015
    *** Update ***
    Game is live! Get it here:
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/matchy-city-free-endless-town/id999193870?ls=1&mt=8

    Game has been renamed to "Matchy City".

    Hello,
    My name is Jack and I'm the Creative Director for Matchy City. I was recommended to post here after meeting Jared at the TouchArcade event at WWDC.

    BETA NOW OPEN
    We gone beta last week. Send me a PM if you like an advanced copy of the game!

    ABOUT
    Matchy City is an endless strategy puzzle game with simple match-3 mechanics and in-depth strategy. It’s a game where you plan your moves and think strategically. You match 3 of the same buildings and in doing so create a more valuable one. There’s residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Wait, like SimCity??? Well… yes. I love SimCity and it was a major inspiration but I’ll get to that later.

    Whenever you make a match, you gain a score. Matching the specific colors give you additional bonus. Matching green gives you a score bonus. Matching blue earns you virtual currency. And matching yellow earns you xp for gaining powerups. There’s also landmarks that will enable special abilities, like having a 30% chance to not consume a powerup when it’s used, or being able to undo 5 turns back.


    FEATURES
    - Mix of town building sim, match-3 puzzler and chess
    - Special landmark buildings that enable different abilities
    - Customizable building themes- space, candy, farm, etc.
    - Various game modes including relaxing Zen, or fast-paced Blitz


    INSPIRATION
    I was playing SimCity 2013 one night (November 2014) and thought what this would be like if it was on mobile but with mobile-friendly mechanics. I took what’s fun about SimCity- problem solving, thinking strategically, and planning ahead and merged them with the match-3 mechanic.

    Game Trailer(will be updated)



    Screenshots
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Would love your feedback!
     
  2. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    UFO Animation

    New graphic and animation for the UFO. What do you think?
    [​IMG]
     
  3. slewis7

    slewis7 Well-Known Member

    Apr 6, 2011
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    Houston, TX
    This looks interesting and I love a match 3 with a different game mechanic. Will it be premium and Universal?
     
  4. locomoco

    locomoco Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    This game is very visually appealing. Love the colors and the art style. The twist on a match-three combined with Sims world-building is interesting. I'll definitely keep an eye out on your game's development.
     
  5. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    @slewis7,
    Thanks. It's going to be free-to-play game and yes universal. Although it's freemium, we are taking the route that Crossy Road did by putting fun first, and monetization second. The game will have powerups you can buy. However, we limit that to 5 per game. So even if someone wants to drop $100 in a single game, they can't. They still require skill. We are also going to be very generous with the in-game currency.
     
  6. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    @locomoco,
    Thanks. We'll make an announcement when we open it up for beta-testing if you're interested.
     
  7. locomoco

    locomoco Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    I'd love to beta test for you! :)
     
  8. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    Destroy your city!

    So you finished building your city. It looks great, you earned a ton of coins and you got a high score. What better way to celebrate that than to destroy it! Yes... I'm talking about good old destruction fun. I was always the builder-type in SimCity but I know there are a ton of people who wanted to destroy. So... here you go. Here's our first mockup on an Armageddon disaster.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Wicked8146

    Wicked8146 Well-Known Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Nov 17, 2009
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    Dinosaur hunter
    Los Angeles
    Looks cool. What's the estimated release date?
     
  10. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    @Wicked,
    Thanks! We anticipate sometime in August. Going to beta in a week.
     
  11. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    New winter background

    Added a new winter background as well as the ability to name your city. Oh the possibilities...

    [​IMG]
     
  12. orangebowl

    orangebowl Active Member

    Jul 11, 2015
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    Looks cool and i really like the UI and the artstyle, What's the release date?
    Is it free or pay ?
     
  13. MikeBarwise

    MikeBarwise New Member

    Jul 12, 2015
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    Creative Director
    London
    Hi Jack - thanks for sharing those screenshots, I can't wait to play this game! The UI looks really clean and inviting. Will you be doing a TestFlight beta?
     
  14. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    Beta now open!

    Hey, we just launched in Beta. So you know what that means...

    So who wants a TestFlight invite? :) Send me a PM.

    We were at the Very Big Indie Pitch last week. We didn't win :)mad:) but one of the judges said we were like 4th. Very high selection of games so we feel honored to be up there.
     
  15. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    Unfriendly Dinosaur...

    Our artist just mocked up another fun disaster. What do you think?
    [​IMG]
     
  16. Tinytouchtales

    Tinytouchtales Well-Known Member

    Jul 24, 2012
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    Berlin, Germany
    Hi,

    very cool looking game so far. I was actually working on a similar game as a prototype.
    What in your opinion differentiates this game from Tripple Town?
     
  17. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    Hey Tinytouchtales,
    Fair question, we get asked that a lot. Here are the differences in my opinion:
    1- higher level of strategy required, as powerups are limited but you as the player control when to use them. So there's no randomness in how they are drawn
    2- more customizations. We're planning on several themes- space, candy, pirates, farm, medieval, etc.
    3- disasters! You get to blow up your city after it's finished. "Game Over" feels rewarding.
    4- shorter gameplay on average
    5- daily challenges. Each day, there'll be a specific challenge that a player can compete in. It could be to get a certain score, create X number of matches, last X number of turns, or even create a specific city layout.
     
  18. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    New space background

    [​IMG]

    What buildings should we include in the space theme?
     
  19. jackzliu

    jackzliu Active Member

    Nov 2, 2014
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    It's Pretty Addictive- says one player

    One player has played about 35 hours in a little over a month from our soft launch:
    [​IMG]

    I would say that the game's pretty addictive. If you're interested in what stats I'm tracking and why, feel free to ask me.
     
  20. Thomas Bai

    Thomas Bai Member

    Aug 18, 2015
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    China
    It looks good.

    :) Well, I love this design. Looking forward to the release.
     

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