Hi all! Seems like AGES since I posted in these forums, when we launched Hard Lines (co-created with Nicoll Hunt)... and it was! Kinda this time last year in fact. Well, I'd like to introduce you to our next game, called Smash the Block! Coming soon for iOS (and with luck, other mobiles too...) This is our take on Arkanoid and Breakout, with a twist of humour, a dollop of character, and one hell of a fixup. I've never been a big fan of the originals or their re-releases, so this is our attempt to bring them up to date! Basically, you have control a bat, bouncing a ball that must smash all of the blocks in a level to progress to the nest, but the twist is that at the same time you need to protect the Chumps that run around on the bottom of the screen at the same time (you can see them in the image below!). There will be a TON of different block types, with tons of varying effects on the way the game plays, and we're well into development. Hoping to release this Autumn (dare we say August?)! And there's another reason I wanted to bring this up, because we're running a crowdfunding attempt over on IndieGoGo - we're happy with the game, we're sure it'll launch, and we don't want you guys to worry about that... ...but we sure would like to raise a bit of cash for everyone who's done so much great and hard work on the game! We're launching for free, and will have to wait for revenue to come in before any of us see any cash. But I feel like I wanted to reward the team, so we're offering a TON of cool rewards for people who dole out some cash. Even people who don't, but help spread the word, will get their name in the game. If they can prove it Hope this didn't turn into a sales pitch! Ask me questions, make requests, slag us off - just fire stuff in here and I'll post new art here, link to development videos and all that jazz. Just trying to build a buzz! Anyway, to cap off, here's a nice shot of our new level art, and then a shot from the game:
Been wondering what's been happening with you guys! Hard Lines was awesome and the art looks beautiful!
Oh you guys are making me blush! So glad you remember us, it has been a while - and REALLY chuffed the art's making you happy too. We wanted to go cute, but not TOO cute. So we tried for Pixar cute
Hmm, I read Breakout/Arkanoid and almost stopped reading. And then I saw the art. That looks really great! Would you explain a bit how the free to play mechanic will work?
Phew! Thank god our artist is so good So we're going to make the game free, and obviously that means having IAP (In app Purchases). While we'll let people buy the in game currency with real money, anyone who doesn't want to spend any money will be able to earn the currency too, without paying a penny. Then they can spend that in-game currency to buy cool stuff. We're undecided on exactly what (still coming up with too much cool stuff!), but expect things like new backgrounds, secrets, powerups (and powering up those powerups!), as well as fun things to dress the Chumps in, and tons more. So put simply: you can earn access to everything in the game, and paying to access it would simply save time. We'll make earning stuff really generous and fun regardless, so you never have to pay a dime!
Woo! We broke $1000 on our crowdfunding scheme attempt Just saying thank you to everyone who has helped spread the word...
Just a sneaky peek at the latest bit of WIP background art for the game: Hope you like the swamp (reminds me a bit of Evil Dead 2, but that's probably because I was watching it last night...)