The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Droopy Blocks

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Casey Holtz of Mechanical Butterfly Studios discusses how making a game that sucks is actually a good thing with his iOS title Droopy Blocks.
What's your game called and what's it about?

The game is called Droopy Blocks. It is a puzzle game designed to test your dexterity, timing and spatial abilities while having as much fun as possible getting your fingers into twisted positions.

The goal of the game is to get these living blocks of goo, called Droopy Blocks, back into their original shapes since they have melted in an accident at a secret underground lab. The game takes place on a 5x5 grid, with creatures called Suckers on each side of the grid. To get the blocks back into their shapes you need to use these Sucker creatures to pull them around the game area while holding the parts of the blocks that you do not want to move in place with your fingers.

There are 80 puzzles set in 4 locations and also a championship mode for people to set high scores in and compete.

What's the coolest aspect of Droopy Blocks?

The coolest part of the game is that it is the only game like it. It is the first game to use this type of multi-touch puzzle mechanic. I personally seek out new and different games because I am tired of playing the same types of games constantly, so it was a core design pillar for me to make it different.

I also think the Droopy blocks turned out pretty cool. I wanted the blocks to have some charm and character, so they will make little noises and animate when you poke them. My favorite thing is that they will look at where you are pressing your finger on the screen.

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The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Droopy Blocks originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Bean's Quest

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Australian development team Kumobius adds a little Latin flavor to its gaming experience with Bean's Quest.
What's your game called and what's it about?

Bean's Quest: It's a retro platformer for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC. In the game you play a man who's been cursed and transformed into a magical jumping bean.

So in the game you're constantly jumping and you just control the left and right movement. This allows for some surprisingly tricky level designs when you need to dodge enemies, spikes and other stuff. The controls also mean it's easy to pick up and learn, but it has some really hardcore achievements layered into it.

Graphically it is reminiscent of 16-bit platform games. Imagine SNES mixed with Sega Master System but with a modern physics engine. Lastly, it has a killer soundtrack by Flashygoodness.

Were you wary of the possible racial repercussions of making a game about a latino man being turned into a bean? Has anyone felt offense or hesitancy to play Bean's Quest because of that?

South American culture was just a point of positive inspiration for us and we genuinely meant no offense with it. This concern was only recently brought to our attention.

We've found the majority of customers don't interpret anything beyond the concept of the Mexican jumping bean. They see it as a light-hearted story and fun game, which is what we were going for - Emilio is without a doubt the hero of the story!

Continue reading The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Bean's Quest

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Bean's Quest originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Minke Rescue

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Leigh Marlow of The Apptivist Studio presents a game with a greater purpose -- to stop the violent whaling in Antarctic waters -- named Minke Rescue. What's your game called and what's it about?

Minke Rescue is a new iPhone game. You play the part of a minke whale in the beautiful and harsh Antarctic Ocean. Best of all, it's only $0.99 -- and 30 percent from every game purchased goes directly to Sea Shepherd.

What inspired you to make Minke Rescue?

I wanted to raise awareness and funds for specific causes that I'm passionate about. However, I'm not noted for my cake making, t-shirt designing or car washing, nor do I have a sufficiently cashed-up network of friends to host a (successful) charity ball.

In early 2010, after acquiring my first iPhone, I soon discovered the power of apps -- how regularly I was willing to spend small amounts of money -- and how addictive the very best apps can be. An ah-ha moment occurred and my direction was set -- to create a cool little iPhone game that benefited Sea Shepherd. The key ingredients were that the game had to be fun, addictive and not too preachy.

The best part is I get to combine my passion for gaming and my passion for the environment.

Continue reading The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Minke Rescue

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Minke Rescue originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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