Hi everyone! It's been a little while since my last post. In this case I can only blame my priorities for that, putting university study over blogging, how could I? But, not to fret, I have still be working on my games in that time and I do have some new game ideas to post about over the coming months. What I'd like to do now, though, is to share with you my experience with Playup Perth!
We playtested two games as part of the event, Square Heroes and Adventures of Square. As you can tell, the theme for this event was "squares".
Square Heroes
Square Heroes pits you, as the four-sided creation of a mad scientist against hordes of alien invaders in a 2D bullet hell shoot-em up. Worms, but in real-time and without gravity. It's unique mechanic is in selecting the your weapon loadout before a level and then earning the cash during that level to unlock those weapons.
I found the game really fun, in particular, the multiplayer, especially since there is the ever present danger of losing all of the money you have collected to the next person with a lucky shot. The guns were great and each of them felt different, with crossbow bolts dropping as they soared through the air, meaning that you had to angle correctly to hit your target.
The feedback session afterwards brought up a lot of good ideas about how to improve the game as well. Mostly though, what people really wanted to see was, given the game's already kind of silly, fun aesthetic, even more wacky items to kill your friends with. You can find more information about the game on it's Steam Greenlight page.
I found the game really fun, in particular, the multiplayer, especially since there is the ever present danger of losing all of the money you have collected to the next person with a lucky shot. The guns were great and each of them felt different, with crossbow bolts dropping as they soared through the air, meaning that you had to angle correctly to hit your target.
The feedback session afterwards brought up a lot of good ideas about how to improve the game as well. Mostly though, what people really wanted to see was, given the game's already kind of silly, fun aesthetic, even more wacky items to kill your friends with. You can find more information about the game on it's Steam Greenlight page.
Adventures of Square
Adventures of Square is a first person shooter, built using the Doom engine, which mixes a bright and vibrant colour scheme with fairly violent imagery of exploding geometric enemy giblets.
Personally, I found this game a little bit harder to get into, but that was mostly because playing games in these old engines usually leaves me feeling nauseous. Despite that, I still found the gameplay engaging, if a bit on the easy side. Given that the game is aimed at a younger audience, I can understand the difficulty level presented.
Overall the feedback presented to the developers was positive, with the suggestion of adjusting the game slightly to make it more child friendly. If you'd like to learn more about Adventures of Square or try it out yourself, you can find more information here.
Personally, I found this game a little bit harder to get into, but that was mostly because playing games in these old engines usually leaves me feeling nauseous. Despite that, I still found the gameplay engaging, if a bit on the easy side. Given that the game is aimed at a younger audience, I can understand the difficulty level presented.
Overall the feedback presented to the developers was positive, with the suggestion of adjusting the game slightly to make it more child friendly. If you'd like to learn more about Adventures of Square or try it out yourself, you can find more information here.
Into the Pie and What a Steel! Update
As I said earlier, I have still been working on my games, albeit a bit slower than I'd like, but that's uni life for you.
Into the Pie is on version 4 and now includes a recipe book and wild ingredient cards! This is the version I will be playtesting at the next Playup Perth event! (Read below for more information).
What a Steel! is now on version 3 and has changed significantly from its previous incarnations. Now, it is turn based and has much more in common with Archipelago. The objective of the game is still the same, to complete a certain number of contracts, but with added flexibility in acquiring resources and smelting them to produce your required steel. At this stage, once I have finished putting together this version, I will be playtesting it amongst my own gaming groups and then planning to bring it out to the next Playup Perth event, perhaps later this year or early next year!
Into the Pie is on version 4 and now includes a recipe book and wild ingredient cards! This is the version I will be playtesting at the next Playup Perth event! (Read below for more information).
What a Steel! is now on version 3 and has changed significantly from its previous incarnations. Now, it is turn based and has much more in common with Archipelago. The objective of the game is still the same, to complete a certain number of contracts, but with added flexibility in acquiring resources and smelting them to produce your required steel. At this stage, once I have finished putting together this version, I will be playtesting it amongst my own gaming groups and then planning to bring it out to the next Playup Perth event, perhaps later this year or early next year!
Playup Perth After Dark
The next Playup Perth event is on September 26th! SK Games, in Northbridge, will be hosting and there will even be two Oculus Rifts! I've never had the chance to use one before, so I'm certainly rocking up and you should too!
Games that will be presented on the night include Astral, by SK Games, Offpeak Games' Valiant, Daragh Wickham's Defender of the Wood on iOS and my own Into the Pie! You can learn more about these games and purchase a ticket by clicking here!
Games that will be presented on the night include Astral, by SK Games, Offpeak Games' Valiant, Daragh Wickham's Defender of the Wood on iOS and my own Into the Pie! You can learn more about these games and purchase a ticket by clicking here!