Space Ape didn't miss a Beat
Monday, 24th of May 2021, 23:23 +02:00
It's February 2021, the world is in the middle of the longest lockdown we've ever experienced and it's been about a year since we've gone out to dance. I -an avid fan of Space Ape Games' work and game development philosophy- discover their new game in my Play Store. The app icon is unconventional, as it just shows the word 'BEATSTAR' instead of a graphical representation of its gameplay, which intrigues me as a game designer who is used to seeing Hypercasual icons fly by. I'd call myself a respectable rhythm gamer, having spent thousands of hours in Guitar Hero back in the day, but a mobile rhythm game is new to me. Curiously I open the app and find something even better than what I was hopi...
Joining Mobile's Most Exclusive Members Club
Monday, 30th of November 2020, 14:45 +01:00
About a year after the term 'HybridCasual' was first coined, an ever-increasing number of professionals in the mobile games industry are acknowledging its existence. Even so much that it might seem to start sounding a wee bit empty, hollow. A buzzword at best. On one side this is logical since it's a rather elusive term with a specific history behind it, as has been aptly deliberated by Will Freeman last July. On the other side it's not entirely helpful, as the term will only become increasingly fluffy and meaningless this way. Since we are currently exploring this direction at Voodoo as well, and as a fervent rectifier of things ranging from grammar to whether Mountain Goats are actually ...
Sorting ourselves out
Saturday, 16th of May 2020, 18:13 +02:00
What do someone whispering from very close into a microphone and a jigsaw puzzle have in common? Regardless if none, one or both of the above videos are your cup of tea, there is a similarity that can be used to answer that initial question. Believe it or not, it actually boils down to one of life's (if not most) important questions; "What is Happiness?". Okay, this might seem like a bit of a jump, so given the context, let's rewind and put this into a little more perspective by using an example related to mobile game development: Merge games. Merge Dragons, by Gram Games To Merge or not to Merge Merge games have existed for a long tim...
Lily's Fruitful Drama
Thursday, 2nd of January 2020, 18:23 +01:00
In the beginning of last year, Tactile Games released their newest and most ambitious game ever. For a small ~50 person studio without top grossing titles on its name, diving into one of the most competitive segments of the mobile games market must have been a scary endeavour, but the bold and controversial execution has paid off. It's about time for an inquiry into why Lily's Garden has been crushing it. What is Lily's Garden, you ask? Isn't it just another dime a dozen puzzle game with a redecoration meta-game slapped on top? Actually, it isn't! At its core... With Lily's Garden, Tactile has combined a Collapse core-game with the highly popular redecoration meta-game. O...
Best Fiends Stars, the 'Soda' of Seriously?
Sunday, 27th of October 2019, 10:45 +01:00
It's about six years ago that two ex-Rovio employers left the mothership to start their own company. One year later, in October 2014, Best Fiends launched globally and impressively hasn't strayed far from the US top grossing charts ever since. Currently hanging around spot 90 on that list, Best Fiends is still going strong and has successfully sustained the company's hundred-something employee headcount all these years. But something new is brewing... Will Seriously's next game be another gem? Throughout the years, the company's pipeline has contained multiple Best Fiends games. Unfortunately without much success. Best Fiends Forever, launched in 2016 was a bold genr...
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