ReSkinning: customizable and cheap games
While some of our clients want to produce their own taylor-made games, they’re not always familiar with the actual costs of producing a game from scratch. Depending on the client needs it could be faster and cheaper reSkinning an existing game. Read more
Advergaming case study: Heroes of Java
One of our last published games is a great example of advergaming’s potential. We would like to take this opportunity to speak about our project and introduce a topic we’ll be glad to cover in the future.
Some people might consider this game as a plain example of advergaming. At first sight you could think that Adesso is looking for some visibility in the field of games by publishing this game. But it’s not just that. For Adesso it’s not simply a playable banner but a tool. In fact we may consider we are in front of a Serious Game.
If you haven’t read the entry of Heroes of Java in our portfolio here’s the story behind the game.
Damm! How good is the gorilla playing pinball. But he needs to improve his Java skills though…
Advergaming success case study
First things first: let’s introduce our client. Adesso is a german IT recruiting company. In other words, Adesso helps their clients to find the professional programmers they need.
Newcomer players are introduced to a regular pinball table. They play their first shot as they would normally do. And then an overlay new screen appears with a quiz about Java (the script language, not the island!). With every ball they lose in the game, they are asked a new question. If they answer correctly, they’ll be rewarded with an extra ball, and so, savvier players will be able to play more balls in the long run. As players lose their last ball, they are offered to register their details in exchange of participating in the raffle of a 3D printer.
As the programmer starts thinking about code, the whole world fades away. […] He will probably miss his stop.
Our game then sends the player’s info along with his answers, and they are registered in Adesso’s database. Instead of making the job candidates fill and send an old-fashioned CV, Adesso now has access to a qualitative register. They have tools to judge beforehand the knowledge of the candidates, which means having less filters in the candidate interview process. In the end, it’s all about improving efficiency.
We should make clear that it’s not like Adesso is fishing programmers in the open sea by releasing the game in the general market. The game will be distributed in the proper niche environment, but that’s just a complete different story.
An ideal scenario for HTML5 technology
We’ve mentioned about how Adesso improved their efficiency on the overall recruiting process, but there’s another aspect where efficiency shines. Instead of using a native platform to build the project, the choice of HTML5 allows to run the game on mobile devices but also on computer browsers. Although this is not the case, the game could even be wrapped to be uploaded as a native app in the Appstore or Google Play. So all in all, the choice of HTML5 was the perfect option to build the game and get the maximum ubiquity, with no need of external plug-ins. The game is accessible for a really wide audience and it’s been coded just once. No extra ports, no further development costs.
I hope you found interesting this post. Take care!
New Foot Chinko game with new tricks
We are happy to announce we are working on a new Foot Chinko chapter.
It’s been a long time since the original game was launched and we were excited about the possibility of developing a new Foot Chinko game. During this time it seems that our little creature has been growing in popularity. Although the game was released over a year ago, enthusiastic players keep on uploading videos: Foot Chinko on youtube
Is it our imagination or does it look like searches on google for the keyword “foot chinko” are growing? Results on google trends
We are going to release an HTML5 exclusive version of the game for Spil Games. This version will feature the Eurocup 2016 and will include a couple of new mechanics.
We are also considering a native version of the game for iOS, Android and Windows phone using Unity. By combining the old game levels with the new ones, we could have almost 150 different levels, but the truth is, in this time we’ve learned so much about level design that designing a complete new set of levels is an interesting challenge.
So, what kind of publisher do you think would be a good partner for this adventure? We would love to hear your thoughts…
Krazy Race trailer
Here’s the game trailer of Krazy Race, soon available on web, Appstore and Google Play.
Developed using Citrus Engine and Starling.
Krazy Race. Work in progress
We are currently editing the last levels and giving the final polishing. Definitely our best work to date. It represents the beginning of something great.
At this stage we are considering the possibility of financing our next game through crowdfunding. Finally we feel confident enough developing games and want to explore new concepts at a higher degree of artistic freedom which wouldn’t be possible when working for clients.
Mega Makeover 2 and success!
Wow! Players loved our last game.
These days is very difficult to get the attention and involvement of players but our Scary Lilly seduced them. Lilly motivates us to improve MMO’s concept and make it more appealing and entertaining.
Since the game concept and the code is almost the same as MMO-1, all the merit belong to the artists. They really did an amazing job.
Artists:
Eli Basanta (doll and hairstyles)
Estela Gaona (dresses and accessoires)
1 million game plays
We are not millionaire yet but one of our games has made it to the top. It’s been played one million times.
The average play time for this game is 10 minutes. If we do some calculations we’ll see that altogether we have contributed to mankind with 19 years of accumulated make up fun. That’s amazing!
Don’t believe me? Check out the stats:
Too innovative? Brand it!
We’ve been working over the past weeks on a contract involving a serie of make up games. Our expectations were high because these games implement a more realistic approach.
The release of the first game couldn’t be more disappointing. It got a bad rating. So many hours trying to improve the genre and our customer told us that players complained about this new way of applying make up…
After a long sesion of masochism reading all negative comments we came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with our game. Basically, players were expecting the usual make up game and nobody told them that this worked differently. We needed to communicate that our games were innovative in an attractive way.
How about choosing a good brand to differentiate them?
“TRUE MAKE UP GAMES” speaks for itself. Besides that, we could produce some animations showing that make up can be directely applied. We synthetised all this in a strong and visually elegant intro. That was not enough, this time we wanted to play rough. What if we use the magic word “NEW” inside an animated star. All those years buying on impulse nonsense at discount stores were not in vain.
The result? Players gave our second game a great rating to . We improved the game without all that expensive programming, additional graphics or modifying the game mechanics. We just changed the perception of the player.
Designing games is all about creating an experience for the players, and that’s for TRUE.
Collaboration with BoomBang!
We are very glad to announce that we are collaborating with BoomBang, a great virtual world for the youngsters. Currently, we are developing a frantic new game for them.
BoomBang is a virtual world with over seven years of history, so it’s kind of a veteran on its industry. During this time, kids around the world have made lots of friends and enjoyed all the events that BoomBang’s staff has held. Kids can chat around, pimp up their islands, fill with crazy furniture their houses, play games with exclusive rewards, and take part in thematical events where you can exchange hearts, snowballs, or easter eggs for secret tokens in hidden and bizarre places. All in all, it’s a very cool and entertaining place for kids, as you can see.
For us it’s a great chance to develop for them. Just give us some weeks and you’ll be able to play the wonderful game we are working on right now. We’ll keep you informed!