Here are two of our favourites on youtube when it comes to creativity and games. This video by Followthefoot explains that we humans play games everyday, without even thinking about it as a game. We do it when we are young and we do it when we are old. Check out the video. It’s mind blowing.

If you are a game developer and looking to find some inspiration I suggest you check out the unfinished works of famous indie developer Cactus. The graphics are not cutting edge but charming and the game concepts are brilliant.

Any more sources of great inspiration? Please add them to the comments below and share the experience!

This is an experiment. We might get tons of good questions, tons of spam or just… nothing. We hope you will think it’s a fun idea.

Go visit http://www.facebook.com/WildBlocksRush

When I was a toddler I used to walk up to our TV screen and tried to grab the small people running around playing soccer. I’m not unique in anyway. This the most natural way to interact with a screen for anyone; kids, parents and grandparents.

The combination of a portable screen + built in communication capabilities + a user interface that is so intuitive anyone can use it, is a recipe for gaming galore.

Why mobile offer a deeper gaming experience

The truly social experience

I’m not talking about bragging about your latest cow on Farmville or incentivized sharing to get more in game currency. The truly social experience takes place when you play a game with your friend, just like people have been doing for ages. It’s the competition, the adrenalin and the joy that creates a common experience worth talking about. Mobile gaming allows you to do this in your home, at work or even on the bus. Why is this important? Games allow us to escape reality for a second and just experience a moment of relaxation. To experience this with our friends or even anybody with the same state of mind just makes it more… fun.

The touch

Of course the touch screen is an amazing control for smartphone and tablet game. It’s not that it’s superior to a game pad, mouse or keyboard. It’s just that it’s different and so easy to use. If you put a gamepad in my mother’s hand she will push some buttons and pretty soon see her Mario character vanish down a cliff. She’ll be kind of embarrassed and give up pretty soon, since the learning curve is to steep. That’s not the case with a tablet. My mother is one of the most active players on Wild Blocks Rush! I didn’t show her how play. Nor did she try on her own. My four year old son taught her. “If a four year old can do this, so can I”.

“Ok, but you can’t be serious on mobile games triumphing over the awesome gameplay of AAA console titles?!”

Sure, but tablets don’t compete with epic high resolution kick ass graphics and 3d sound effects. These games are played at home with my Xbox360. I’m alone with my TV and console. I might even close the door to my game room,to not disturb the rest of the family. I connect with players around the world, and get a decent social experience. Sometimes I play Fifa with my friends at home. It’s a place for relaxation. But I don’t just need fun at home, and not just when the kids are asleep at night.

I want to play Wild blocks and other puzzle games on the bus from work. I want to challenge my friends to a game of Castle Raid in the ski cabin. Moblie games are the board games of our time and the world is our board.

Björn Fant
bjorn[at]arcticmill.com

Let’s call it Colour hunting! Instead of trying to get a top high score, you try to get all the blocks in one color. Here are some awesome examples. Can you beat this?

Player credit: Adam Mossley

Player credit: Andrej Teťák

It’s awesome to see this creativity being explored by the people that we want to entertain. It really makes it worth while being a game developer.

Have a great week everybody!

Ninni is a professional comic book writer and illustrator, trained by the best at the University colleges of Malmö and Gävle in Sweden. She is a featured artist for World of Warcraft, by Blizzard which is huge, and she frequently appears in magazines and online sites with short comics.

We are so thrilled to have Ninni on board. Make sure to pay her a visit and comment on her Deviant Art pics.
Click the image to read the hi resolution comic.
Welcome Ninni!

Collect resources and train your troops

Peasants gather wood, which you sell to get gold. Use the gold to train archers, footmen and knights. Deploy your troops to the battlefield in real time and attack your opponent.

Single player campaign or two-player action

Defeat the warlords and self-appointed rulers of the regional territories and unite the kingdom! The single player campaign offers various levels and difficulty to challenge you.

The two-player mode allows you to play two players on one device – preferably an iPad. Each match last about 5-10 minutes and offers high intensity action gameplay with different war tactics for each battlefield.

Get it in the App Store now!

View it On the App Store

P.S. Send us an epic screenshot of your gameplay for a chance to be featured on our blog next week. Email: hello[a]arcticmill.com D.S.

Jens Begemann, Wooga

Make sure to build a game for a specific game controller

The evolution of games is tightly integrated with the type of device the game is played on. Games like Mario Bros in the 80’s are great to play with a game pad controller, but new controllers have emerged since then which requires a different mindset. We all remember the lightgun used in Duck Hunt, the introduction of keyboard games like the Kings Quest and the revolution of the point and click adventures that came with the computer mouse.

The latest addition is of course the touch devices that are bringing a new genre of games where we are closer to the game than ever before. Make sure you build a game that support this behavior and does not try to mimic some kind of invisible virtual game pad controller, Begemann explains.

How to build for touch?

Use swipe, zoom and multi touch gestures and the accelerometer. Temple run is a great example of this. Also recognize the limitations of touch screens. Your fingers are not invisible for example and you can’t support anything similar to “mouse over”. Also remember that fingers are clumsy and it’s hard to design a game with tactile feedback.

Tablets will be more cutting edge than PC’s

We replace our tablets and our phones more often than we buy a new PC. New devices mean new capabilities that will eventually give PC gaming quite a match according to Begemann.

Adopt games for new Platforms

King.com has kind of a different approach than Wooga and adapts games for different platforms as they grow. They have tons of games that are being deployed on the King.com website and their success data is closely monitored. When a game catches on it gets adopted for Facebook and some even to mobile platforms according to Tommy Palm. There is a clear process for driving a game from the web to Facebook and other platforms. According to Palm you need 150 000 downloads per day to get in the top list of games in the US Appstore so you better bet on the right horse.

Build loyalty through Facebook

King.com has more loyal players if they connect to Facebook than if they don’t. Why? Because every game is more fun to play with your friends. It works really well to promote your ios game in your Facebook game too, according to Palm.

Localization matters

Candy crush Saga is localized for 14 different markets. It’s crucial to getting the spread you need for your game and it’s a great revenue driver.

There you go. Go build an awesome game!

We have received a lot of feedback and questions after the release and decided we need to simplify basic hygiene factors to clarify some game features:

Introducing “Diamonds”! These gems are your new currency when you want to buy more energy, i.e. more game rounds. You will also earn diamonds when you level up.

Cheaper power ups! Use your earned coins to buy boosters cheaper than ever before! By using boosters you will increase the chance of setting a new high score.

Level up faster! You’ll get more experience points than before when playing which will make you level up faster and unlock new powerful boosters.

Oh, and one more thing. We’ve change the name of the game.

Say hi to “Wild Blocks Rush”!

We think this name has a better ring to it and will remove any confusion that the game was about catching something. We hope you like the new name. We considered the name “Cubies Craft” too. Just kidding.

I also know that some of you are wondering so I’ll just as well answer you right here : “No, this release has not taken any development time from the upcoming Castle Raid release.”

Optimize for long chains
Remove short chains of blocks to clear the way for long chains of blocks, which will provide booster for you.

Let wild guys clear the mess
The wild guys are booster blocks that clear all blocks of a certain color. It’s tempting to pick the color that is dominating the screen, but use the wild guys to clear blocks that are in the way of long chains instead.

Use bombs wisely
Save the bombs for when you catch long chains of blocks or a powerful point multiplier is available. By using the bombs on short chains, you will clear some more blocks but will risk breaking other, long chains of blocks instead.

There your go! Now go play Catch the Cubies like a pro! Don’t forget that you get new energy every hour, which you use to play the game. You can also send a boost of energy to anyone of your friends for free.

The wizard is a powerful unit that summons high damage frostbolts which also slows down enemy troops. The wizards are pretty weak and easy to kill, but if you see them coming for you in a group you’d better try to eliminate them fast or run for your life!

Here is one of the early sketches our outstanding designer Johan did for the Wizard.

Turned out pretty cool huh?