While a smaller turnout than usual due to the Oz Comic-Con this past week, Playup #10 featured a number of digital games with unique control methods as well as formative Tabletop titles, including soon to be released co-operative game Rogue Blitz from RAEZ Studios. While we were unable to attend this month, I did manage to catch the creators later on to talk about their ongoing development process and the feedback received at this month’s playtest session.
Blocaganda
Blocaganda is a 2-4 player political tile-laying strategy where you play as a mayoral candidate attempting to win office. In order to gain a majority vote the player uses an agent to blast messages on the issues they want as part of their policy platform, in order to gain the influence of fellow Councillors.
According to Eeshwar of Tripleqmark ??? Productions, the biggest change from the previous version has been replacing the combos with a set of Councillor power cards for players to choose from every time they ‘claim’ a policy. This has made the made gameplay much more fluid, by removing the need to cross check cards against a chart of combos and powers. It has also meant that by the time players have understood the basic mechanics there are more options available to them each turn, making outcomes more interesting.
Also showcased was a 4-player version, with game duration determined at roughly 15 minutes per player. Eeshwar claims the core gameplay elements are now solid and he is focused on tweaking replayability through the number of power cards, with the intention of increasing the range of Councillor powers for next month’s playtest.
To keep up to date with Blocaganda and Eeshwar’s other projects, you can visit his blog: http://www.tripleqmark.com
Super Salmon Migration
Due to the smaller turnout, Super Salmon Migration didn’t receive a huge amount of feedback at this playtest.
Colton Onderwater of Bear-Tooth studios: “The feedback we received from those that did play was valuable, at this Playup we also introduced new levels into the game and they were well received. In additional, we got to have some really good discussions with others about the game. Development with Super Salmon Migration is coming along well, although a bit more time is needed to polish the game up. We’re aiming for an April release, but may have to push it back a month. In the meantime, a Demo is available at the google play store and feedback is always welcome.”
If you would like to keep up with Super Salmon Migration leading up to launch, please visit http://www.bear-tooth.com
Whacky Ball
Inspired by Eyetoy titles for the Playstation 2, Whacky Ball pits you against a range of challenging ball games which you play using your hands or head (or any other parts of your body) using motion recognition. Whilst presenting a variety of physical challenges, Developer Alistair Mann says the game is suitable for all ages, and can be picked up and played in seconds.
“I enjoyed giving Whacky Ball a test drive at Playup Perth #10… I obtained some very useful feedback from people and I will be incorporating the suggestions and feedback that I received into future iterations of the game. In particular, I’ll be adding some particle effects in order to improve user experience and feedback in respect to ball dynamics.”
Whacky Ball will officially be released on the iOS App Store on April 14, 2016. (Link: Alistair Mann’s YouTube Channel)
Rogue Blitz
Wez Lamont: “Rogue Blitz is a co-operative board game for 1-6 players (base game is 1-2 players) playing along the lines of an ’80s arcade shoot-em-up. Players become rogue pilots of experimental planes trying to take down enormous boss enemies who have defeated the world air forces. With skillful piloting, some buddies by your side, and some powerful upgrades, you can try to win the day and save the world.
Rogue Blitz is in heavy play testing at the moment, refining some of the boss mechanics and tweaking various values. So far, people have very much been enjoying the game and eager to see it come out fully. Feedback from testers has slowly added new ideas and tweaks to the game to make it more engaging and enjoyable. There is still heaps to do to get the game finished and out, but I’ve now got a deadline to launch the game in May so I’ll be going hammer and tong trying to get everything finished for an official launch by then. It’s going to be a crazy month.”
Make sure not to miss the next Playup Special Edition, featuring Games from the other far flung corners of our Country (and some from beyond!). Playup Perth Interstate Arcade will be at SK Games on the 29th April from 6pm till late… see you there! — For tickets and more information, please visit: http://playupperth.org/next-playup-event/
