Something BIG Is About To Happen

About a year ago I bought a Nintendo Switch at the request of my daughter. While I'm more of a PC gamer, I don't mind playing on consoles even if just for the exclusives. My history with consoles started with the Nintendo Family Computer (NES for you guys in the west), and I owned at least one console from each generation since then.

The Switch is a brilliant console; you can play it on the big screen and you can bring it with you when you go outside. The joy-cons are also an interesting concept. While it has its shortcomings, the fact that you get basically 2 controllers in one purchase is very favorable to consumers. Each Switch is a multiplayer console from the get-go.

The Switch e-shop catalog is very diverse. Triple A's, indies, obvious mobile ports, games for kids and adults alike. The system has been welcoming to both hardcore and casual games and seems to blur the lines between mobile and console gaming.

So why am I talking about the Switch all of a sudden? Well it's because Gnome More War is coming to the Switch console!

I have Keybol Games to thank for this, for graciously accepting my proposal to have the game ported to the Switch so that they can publish it. Making a game for consoles has been one of my lifelong dreams.

Porting a game from mobile to the Switch isn't unheard of. After all, I've seen dozens of games on the e-shop that I could have sworn were games for iPads and Android tablets. I felt encouraged by the fact that those types of games made it through and are accepted as console games. However, I wanted to do more than just adding joy-con support for the game. I went back to the drawing table and laid out the features that I think would make the game less of a mobile port to more like a game that would be at home for the switch. The first feature I thought of was adding multiplayer.

Character Select Menu

Every Switch comes with a pair of joy-cons that you can either use paired or separately. I wanted to take advantage of this and it just so happens that the control mappings for the game fits a sideways joy-con perfectly. The next thing I had to do was come up with a couple of new characters, with more possibly added in the future. After a few weeks of coding, I have implemented a co-op mode that is not possible in the mobile version. Of course, it would take a few weeks more to polish it up. After all, simply adding another player doesn't end with plopping another sprite on the screen.

Co-op Mode

The next feature I wanted to add was basically more content. A game that will be sold at a price should feel significantly different (in a good way) than a game that is free to download. I wanted more maps, more enemy types, and to overhaul existing maps. I've always thought of adding some sort of platforms and obstacles and various means to force the player to keep moving.

I don't want to make a very long post, so if you don't mind I will stretch this out across multiple articles. I will talk about the other notable differences between the mobile version and the Switch version in my upcoming blog posts!

For now, let me just treat you with a few screenshots:

Switch Version

Mobile Version

Nintendo Switch Trailer

Gnome More war will be available for the Nintendo Switch on October 26. Pre-orders will be available on October 19. Until then please enjoy these articles I will be posting as some sort of preview.

Haven't heard of the game? Well, you wouldn't be the first! You can download the mobile version of the game for free. Just head over to the Play Store

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Gnome More War Update 1.0.5

In my previous blog post I talked about my plans for the June update. Truth is, I had planned for a late June or early July release for update 1.0.5. I was so optimistic that I thought I'd be able to set aside 2-3 hours everyday to work on the update. How foolish of me.

Excuses won't get me anywhere, and I guess all that matters now is that I pulled through and the update is out now on the Google play store!

So let's break down what's included in update 1.0.5.

Analytics

While the game is continually getting downloads (especially from Vietnam, of all countries), I've always wondered why the game only got 8 ratings so far, and only 4 reviews. Looking at the leaderboards, I could tell players have gone as far as the second map, which is kinda cool. At least there's a number out there who didn't just download the game and uninstalled after a few minutes of play.

I want to know how the players approach the game. I believe that if I can identify the parts of the game that makes the players drop it, I will be able to work on them, and hopefully improve the game's retention rate. Fortunately Unity has built-in features for analytics so it didn't take much to add one to the game.

Special thanks to my wife, Jacq Gutierrez for implementing Unity Analytics. You are awesome!

Squirrel Gnome

The game is lacking variety on flying creatures, I had always thought. I had always planned on slowly adding more and more enemy types post-launch. I always wanted to add an enemy that would glide across the screen and would occasionally spit out bullets at the player. This should force the player to move around and try to dodge the incoming bullets. Say hello to the Squirrel Gnome.





Lemur Gnome

Later on in the map, Squirrel Gnomes will start calling their more dangerous and annoying cousins: Lemur Gnomes. They basically do the same amount of damage and can easily be dispatched with a single hit. The only problem is that they are faster and moves around quite a lot.






Gnome Chieftain

This one definitely took the most hours to implement. The game has no existing boss encounter, so I had to do a lot of additional coding on top of new artwork and some code refactoring. It was a lot of fun though!

Chieftain appears on waves 10, 20, and 30. For his first two appearances, the player won't be able to kill him as he will escape when his life gets very low. He also have multiple sets of attacks and has changing attack patterns depending on his life force level. I won't spoil it to the players...it's best you find out for yourself!

Eagrett Cart Skin

Defeating the Gnome Chieftain will award the player with a brand new cart skin: Eagrett. It's more of an eagrett inspired cart made of wood than an actual eagrett mount.

Aside from the highlighted features, I also updated the loot collection animation-- enemy drops are actually being shown to be collected by the player, accompanied by a sweet "collect" sound effect. The player is also now rewarded with power ups, an upgrade card, and a free cart skin up to the 20th wave. I hope it incentivises the player to keep going and explore power ups and upgrades. 

You can download the game from the Google play store.

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Gnome More War June War Plans

Hey everyone!

Not a day goes by that I don't think about what more I can do to make this game more fun for me, and hopefully for you. After launching a somewhat paltry May update, I think now I have enough ideas for a more content-filled one, which I plan to release in July. This gives me the month of June to work on this-- so I must make the best of all the free time I can get this month!

Anyway, here's a snapshot of my post-it notes. Come take a look:

The game is really young, and no one has even played the 3rd map yet. Most players just played the first map, and judging by the leaderboard scores only a few has made it to the second map. I want to improve the experience for beginning players, and hopefully get them to stay. In order to achieve this, I've thought about introducing a number of things: improved rewards, more enemy types, and boss battles.

I think the game should be rewarding players as they progress through the first map. This could also work as an introduction to the game's customization features (i.e. power-ups, upgrade decks, and cart skins). Furthermore, players should be awarded with cart skins when they beat the map for the first time. For these new features I will be adding 4 new cart skins! I will be revealing the designs on my future articles.

Aside from an improved rewards system, I had always planned on slowly adding more and more enemy types post-launch. I was thinking of adding an enemy that would glide across the screen and would occasionally spit out bullets at the player. This should force the player to move around and try to dodge the incoming bullets. I would call this one the Squirrel Gnome. It's still in the early concept stage. I'll let you guys know more about it on future blog posts!

And finally I think I'm gonna start to push through with my original plan of adding bosses in the game. In case you're not aware, I had launched a crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo in order to raise funds for the game's further development. While that didn't go as well as I had hoped, it's no reason to just stop updating the game. I already have a few concept artworks done for the bosses, but for the next month I think it's more reasonable to target just one; the others can come in the future.

I will talk more about the upcoming boss, the Gnome Chieftain, on future blog posts, so stay tuned and bookmark this page!

You can check out Gnome More War on Google Play right now!: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hobbigames.gnomemorewar

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Gnome More War Android Official Trailer

A brand new trailer of Gnome More War is out now! The game is now available worldwide for Android devices and can be downloaded from the Google Play store. I have plans to port it to iOS, but no concrete time frame yet.

Game Description:

Gnomes have been stealing from your farm, and you must stop them! Together with your goblin friends, fend off the pesky thieving gnomes and protect your farm at all cost. Experience the classic arcade castle defense game play with loads of twists. You have an arsenal of power-ups at your disposal, and a selection of 30+ upgrades to choose from. This is war!

❖ Features ❖

➤ Defeat waves of enemies in this action-packed shooter/castle defense game across multiple maps!
➤ Unlock tons of cool power-ups to help your quest!
➤ Unlock tons of upgrades and fill your deck with various combinations for a more effective offense/defense!
➤ Simple, intuitive, and customizable touch controls! (Gamepad support still in development)
➤ Vibrant hand drawn visuals combined with retro pixel character sprites!
➤ Customize your character with unlockable car skins!

The game makes use of Google Play achievements and leaderboards. It's FREE to download from the Play Store. Download it now!

Gnome More War (Google Play)

Of course, development for the game doesn't here. I still plan to add more car skins, maps, enemy types, and even boss fights. But I will have to ask for your patience, as I only have so much spare time to work on this game. Hopefully someday I can work on making games full time.

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Tiny Monkey Escape

Hello everyone, it has been a while...especially to those following us exclusively through this website!

A lot has happened since last year, but I've only been able to post my updates on Facebook and Twitter. Honestly, I'm finding it hard to be a developer, designer, artist, and publicist. It's inevitable to favor one role above others; or to have a least desired one.

Anyway, why did I suddenly decide to show up again? Well, I'm excitedly working on a new game (that is not Super Tiny Monkey)...but before we can get to that I must first get you guys up to speed with a few things.

First, Hobbi Games has partnered with Play Play Fun for at least 4 games. Their role will be as our exclusive publisher for mobile and non-exclusive publisher for web games. The first project we collaborated on was Super Tiny Monkey, re-branded as Tiny Monkey Escape.

I didn't take down my previous articles on Super Tiny Monkey, because TME is basically it, with a changed title. As you know, the game is not finished yet (story wise), but we released it and hoped for a monthly update, optimistically speaking. I'm at least glad to let you guys know that we have delivered a new map (5th in total) post-release-- our first major patch.

What does our first patch do?

Well, aside from the usual bug-fixing and performance optimizations, the highlight would have to be the new map called "Island Town".

TME's map selection screen

In this map, the player will be facing new (and old) obstacles and enemies-- all bent on catching or killing our tiny friend.

Rico the poacher is still after you!

Remember the poacher on the trees in Forest Edge? They're back, but this time they'll be hiding behind trash cans, so instead of looking up, keep your eyes down this time!

Trash can snipers

A new type of obstacle; these snipers hiding inside trashcans will shoot down our unsuspecting hero. Watch out for those bullets!

Avoid the hornets

Live wires dangling must be avoided (or use the shield)

A familiar friend is also once again here to help. Beaks the Hornbill will fly our friend up in the skies to gather golden bugs. But as usual, no place is safe for Goggles and his friends.

Even pelicans are out to get you, it seems

I actually enjoyed designing this map more than the previous ones. Looking back, I could have implemented similar obstacles to the older ones, but this map just inspired me to add more and create variety.

Who let the dogs out?

This update is live and was actually put up a couple of weeks ago. I wish I had the time to get this write up done by then, but I'll do better next time. If you want to play this map, you'll have to pass the level requirements, which means you'll have to play the earlier maps first.

So get downloading now:

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Super Tiny Monkey: Act 2 Screenshots

A new batch of screenshots for Super Tiny Monkey: Act 2, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!

More details coming soon! Just give us some time to put in all the new enemies and obstacles.

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Super Tiny Monkey Act 2: White Beach

It has been a few weeks since we released Super Tiny Monkey on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The days that followed were spent on delivering an update that would improve user interface and resolve the bugs that were found quickly after release. Now that Apple has finally reviewed and approved of our update for the iOS version, it's time for us to get back on track and start won the promised Act 2 of the game (and soon, all subsequent Acts up to Act 5).

I wanted each Act to feel unique in terms of gameplay. We (yes, you who have played the game!) already know that the premise of the game-- just navigate through the platforms, avoiding obstacles and outrunning Rico the Poacher. It sounds repetitive by nature, so I never stopped thinking of ways to spice things up for the new maps that we're going to deliver.

First, Act 2 will no longer take place in the same old Forest Edge map. If you've played the game, you will notice from the map selection that Act 2 has a beach backdrop:

Secondly, the new map, which will be called White Beach map, will feature a brand new set of obstacles. Aside from Rico the Poacher pursuing you, everything else will be new. This map will have rivaling territorial monkeys that will knock you out if you ever stepped on their tree, while some will even hurl stones at you when you get in their range.

Lastly, the new map will introduce a new game mechanic-- the "ride" mode. This isn't anything new or innovative by itself. In fact, this type of gameplay has been known to be mixed in with other sidescrollers as well (Megaman, TMNT, etc.). In this mode, your character will ride a bird, and this will give the player a new gaming experience, with a new control scheme and yet again a new set of obstacles.

This is a work in progress!

So here's the basic idea: at the beginning of Act 2 Goggles and Paru will meet a new character named Beaks the Hornbill. Every once in a while during a run, Beaks will appear and the player can choose to ride on him or let him pass by. Upon riding Beaks, they will climb up in the air above the trees, and the camera will follow them. Welcome to the "ride" mode!

The "ride" mode, also a work in progress

Remember Gradius? Oh boy, that's one of my all time favorites. This new "ride" mode is inspired by that game in case it isn't obvious yet. Much like in Gradius, you cannot collide with any other creatures or projectiles running across the screen. In order to avoid these new set of obstacles, you control Beaks by swiping your finger across the screen. Beaks will move in the same direction as your swipe, so there's no more tapping or gliding in this mode. All the power ups that Goggles has learned are still usable here, and you can choose to be a defensive or offensive player. When you do get hit however, Beaks will be knocked down and you will eject yourself, only to fall back down below the trees. From here on normal gameplay and control scheme will be used and you can only hope for Beaks to appear again soon.

Beaks the hornbill concept art

So that's the gist of the first part of Act 2. These are all still works in progress, and now would be a great time to get your feedback. What do you think of the design? We'd be happy to take on comments and suggestions.

Hopefully I can work on a prototype real quick and show you guys a working gameplay footage. Until then, see you around!

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com

Super Tiny Monkey Out Now!

After months of hard work, labor, and skipping lots of weekend nights-out, we're excited and proud to announce that Super Tiny Monkey is finally out now on Android and IOS devices.

You play as Goggles, the experimental tarsier who managed to escape from Dr. Zoo’s laboratory and your goal is to run away from his poachers and minions who are sent to capture you. You must leap, glide, dash, or dive from one platform to the next to get as far away as possible. The crux of the gameplay revolves around avoiding obstacles. You will begin with the most basic of control, which is simply tapping on the screen as you pass platforms by-- not unlike a rythm game. As you progress and your character levels up you will open up more control options such as gliding, diving, dashing, and at higher levels you gain access to super powers that will help you conquer the increasing difficulty of the game. There are two game modes: the endless platformer (adventure) mode and the unlockable boss battle mode. Megaman has been such a huge inspiration for me, still one of my all time favorite games to date, and hopefully this shows on the boss battle experience.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped us along the way. Thank you for testing the game and giving us feedback. The game wouldn't be as awesome as it is today if not for your help, and while it's finally out for everyone to enjoy, our work isn't over yet! There's still four acts to expect and we've actually began working on Act Two.

The game is FREE to download and play, and is available on both Android and IOS platforms (iPhone, iPad, tablets). Here are the download links:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/super-tiny-monkey/id919522710?ls=1&mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hobbigames.tinymonkey
You can also simply search for "Super Tiny Monkey" in the App Store or the Play Store.

To get in touch with us, or to follow further development of the game, you can bookmark our website:

http://www.hobbigames.com

So what are you waiting for? Download the game now and start leaping, gliding, and diving for your survival!

-- LJ

To contact the author, just send your e-mail to hobbigames@gmail.com