Tag: Hogrocket »

In January 2011, British games developer Bizarre Creations was closed by Activision. Looking through the games that Bizarre were responsible for, it's no surprise that many fans were hugely disappointed to see its closure. Racing titles such as the Project Gotham Racing series were seen by many as the pinnacle of racing games, with similar successes coming from the retro shooter Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and the cartoony Fur Fighters. Unfortunately, despite the release of arcade racer Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone in 2010, it wasn't enough and Bizarre Creations was dissolved.

What happened next, though? And why am I talking about console games on 148Apps? Because a number of new gaming studios rose from Bizarre's flames, many of them iOS focused. Recently, I got the chance to see how things are progressing for a few of them.

One of the first to reach the iOS market was Grubby Hands, a one-man studio founded by company director Dr Danny Pearce, the firm released their first title, David Haye's Knockout in June 2011, immediately topping the charts. A new release emerged in December 2011 with Boy Loves Girl, which garnered similar success. How has Danny found going it alone, however, and why did he consider setting up his own firm?

"At the time that Grubby Hands was founded in 2011, the AAA console market was a volatile place...After Bizarre Creations closed, I was cautious about joining somewhere that may suffer the same unfortunate fate," Danny explained to us. Much of the temptation also came from the "exciting new market" of the App Store. "Apple had created a suite of cool gadgets over the past few years, and I was itching to start making games for them. Now seemed the perfect time to launch a studio with a new mobile focus."

Going it alone proved quite beneficial for Danny. He could finally "get [his] hands dirty with design, art, code, sound and music" rather than be forced to specialize. A "fast development cycle" also appealed, although "strict budget" constraints proved tough.

Hogrocket, developers of the very enjoyable Tiny Invaders, has some exciting news about the eventful puzzle game.

Those who have already discovered the joys to be had with spreading germs around the human body will be delighted to discover a selection of new levels in the latest update of Tiny Invaders.

Hogrocket are being a little secretive as to what the levels fully entail, and who can blame them. One thing that can be revealed however is that the final level in the pack, Tiny Teleportz, is a winning entry from a Level Design competition that was held at the Gamecity Festival in the UK last October.

For those who haven't played Tiny Invaders before (and why not?), there's a new and free version of the game to try out. Tiny Invaders Free/Lite comes with 15 levels to try so that players can see for themselves just what is so addictive about the concept.

Both the update and the free version are available now.