Tag: Roll In The Hole »

Dive For Treasures was quite the delight when we reviewed it earlier this month, so we decided to find out more about its developer, Eccentricity Games, and the team's plans for the future.

Who is Eccentricity Games?
Founded in 2010, the team is made up of a handful of industry veterans who came from a number of Poland's major game development companies. With the help of a producer, Hubert Bibrowski, based in Canada, the team has steadily grown ever since.

What is Eccentricity Games most famous for?
Besides Dive for Treasures (pictured below), the team has also worked on the Android and Windows Phone 8 versions of Puzzle Craft, along with cutesy title, Roll in the Hole. The team has also dabbled in children's apps such as Yawnie and 4 Kids Colors

What's next on the horizon?
Over to Hubert Bibrowski to explain more here: "Right now we're just coming out of launch mode. Dive for Treasures made the AppStore's New and Noteworthy list in the U.S. marketplace so we are very excited. The feedback was great, we're so happy to hear the game is well received as it was a bit of a gamble. There aren't many games like this out there. Right now we are busy working on an update to the game. The main feedback we received was that people wish the game were longer so I'm happy to announce we will be updating the game with more levels soon. It goes without saying that these updates are going to be distributed free of charge to all existing customers. We'd like to send a big THANK YOU to all the game's fans."

Hubert also explained that there are more titles to come from the developer, too, with the first set to be presented in August. As he put it, "It is going to be a big one too...I'd say it is the biggest and most polished game in the history of our studio," although he's not yet able to reveal all. We'll be sure to press him for more information when the time comes!

Anything else I should know about the developers?
All too happy to help, Hubert answered a few of our questions.

148apps: What was the inspiration behind Dive for Treasures?
Hubert: Not sure...Maybe this thing I drive by every day?

Seriously though, we wanted to make a game focused on exploration, with a unique twist. We didn't want to make another "runner" game, we wanted something fresh. When the submarine idea came up, we knew we had something that was fun and challenging in a new way. Sometimes, I think we gamers forget how nice it is to play something relaxing. We all agreed that there wasn't enough of these types of games in the marketplace so we went ahead and made one.

148apps: You've tackled some very varied titles. Is there a particular genre that the team prefer to work on?
Hubert: We like all sorts of games. Working on smaller projects, as opposed to large AAA titles, gives us room to experiment, explore and take risks. We always make the games that we ourselves would like to play instead of focusing on the flavor of the week that happens to be top on the app store. We really like tower defense games - I have a feeling one of our next titles will fall into that category.

148apps: What are the team's favorite apps or games?
Hubert: We like so many games that no one here can agree on just one title. We play our fair share of Starcraft, Gran Turismo and Left 4 Dead and of course we play a lot of mobile games: Sailboat Championship, Tiny Wings, King of Opera and Bike Baron are some of the office favorites.

Where can I find out more about Eccentricity Games?
We'll be keeping a close eye on the new title set to be released in August, but there are plenty of other sources to learn more. There's the Eccentricity Games website, Twitter account and Facebook page.

Thanks to Hubert and the rest of the team for taking the time to answer our questions. Dive for Treasures is out now, priced at $1.99.

Next up in the Chillingo gauntlet of awesomeness was a game that was very obviously catering to the kind of audience that would have appreciated the publisher's prior smash hit, Cut The Rope.  No, Roll In The Hole isn't a sequel or even really a spiritual successor as much as it is borrowing from a very similar graphical art style and simplistic control scheme.  That said, not only is the game aesthetically pleasing, but the easy to grasp controls will surely catapult the game to the top of many's "must own" list.

Players are placed placed in control of a portly panda that is shaped like a giant beachball. This poor misshapen mammal is not only lost, but is in dire need of sustenance of the ice cream variety.  Sure, his doctor may be advising against massive lactose consumption, but the overweight heart wants what the heart wants.  In order to snag these frozen snacks and reach the end of each of Roll In The Hole's seventy two levels, the goal is to guide the gentle giant from left to right, using only a simple touch to the left or right side of the screen.

While navigation may be easy, the different terrains make it more difficult for this panda to move.  Ice, sand and grass all have different amounts of drag and effect how quickly your bear rotates and gains momentum.  Making matters even crazier, the ridiculously and purposefully ludicrous plot-line will take you anywhere from a desert to outer space!

If you couldn't tell already, this is the kind of game that is not concerned with being taken too seriously.  For that very reason, I can't help but think that it will be a smashing success.  Roll In The Hole has a little bit of something for everyone and come on, how could you not want to download the game when you see how adorable it is?  It should be rolling onto the App Store later this July.



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