wraggster
November 23rd, 2013, 19:07
http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/adam/286fa4d13ffbfd3e0f4e7cff758eee22/TSC_WordLevel.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/22/3d-indie-adventure-the-secret-castle-examines-kinect-from-every/)
Sure, a lot of games have 3D graphics, with fully rounded character models and everything, but their playgrounds are essentially flat – Avatar in 2D. The Secret Castle (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/23/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-the-secret-castle/) is reach-through-the-screen 3D (without the glasses), letting players manipulate the setting to see around objects, new solutions popping out from behind pillars and stashed under toys.
The Secret Castle launched on iOS (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/secret-castle-3d-hidden-object/id620470642?mt=8) from Platronic Games earlier this year, using motion controls that allowed players to tilt their screens and peer behind things in the game's environment. It's free to try, like a lot of games in the App Store – and that last part is one of its problems.
"The game has sold a couple thousand copies since launch," Platronic Games founder John Francis tells Joystiq. "The reason I'd say that was poor is because even with a modest budget we never really recouped all sales. Everyone on the team was very passionate about the game and working for free on their nights and weekends.
"Also, our sales model was largely traditional in a growing free-to-play and socially media-driven market. Without Facebook plugins or a pre-established hardcore fanbase like you might find with platformers or tactics games, telling people you reinvented the hidden-object genre was a tough sell."
Platronic wants to give The Secret Castle one more shot at success, this time with a different kind of motion control: Kinect.
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/22/3d-indie-adventure-the-secret-castle-examines-kinect-from-every/
Sure, a lot of games have 3D graphics, with fully rounded character models and everything, but their playgrounds are essentially flat – Avatar in 2D. The Secret Castle (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/23/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-the-secret-castle/) is reach-through-the-screen 3D (without the glasses), letting players manipulate the setting to see around objects, new solutions popping out from behind pillars and stashed under toys.
The Secret Castle launched on iOS (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/secret-castle-3d-hidden-object/id620470642?mt=8) from Platronic Games earlier this year, using motion controls that allowed players to tilt their screens and peer behind things in the game's environment. It's free to try, like a lot of games in the App Store – and that last part is one of its problems.
"The game has sold a couple thousand copies since launch," Platronic Games founder John Francis tells Joystiq. "The reason I'd say that was poor is because even with a modest budget we never really recouped all sales. Everyone on the team was very passionate about the game and working for free on their nights and weekends.
"Also, our sales model was largely traditional in a growing free-to-play and socially media-driven market. Without Facebook plugins or a pre-established hardcore fanbase like you might find with platformers or tactics games, telling people you reinvented the hidden-object genre was a tough sell."
Platronic wants to give The Secret Castle one more shot at success, this time with a different kind of motion control: Kinect.
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/22/3d-indie-adventure-the-secret-castle-examines-kinect-from-every/