Thursday 5 February 2015

The Loons have taken off - game launched

Almost three years have passed since I published my first game, and I have been busy :-)

Now, finally, it is time for the next one. I hereby official set The Loons free, and hope they will be well received.

Full details can be found on the game's page.

The game uses Google Admob Ads.

Currently, this is the only form of monetization available to me in my country - three years after the previous game and still no other options :-(
The ads are as unobtrusive as possible and will never be displayed while playing, only in menus and while the game is paused. I am not a big fan of ads at all and would much rather have gone another route, but it is what it is. I am looking into options for adding a paid ad-free unlocker, but at present there is none.

The game does not have any IAPs, so everything is available to everyone all the time. I will not bore you with my feelings on IAPs ;-)

The game also employs Google Play Games Services for it Achievements and Leaderboards. This is not a requirement though and all devices without it will be able to run the game just fine - and Achievements will still work 100% (there is an in-game achievement screen which is used as a fall-back when not logged into Google Play Games); Leaderboards however require Google Play Game Services.

Games are saved when the game loses focus, and you will never lose any progress. Saved games are not synchronized across devices (each device holds it's own local save games) since this game is not one long journey but rather designed for multiple shorter playthroughs. However, statistics are synchronized across all devices and combined into a single set - so all games you play on all devices will be tracked as part of your personal statistics.

The game features a lot more configuration options than is common in most mobile games. The default settings should work just fine for most people so there is no need to go tinkering - unless tinkering is something you like to do. This is the reason for the settings...to allow those who want to to customize as much as possible.

There are some other interesting bits too. The game has popup hints for most buttons and interactive elements (similar to what is found on toolbars in normal apps) - just touch and keep touching on a button for a second or two and a hint will be displayed near your finger. The game also has a complete help system built in which explains all areas of the game and UI.

Instead of me telling you all of this, go have a look for yourself - the game is 100% free (with ads) so check it out now :-)

Links
Game Information
Google Play Store