The-Secret-Castle
Latest
3D indie adventure The Secret Castle examines Kinect from every angle
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 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 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.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: The Secret Castle
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, John Francis of Platronic Games is way too humble when discussing the outstanding 3D graphics of his hidden-object title, The Secret Castle. Seriously, watch both of the included videos for a full run-down of the truly amazing tilt-3D mechanics. What's your game called and what's it about? The Secret Castle is a 3D hidden-object and puzzle game that follows Jonas Lyons, a young boy who begins to have strange dreams about a mysterious castle after moving into a new home. How exactly is The Secret Castle "reinventing the genre" of hidden-object games? I can't say I exactly planned this but a lot of things happened when we instituted the 3D system. There's not really any easy way to spam the screen just hoping to find things, which is one way to play traditional hidden-object games. Also, the 3D really makes the player engage in a whole new way because the game is constantly giving feedback as the player looks for stuff. Also, it's the only hidden object game I know of with a boss fight.
