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Daily iPhone App: Letter Rush puts a new spin on spelling games
Word games are probably my least favorite genre on the App Store at this point -- I think they're overused, and many companies these days are just kicking out half-baked spelling games in the hopes of reaching a large casual audience. But Letter Rush, put together by a former Zynga studio, is different enough that it's worth mentioning: It's a word game that will probably make you better at word games. Most word games give you a set of tiles and ask you to spell words with them, and Letter Rush does that as well. But this game also gives you the words to spell, as they move across the top of the screen towards the left. That makes it a much different game than usual -- it's more about learning to spot words than actually spell them. And it could even teach you to be better at word games, to look for ways to spell certain words that might not be readily apparent at first. The goal is to spell all the words on screen before they hit the left side, but you do have a few extra powerups helping you out. Occasionally, words will have blanks in them, and in that case, you can use any letter in that spot (though that sometimes backfires, as it appears the word still needs to be legit, so there may be only one letter that fits in that space). And sometimes you'll get a bomb letter tile, which, when used, will clear the entire board for you. The game is essentially endless, but when words reach the far side of the screen, it's game over. Letter Rush is an interesting take on the oft-visited word game genre, and it's different enough that it's worth a look even if you're bored of spelling games on the iPhone. Letter Rush is available as a free download right now.
Ex-Zynga Boston team starts new iOS studio
Zynga closed its Boston studio late last year, and some of its former developers have created a new company called Proletariat Inc. The group is set to release its first iPhone game next week, called Letter Rush. The folks at Proletariat, Inc. aren't new to the startup game. They were originally called Conduit Labs, which Zynga acquired in 2010. We can only assume that their return to independence helped the group kick out a new title so quickly. Letter Rush is described as "an innovative arcade-spin on the classic word-find mechanic." We'll look for it on the App Store in a few days. It'll be interesting to see what this group has been up to after going through the Zynga machine. Show full PR text Ex-Zynga Boston Team Starts New Studio Team Behind Adventure World Due to Release First Title Cambridge, MA---February 26, 2013---Proletariat Inc., the new game development studio formed by the original founding group behind Zynga Boston, have officially announced today that they are open for business, and have revealed plans for an upcoming iOS title release. After Zynga unexpectedly closed their Cambridge office in October 2012, five senior members of the Zynga Boston team, creators of 2011's acclaimed Indiana Jones Adventure World, decided to found Proletariat Inc. This was not new territory for most of them, since they were originally part of Conduit Labs, the startup game shop founded in 2007 to develop music-oriented games for the Web, and subsequently acquired by Zynga in 2010. Working with the social publishing giant led to a collaboration between Lucasfilm and Zynga Boston, with the incorporation of the licensed Indiana Jones character into the game play, and the branded re-naming of the game. Indiana Jones Adventure World went on to receive recognition as a highly popular, challenging puzzle adventure game on Facebook, and is widely considered to be one of Zynga's more ambitious development efforts. Proletariat expects to expand on that tradition by creating superior quality game products with a high level of entertainment value, made by a top-tier production team. The founding team is made up of game industry veterans who have worked on everything from Guitar Hero to Lord of the Rings Online. "We have all known each other and worked with one another for so long that we've developed an organic way of making games together," says CEO Seth Sivak. "We all want to make successful games, both creatively and as a business. This team has been on both sides and knows how to find that balance." Sivak adds, "Building games is all about navigating the chaotic process of discovering 'The Fun' and then performing a disciplined march to a polished, final product. That process is important to us." The goal, as stated by Sivak is "to keep teams small and let highly skilled groups of creative people innovate." The team is nearly ready to launch their first game for iOS, Letter Rush. Letter Rush, the first game released by Proletariat Inc., will be available for iPhone and iPad next week. The game provides an innovative arcade-spin on the classic word-find mechanic. Players can play by themselves or together over local multiplayer to complete goals and compete with their friends on leaderboards. Proletariat is already hard at work on their next game, going after a larger challenge in the core tablet market.
