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Polyroll is a 16-bit style platformer. *Jump and "Rocket Roll" your way through around 30 stages of platforming *Power-ups granting special abilities *Unlock hidden stages, opening new paths through the game

Post news Report RSS Polyroll Submitted! Thoughts. . .

Finally, Polyroll has been submitted to Apple. . .

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I knew I was in for it when I decided to make this game. After Clash Force, my first release, I decided I should tackle a smaller project. After seeing much simpler games see success in the app store, I thought I'd split my releases between console style fair like Clash Force and Polyroll, and simpler, casual style projects. Maybe doing that would give me a better chance of having a hit.

But when a project is calling, you have to go with your gut. Well you don't have to, but knowing I'm the sole motivator in getting my projects done, I went with the game I wanted to develop most. Which was Polyroll.

But developing a console style platformer by yourself is a lot of work. And there's no guarantee your work will pay off. The game took longer to complete than anticipated. Originally planned for an early August released, it's now scheduled to hit on October 4th.

And changes had to be made. Early on I planned to have a full sized Mario World style map. Lots of routes to explore. Hidden exits. But I quickly realized that would be too risky and too big to tackle. At least for me right now, having several other part-time jobs.

I scaled back and came up with what I thought was a reasonable goal. I knew I had to go bigger and better than Clash Force, but didn't want to fall into the trap that the console games industry found itself in, where every game has to be bigger, not necessarily better. That's what got us collect-a-thon disasters like Donkey Kong 64.

At the end of the day, I think I've created a game that people will enjoy. If you've got an ios device (3GS or later), and $1.99 to spend, I believe that Polyroll will deliver, especially if you're a fan of 16 and 8-bit era platformers.

My game Clash Force is also in the app store, and has gotten good reception (but not necessarily good sales numbers). I hope that the platformer genre will bring in more players, and that Polyroll can be the first in a series. I'd love to be able to hire an artist, and make that big world map I envisioned in Polyroll 2. We'll see!

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