South African independent games development company RetroEpic has released its first mobile game, a Day in the Woods, saying that moving from desktop to mobile games has been an “exciting but nerve wracking” experience.
RetroEpic initially launched a Day in the Woods as a desktop game, inspired by traditional children’s sliding tile puzzles and centring on the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale.
Based on consumer feedback that the game would be better suited for mobile gaming, the RetroEpic team decided to launch the game on mobile, in the company’s first foray into the mobile market.
“Of course, launching on mobile at the moment is incredibly tricky. Various sources have put the stats at something around 500 game apps alone being released everyday meaning that we’re really competing in an oversaturated market. Releasing our first title into this market-place was then, as you can imagine, both exciting and nerve wracking,” Megan Hughes, brand manager at RetroEpic told Disrupt Africa.
“You do what you can to ensure you’ve put the game in front of as many people as possible and then you hold thumbs that your marketing strategy lives up to your expectations and that people have the chance to fall in love with what you’ve made,” she said.
The game takes a unique approach to the traditional sliding puzzle game, allowing players to swap tiles rather than simply sliding tiles around to complete a picture. Players are asked to swap tiles around until Little Red Riding Hood is moved safely to Granny’s cottage – with increasingly complex levels to navigate.
Hughes said a key feature of the game are the graphics, which mirror a wooden carved look, evoking the style of the Grimm-Brother fairytales, making the game popular with children. However, due to the increasing complexity of the game, Hughes says it also proves entertaining for adults.
A Day in the Woods is available for iPhone and iPad, and can be downloaded via the App Store, for US$4.99.
