In late July 2012 I started working on a concept for an iOS/Android game. The idea came up while I was waiting for the MTR (Hong Kong’s railway).

If you have ever visited Hong Kong and got to enjoy a crowded ride on the MTR during rush-hour, you will have noticed at least one thing: Everyone is on their smartphone. Couples sitting next to each other, staring down at their iPads, businessmen leaning against doors, watching movies on their iPhones, students huddling together, watching their friends playing some manga-stuffed hack’n'slash game.What most of the games people played seemed to have in common was the fact that they could be played casually, and were easy to pick up. I mused on that for a while and reflected on my own habits for a bit – “what games do I play on my smartphone?”. To tell the truth I don’t often play games on my smartphone. I just get dizzy after staring at things while my body is in motion. However, when I do play, I usually play something for two to four minutes – Angry Birds for instance.

One week later I came up with a draft for an action/platformer game with a main character named Shlorp. After hastily finishing a first rough, I showed it to a friend at SCAD, Mark Caluguy, hoping he might be interested in joining my project. He agreed, and I’m glad he did – his monster drawings are awesome! The game is in development now (stalled at this point however due to additional workload from other projects) and will most likely be finished early next year! (Perhaps a worthy contender for next year’s IGF!)

Shlorp - early rough

You might be thinking, “so what exactly is the gameplay??”. You’re right, I haven’t told you yet. At this stage however, I don’t want to reveal too much – we’re still tweaking some of the gameplay aspects. What I can tell you at this point: It involves morphing. Really awesome morphing. And fun puzzle games.