The new Shape series from Tasmania’s Smash Attack Studios is coming to consoles and PCs soon. The ‘couch multiplayer extravaganza’ called ShapeVS will feature revamped takes on Shape Rush, Shape Move and Shape Fly as well as nine other new games in the Shape series.
“The VS is very much in reference to the word Versus as we expanding upon our Shape series of games which were featured as single player games on mobile devices, as the game is going to the big screens we are bringing in the fun and competitive element to the game,” explained Public Relations Manager Grady Lynch.
He said the Shape series was used as a way for some of the programmers to hone their skills with mobile development while another project was being worked on.
“Funnily enough (programmer) Temp’s brother-in-law came over at Christmas time and downloaded all the Shape games but really loved Shape Rush. We ended up having a house wide, week long competition and the idea of having it on one big screen came up, Temp made it happen and the idea kinda went from there.”
ShapeVS takes some of the core aspects of the mobile games and tweaks them, from simple changes to games like Shape Fly to more complex rebuilds featuring mechanics and lessons learned from other games released by Smash Attack.
Grady indicated that the response has been overwhelmingly positive with the game in many hands at community play test events.
“They love that they can talk to the developers, pitch an idea, play a new build and see the game develop,” he said. “Our players have very much enjoyed the idea of playing something together, next to each other, with friends and family.”
“The games have a lot of variety that each game can be different even if you pick the same mini game.
It’s got that element of randomness, competitiveness and fun that harkens back to when we use to play games together and I think in the COVID climate we have now this has been a big positive for people.”
The games suite features bright colours, clean lines and lots of recognisable shapes, and that’s no accident according to Lynch.
“Five of our team members work in some form of disability support or carer role as well as English as a second language,” he noted. “Some of us even have family members with barriers, so making a game accessible to all was very much a key focus point and priority for us. We have even had local community disability groups test out the game as to confirm we were on the right path.”
Despite the huge amount of work that has gone into developing ShapeVS, the returns are still uncertain.
“At the moment it’s very much a labour of love, we work on it in our free time as we all work full time positions in various professions,” Grady Lynch said. “The main aim is to release it and make money from sales be it platforms like the Nintendo Switch or PS4. We hope that it will lead to sustainability and maybe some of our team members taking on game development in a full time capacity.”
Smash Attack are looking forward to sharing more with people as the ShapeVS game develops.
“We hope people are just as excited as we are!” enthused Lynch. “You can follow us on our socials to be kept up to date; we’re on Facebook and Twitter.”
You can also find out about Smash Attack’s local games events on their website.
