The Exterminator – game for charity comes to App Store!
Phil Hassey from Galcon-land here. A game I developed with five teens for charity just went live on the App Store! The game is an effort to help raise the $200,000 needed to get the down payment to buy a building for a local community outreach center in Rye, CO.
The game is called “The Exterminator” and it’s about a motorcyclist defending the earth from mega-sized mutant bugs. It’s an endless runner-type game with a totally rocking original electric guitar soundtrack. The gameplay is super addictive and feels a bit like a 1942 + Canabalt mashup. If you get going over 75 MPH it goes into “guitar-solo” mode where all points double. Combos (sequential shots without misses) gain you increasingly more points. For fun I added in GameCenter leader boards so you can compete with your friends. It’s only $0.99 and all the money we get goes towards the building fund. (Apple’s take is 30%.)
Developing the game with the teens was a really great experience. The project started out with us discussing what charity the teens wanted to raise funds for. The group was unanimous that they wanted to help raise money for the local community center because it would give future teens a great place to hang out. Rye, CO is a small rural town and there aren’t any actual hangouts outside of school activities.
After that we decided on a game theme. Wes really wanted to do a motorcycle oriented game and Shamoa was interested in some kind of game where we’d destroy mutant bugs. By combining those ideas we came up with “The Exterminator.” From there we spent two days developing the artwork, music, sound effects, and the actual game. Matt put together the electric guitar soundtrack using GarageBand. Wes, Shamoa, Shadrack, and Cameron all worked on the artwork. Most everyone did some sound effects. We also spent a lot of time eating food and generally goofing off. We wrapped up the project with some solid play-testing and tweaking and we were all really happy with how it came out. As a game developer I totally enjoyed the experience of working with teens and developing a game idea that I would have never come up with on my own!
Here’s a page that includes an overview of the community center plans and includes a PDF with a more detailed description.
Charity aside, it’s totally fun, so be sure to check it out!
Have fun!
-Phil
P.S. I’m “philhassey” on GameCenter, just try and beat my score!