Overview
- From dream to reality, a story about how a ‘dad’ publishes a game on Xbox
- An extra coat of nail polish goes a long way, even on a purple slime ball
- When a kid runs out of games to play, make one!
“Dad, I can’t find many games to play…”
“Okay honey, what game do you want to play? Shall I make you one?”
And that’s how it started. A little over a year ago, my five-year-old daughter told me that most of our Xbox games were too hard for her to play. After some curation we managed to collect a nice small group of games, but the idea of making one for her and kids like her had stuck…
As a game developer, I’ve never gotten a gig with a studio developing for Xbox. I thought, oh how prestigious it would be to be part of a team working on an Xbox title (a lifelong dream, mind you). A few months in development from BouncyBoi in Puzzlelandthere was quite a bit of interest – so I gave my demo a coat of paint and sent it off to [email protected] to submit. I crossed all fingers and toes.
One day while I was busy playing the game, my email notification popped up. It was from [email protected]†
My heart skipped a beat. I said to myself, “Here’s the rejection letter”.
I read the first sentence…
“ Thank you for submitting your game concept to [email protected]† We wanted to get in touch and let you know BouncyBoi in Puzzleland has been approved for release on Xbox. †
I cannot describe in words the excitement and excitement that shot through my body at that moment!
Thread guidelines tell us to avoid excessive exclamation points, so let’s say, “six exclamation points!” This was my first encounter with the [email protected] team and just a taste of the incredibly warm welcome and support they have provided on this journey. When the wave of chaos had calmed down, I had only one thought in my head. “Time to level up”.
My goal was to make the visuals for the game stand out and look very polished. A lot of effort went into trick rendering and post-processing to make sure it was worth being on this console. I would tell myself that I am the only developer working on a game for a console. Everything has to be on point.
When I look back at the first prototype, I can’t even recognize the game. It’s grown and evolved into something I’m really proud of — and something that’s definitely worthy of a console game.
This great feat could only be achieved by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Every question I had about the Xbox platform – the [email protected]The Xbox team had my back. This game was made in the Unity engine and every time I needed help with something specific to Xbox, a team member was there.
The [email protected] program helped me realize my dream of developing and publishing a game on my favorite console, something I called nearly impossible.
My daughter has had the time of her life playing the game she helped create and is already planning the next title (no doubt something about cats, ha!).
BouncyBoi In Puzzleland is now available!
BouncyBoi in Puzzleland
Twin Stick
$13.99
Bounce in this colorful and cartoonish world with BouncyBoi and adventure through different levels full of challenging puzzles, cute graphics and funky beats! You are BouncyBoi. A purple bouncing slime who loves to jive and solve puzzles as he makes his way through Puzzle Land. That’s it… There’s no big epic backstory. No campaign to follow. Just good music, great visuals and fun times! You will be presented with a game board and must navigate to the finish line with BouncyBoi, overcoming puzzles and characters that will darken your path. As you progress through the worlds, you will encounter new and interesting challenges to test your problem-solving skills.
