Who: Barrel of Donkeys
What: Barrel of Donkeys reveal Toybox - half shooter, half match-three puzzler, all fun
Where: Melbourne, Australia
When: June 19, 2012
Details: Barrel of Donkeys proudly reveals Toybox, a unique genre-collision between shooter and match-three puzzle that provides a unique challenge. Coming to iPhone and iPod touch in Q3, 2012, Toybox is the gaming equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.
Shoot enemies on one side of the screen to drop a colored block in the other. Then stack the blocks to score points, power up your weapons and earn extra lives. Survive as long as you can to get a high score. Each week the level changes and a new race to the top of the leaderboard begins.
Highlights:
- Two classic genres - One unique game
- Split focus provides both challenge & reward
- A new level and leaderboard each week
- Charming visuals using classic old-school toy designs
- Coming to iPhone and iPod touch in Q3 2012
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/barrelofdonkeys
Media Assets: Available at http://surpriseattack.com.au/toybox
Contact: for review code, questions or interviews, please contact dan@surpriseattack.com.au
More details on Toybox:
Imagine playing two games at once, where your results in one feed into the other - That's what you'll find inside Toybox. The blend of super-simple and warmly familiar games combines in a deep and unfamiliar way that delivers a fun rewarding challenge that is more than the sum of its parts.
Shoot enemies on one side of the screen to drop a colored block in the other. Then stack the blocks to score points, power up your weapons and earn extra lives. Survive as long as you can to get a high score. Each week the level changes and a new race to the top of the leaderboard begins.
Key Features:
Two old classics, one winning formula - Playing a super simple shooter with one thumb and a 'match 3' puzzler with the other, Toybox combines two games in one in a manner that's easy to grasp, but a challenge to master.
New week, new challenge - Freshly generated waves of incoming enemy toys provide an all new challenge to take on each and every week - Your chance to fly up the leaderboards is never far away.
Quick & intense - Starting slow and simple, the pace never stops building, rising in intensity to test you to your limits in minutes, not hours.
Master the challenge, earn the reward - Perfect the interaction between the two systems at once to nail block combos, weapon upgrades and smart bombs that will send your score soaring.
Last gasp moments - Just when all seems lost, place one last block to earn an extra life, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and the save the day.
Warm and familiar - Avoids today's common cliched art techniques - Instead using warm, iconic colours and shapes to produce a tactile feel of toys playing in an imagined space.
Generative soundtrack – your actions in the
game generate part of the soundtrack, providing an extra level of
connectivity with the experience.
Development History
Barrel of Donkeys are Sam Baird and Julian Frost, two friends that have been making games together since they were teenagers in Christchurch, New Zealand. They are now based in Melbourne, Australia, making touchscreen games with novel gameplay and lots of polish.
Toybox started out as what seemed like an offhand idea of combining a shooter and match-3 game together. Sam and Julian both love "The World Ends With You" an action-RPG for the DS with split-level gameplay, and the dev-duo have also already produced a Breakout-Pinball hybrid of their own. They appear poised to be the indie remix-masters of gaming mashups.
Like the game itself, the development process of Toybox has been a juggling act, with Sam and Julian in Melbourne and London respectively. Their individual passions and ideas have created challenges along the way, but ultimately resulted in a game-making machine that works better than the sum of its parts.
