It’s a good week for iPhone announcements! Today I bring you news about Scarlett and the Spark of Life, an adventure game coming to the app store in December. The first episode of a series, Scarlett is a traditional “point & tap” adventure from indie developer Launching Pad Games. It will be available for iPhone / iPod Touch for $2.99.
When a princess is kidnapped, standard procedure suggests that she should dutifully await rescue by a knight in shining armor. But Scarlett’s not that kind of princess! She’s going to start a fight, make a daring escape, and ride into the sunset on a mechanical horse of her own making. Hang on tight!
The app store has been inundated with ports of classic adventure games as of late, but Scarlett is one of the first adventures to be designed from the ground up for iPhone and iPod Touch, with an intuitive UI and frustration-free gameplay that lends itself to playing in bite-sized bits. Its colorful artwork and (somewhat warped) fairy tale setting are underscored by a wry humor reminiscent of the classic adventure games so many of us grew up with.
Launching Pad Games is a New Zealand-based indie studio whose previous projects have included browser-based puzzle games and the addictive Zoo Lasso for iPhone. Scarlett and the Spark of Life is their first adventure game. The screenshots here will give you an idea of the game’s tone — feel free to post them for your readers! http://files.launchingpadgames.com/press/scarlett/screenshots
Scarlett and the Spark of Life is currently in submission with Apple, and Launching Pad is putting together an advance review copy for press. If you’d like to receive the ad-hoc build for review purposes, please send me your UDID and the device you’ll be playing on (iPhone or iPod Touch) by this Friday, November 19. Reviews will be embargoed until the game’s launch; we’re aiming for early December and will send out an update when we know the date for sure!
Once the game launches we’ll also have app store vouchers for reviewers and possibly some extras to use for giveaways, so if that’s something that interests you, please let me know! The team is also available for Q&A to talk about the work that has gone into Scarlett and future plans.