On the occasion of the Indie Game Play event, we met the developers of Save The Dodos, developed by Fun4Family.
Inspired by illustrious elders like Lemmings, and mixed with the famous Rubik's cube, Save The Dodos is a cute puzzle where the objective is to save as many dodos as possible.
These rather stupid birds have a bad habit of walking straight ahead, without thinking or paying attention to obstacles. They move on, and then that's it. It is therefore up to us, the player, to ensure that the road is safe by moving the elements of the scenery. The whole scene, with the platforms where the dodos walk, is divided into various sections (3 to 4 on the first tested scenes) which slide horizontally and vertically, making it possible to create a safe path.
To complicate the reflection, the edges are communicating. Thus, a dodo that comes out on the right reappears on the left. Likewise, a falling dodo reappears at the top. We must therefore carefully think about the consequences of each movement. It becomes even more complicated when 4 or 5 dodos are released simultaneously, when the platforms are diagonal or even when small enemies are walking around, just waiting for the opportunity to skewer a bug!
As for lives, the principle is based on a colony of dodos. At the beginning, a priori, we have 10 dodos and, each time we lose a dodo in a level, we lose 1. This dodo will be regenerated after a certain time, thus I have 10 lives in itself. The rescue mode tables then allow you to recover new dodos, thus increasing the possible errors.
There are 4 special sleeps:
- Big sleep: very slow
- Mama dodo: with little ones
- Dodo soldier: can take damage
- Phantom sleep: dies after a delay
About a hundred levels are planned, spread over 4 eras: prehistory, Egypt, Ancient Greece and the Vikings. The objective is to bring the dodos back to our time and other periods are therefore considered if the success is at the rendezvous.
In addition to the classic and rescue mode already mentioned, there will be a survival mode (where you have to survive as long as possible) and a collection mode (where you have to recover watermelons). Each time, it is not mandatory to save all the sleeps. As can be seen in the photo above, a gauge fills up depending on the time or the number of sleeps saved. I had made a game here in survival mode, 35 seconds give me 2 stars!
As a freemium game, the store will offer to regenerate its colony more quickly or to have endless dodos for a specific time. Additionally, they plan to sell small, physical action figures (seen in the first photo above).
Ready to launch, Save The Dodos is a cute and addicting game that is sure to attract players of all ages who will want to save those poor lost chickens. As always, the main obstacle to the success of this type of game will be the importance given to the store. Will they be able to find the right balance between financial profitability for them and fun for us, the players?
- Style: jigsaw puzzle game.
- Team: 4 people.
- Project age: around 1 year.
- Lifespan: 100 levels.
- Intended sale price: freemium.
- Platforms: iOS, Android and Web.
- Launch: soon, before summer.
