Boomzap Entertainment is a casual games developer based in Singapore. It was formed in 2005 and has released ten games to date. Boomzap has developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS and Wii. Its games are available on casual games portals such as Big Fish Games, Reflexive Entertainment, Oberon Media, iWin, Yahoo!, WildTangent and others.
Boomzap is known in the game industry for being one of the few companies to use a pure virtual office environment.[1] Articles have been written on the subject in the Casual Games Association Magazine and Gamasutra regarding their prototyping methods.[2] A feature article on Gamasutra was released on April 1, 2010 that further elaborated Boomzap's "quick and dirty" production process for making games.[3]
History
Boomzap was founded in 2005 by Christopher Natsuume and Allan Simonsen. Natsuume, the company's Creative Director was formerly lead producer for Far Cry at Crytek. Simonsen serves as the company's Technical Director and worked on the Spider-Man game for the Nokia N-Gage. Boomzap Entertainment is composed of two legal entities: Boomzap Inc. in the state of Washington, USA and Boomzap Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Both companies are private corporations owned by Natsuume and Simonsen.
As of March 2010, the company employed 24 game developers working out of Japan, Singapore, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Facts and numbers
- Games released to date: 10
- Languages developed in: 11 (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin)
- Staff members: 24
- Countries developing in: 6 (Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, and the Philippines)
Games
Antique Road Trip: USA
Antique Road Trip: USA was released as an exclusive game on Big Fish Games on May 30, 2010 where it quickly rose to #5 on the all formats chart.[4] Antique Road Trip is a game in the Hidden Object genre containing different types of minigames. Gamezebo gave a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars to the game, saying "Still, Antique Road Trip is a solid game, if not an especially profound or memorable one."[5]
Awakening: The Dreamless Castle
Awakening: The Dreamless Castle was released as an exclusive game on Big Fish Games on February 14, 2010.[6] Awakening is an adventure/hidden object PC casual game set in a light fantasy setting. It debuted as the #3 game on the Big Fish Games Top 100 downloads list, quickly rising to #1 for all formats.[7] Awakening has also been released in German, Spanish, and French. According to a review by About.com, "Awakening: The Dreamless Castle is a superb example of a hidden object/adventure game."[8]
Pirates Plund-Arrr
On January 7, 2010, Majesco announced Pirates Plund-Arrr, a Nintendo Wii game being developed by Boomzap Entertainment. It is scheduled for release in April 2010.[9][10]
Passport to Paradise
On December 24, 2009, Passport to Paradise was released by iWin. The game peaked at #4 on the Top 10 Games on iWin's portal, and was the #1 Tycoon game on iWin for the same week.[11]
Orchard
In 2007, Boomzap received funding from the Media Development Authority of Singapore to create a game demo for the game Orchard, which was later signed by Majesco.[12] The game was released in January 2009.[13]
Zen Fashion
On May 21, 2008, Zen Fashion was released on Big Fish Games and other casual game portals.[14] Zen Fashion is a drag-matching Match-3 type puzzle game.
Jewels of Cleopatra series
Boomzap developed the tile-matching puzzle series, Jewels of Cleopatra (released in 2007) and its sequel, Jewels of Cleopatra 2: Aztec Mysteries (released in 2008) under publisher Encore, Inc. Gamezebo gave 3.5 of out 5 stars to the original Jewels of Cleopatra, stating "What it all adds up to is a well-made, enjoyable gem-matching romp in full Egyptian garb.".[15] It gave the same rating of 3.5 stars to the sequel, noting that "Armchair adventurers who enjoy Match-3 games will no doubt enjoy clicking through the story-heavy Jewels of Cleopatra 2: Aztec Mysteries."[16]
Hoyle Enchanted Puzzles
In 2007, Boomzap released the game Hoyle Enchanted Puzzles, also published by Encore, Inc. Hoyle Enchanted Puzzles is a collection of nine different puzzle mini-games in a light fantasy theme. According to a review by Jayisgames, Hoyle Enchanted Puzzles is "A solid collection of puzzles built into a lasting and interesting new whole."[17] Gamezebo gave the game 4 out of 5 stars in its review, stating that "while the puzzle themes will be immediately familiar to casual games, the developer added enough of a new twist to most of these digital diversions to keep us glued to the PC for hours."[18]
References
- ↑ Working Nowhere and Everywhere: The Zen of Running a Mobile, Virtual Game Development Studio from CasualConnect.org
- ↑ "In-Depth: Ugly, Quick, And Dirty - The Power of Working Fast" from Gamasutra
- ↑ "Quick and Dirty Prototyping: A Success Story - from Gamasutra"
- ↑ [http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/8275/antique-road-trip-usa/index.html Antique Road Trip on Big Fish Games
- ↑ [Antique Road Trip: USA review from Gamezebo
- ↑ Awakening: The Dreamless Castle on Big Fish Games
- ↑ Awakening: The Dreamless Castle Detail from CasualCharts.com
- ↑ Awakening: The Dreamless Castle Review from About.com
- ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/majesco-entertainment-announces-pirates-plund-arrr-for-wiitm-80902632.html
- ↑ http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/07/pirates-plundarrr-sailing-wii-ward-this-april/
- ↑ http://www.casualcharts.com/games/detail/passporttoparadise.html
- ↑ http://www.smf.sg/SuccessStories/Pages/Games.aspx
- ↑ http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/orchard/948055p1.html
- ↑ http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/3307/zen-fashion/index.htm
- ↑ http://www.gamezebo.com/games/jewels-cleopatra/review
- ↑ http://www.gamezebo.com/games/jewels-cleopatra-2-aztec-mysteries/review
- ↑ http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/04/hoyle_enchanted_puzzles.php
- ↑ http://www.gamezebo.com/games/hoyle-enchanted-puzzles/review