Tower Up is finally here. You’ve seen the “Coming Soon” teaser for this awesome new Club Shockwave game and now you can finally play it for yourself. If you’re anything like me, once you get hooked on a game (and this one is sure to reel you in), you’ll want to know about the people, the process, and development of your new favorite pastime. That’s why I interviewed the developers of Tower Up, Steve Bullock and Andrew Young at Adveractive, and the game’s producer, Michael Ruppert. Here’s what they had to say:
The Spark: Michael, where did you get the idea for Tower Up?
Michael: We’ve always wanted to have a great stacking game for Club Shockwave. But we needed to put a unique spin on the genre. I thought a lot about some of the more popular games for inspiration and it dawned on me that we needed to give you some purpose to explain why you really care about stacking these pieces. I thought, why not make a game where you don’t make the pieces disappear at the bottom of the screen and instead have them stack skyward and have the player build something? What better thing to build than enormous skyscrapers!
The Spark: What is your favorite feature of the game?
My favorite features are the little guys on the scaffolding who fill in the building’s facades as you complete rows and the special sections that get filled in when you position a piece to one of those outlines. It’s very challenging to get those special sections constructed.
The Spark: Andrew and Steve, as the developers of the game, what kind of research did you do in the world of building and architecture? Did you have to consult architects or visit a building site? Were there hard hats involved?
Steve: It would be worth mentioning that I worked for one of the world’s leading crane manufacturers for my first 9 years out of college and know how to run all sorts of cranes and excavators (and sell them, and how they are engineered, etc.). I visited some of the world’s largest construction sites in that period (1975-84) as well.
Andrew: We loved the stunning photos that crane operator Ken Derry took from his perch in Chicago. You can check them out here.
So there you have it, the inside scoop on our newest game for Club Shockwave, Tower Up! I have to get back to all the building and stacking, not to mention earning all the tokens and trophies! I hope to see you on the score board, and please stay tuned; I’ll have some tips and tricks for you soon!
i think they should let people who are not in club shockwave because its a good game. i really luv it!