NO one knows exactly when they locked up Smiley, but it appears he's breaking out.
The enduring image of the US car sticker and the UK acid house era has been slammed in prison, and it’s your job to wobble your smartphone to get him to freedom. The mobile game is the product of a collaboration between Newcastle and London mobile games developer Fluid Pixel and Smiley World, the London-based company that owns the registration of the symbol in over 100 countries around the world.
Fluid Pixel director Stuart Varrall said: “It’s very much a casual game. It’s something you can dip in and out of. It’s not necessarily something you’ll sit down with for long periods of time. However, it’s designed to appeal to people looking for a challenge.”
Fluid Pixel pitched several ideas for games to Smiley World, which was looking to push into interactive content for mobiles as part of its bid to expose the smiley face to as many different markets as possible. The smiley was registered in 1971 by French journalist Franklin Loufrani, and he created the Smiley Licensing Corporation to handle licensing. The company name was changed in 2001.
Varrall said: “This was the idea that had the most legs. Smiley has to escape prison, and you do that by rotating the maze on your phone to get through the exits. There are eight different scenarios, including the jungle and the desert, and there’s also a space level. There are more than 80 levels and they get harder.”
Smiley Break builds on a previous Fluid Pixel game called Revolve, which challenges players to manoeuvre a ball into a hole. Varrall hopes the two companies can work together on other projects as Smiley bids to increase his presence in the mobile world.
He said: “It’s on Android first. iPhone is coming, along with Nokia. It’s going to be across a host of platforms, including tablets. This includes the Sony S2 and P2 tablets.”
The seven-strong Fluid Pixel team is working on other projects too, and says the key to a decent mobile is simplicity.
Varrall said: “It’s easy to come up with ideas and aim to have this all-singing, all-dancing app, but you need to stick to a core idea.
“People have them on themselves all the time and they like the more casual experience. There are almost console-like experiences on a lot of devices now, but do people necessarily want to use their mobiles in that way? They want to dip in and out in their commute time. It’s better for developers to create something really engaging.”
The company is unveiling a partnership with Cramlington-born messaging service Palringo to offer exclusive content on its platform.
