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New publisher Ayopa Games launches with Chicken Rescue, Patchwork Battles and M.U.S.E. signed up

Ex-Chillingo and Storm8 exec Coghlan back in play

New publisher Ayopa Games launches with Chicken Rescue, Patchwork Battles and M.U.S.E. signed up
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The launch of a new mobile publisher isn't necessarily the sort of news we go big on at Pocket Gamer towers.

In the case of Ayopa Games, however, there's plenty of interesting angles to write about.

Most intriguing is the news it's picked up Lab Rats Studio's M.U.S.E., a game that was originally being published by Chillingo but which mysteriously disappeared off its radar a couple of months ago.

It's a twist that's provided with more zest as one of Ayopa's co-founder is Johnny Coghlan, who used to work at Chillingo.

Still, when we asked about the situation, he laughed, and said he knew the game was originally being published with another company but didn't know it was Chillingo. After all, he's been working at mobile social publisher Storm8 for the past year or so.

Ayopa's other co-founder is Elliott Chin. He's had an interesting career, starting out in journalism with Computer Gaming World, moving to Gamespot, before working for the likes of Blizzard, Sega and Logitech.

Combined, they're looking to make the most of the burgeoning indie mobile games development, promising to publish the best quality games available.

So, to get you in the mood, there are the five games they've announced so far.

title: Chicken Rescue
developer: End Boss Games
platforms: iOS
release date: 3 November

This tilt-based arcade puzzler has you controlling a mama chicken out to find her lost chicks. Obstacles include hungry pigs and treacherous ledges, while you'll earn coins and stars for completing levels, using the coins to buy in-games skins that provide in-game benefits.

Supporting iOS, Chicken Rescue - which is a universal build - uses iCloud saving so you can save your game on your iPhone and pick it back up on the iPad.

title: W.E.L.D.E.R.
developer: Highline Games
platforms: iOS
release date: November

A start up of talent from the Rockstar NY studio, Highline Games' debut release is W.E.L.D.E.R.

It's labelled as a 'new word game with triple-A presentation'. You get to weld letters together to form words, using special abilities and multipliers to maximise your success.

Fully supporting iOS 5, there's also a dictionary to access instant definitions of new words you discover.

title: M.U.S.E.
developer: Lab Rats Studio
platforms: iOS, Android, PC/Mac
release date: December

This Unity-powered thirdperson shooter has already gained comparisons to MadFinger' similarly-engined Shadowgun. Certainly, those are big boots to fill for the debut team at Lab Rats Studio.

Highlighting episodic content, waves of cybernetic enemies, and a combo system providing bonus points for creative kills and skilled chains, M.U.S.E. is the highest profile of Ayopa's releases.

It will also support AirPlay mirroring so players can view the action on the big screen via a connected Apple TV.

title: Mailmen
developer: Sandstorm Interactive
platforms: iOS, Android, PC/Mac
release date: Q1 2012

Bringing more family-friendly gameplay to focus, Mailmen is a stealthy puzzler that has you directing mailmen to deliver the post while avoiding dangerous dogs.

title: Patchwork Battles
developer: Patchwork Games
platforms: iOS, XNA (WP, XBLA, PC)
release date: Q1 2012

The final announced game on Ayopa's slate is Patchwork Battles. This art-heavy tactical/RPG game will enable players to choose parts from different character classes, such as rogues and wizards, to create dozens of unique class combos with distinct abilities.

Throw into the mix a deep story told through a storybook setting, and support for iOS and XNA platforms, and it seems likely to be a key title for the new publisher, when it's released in early 2012.

You can find out about what Ayopa Games gets up to via its website.

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.