Sponsored Feature: Play around with man's best friend in Tic Toc Games's cute endless-runner Pug Run
A sense of pug satisfaction
A 'pug' is a dog of a dwarf breed with a broad flat nose and deeply wrinked face.
Pug Run is an endless-runner for iPhone and iPad with a 69p / 99c price tag and a deeply disturbing threat called The Void.
We spoke to some of the guys over at Pug Run's trainer - sorry, developer - Tic Toc Games for their thoughts on why their app will have dog lovers pawing for more.
Woof.
Pocket Gamer: First of all, could you explain a little more about Pug Run?Marc (game designer): Pug Run is an endless-runner that takes place in the dream of a little boy who wishes he had a dog of his own. In the game, the pug protagonist - named Bogart - comes to life from a drawing that slowly turns to reality as you play.
Cathy (senior producer): We love pugs! Our CEO has one named Greta, and she's got some character considering she's such a small, pudgy dog. We wanted to make a game that captured Greta's personality but still offered a great and relatable experience for players.
Marc: After seeing pictures of Greta, my artistic direction to the character designer was: "Make it look like a potato".
The 'runner' genre is very much en vogue across all mobile platforms. In what way(s) does Pug Run stand out from all the other endless-runners on iOS?
Cathy: Most endless-runners don't have a very rewarding outcome. When you reach a certain threshold, you're kind of knocked back with a "Hey, you ran into a tree! Try again!"
With Pug Run, however, we offer different 'endings' based on the player's progress through any play session.
Garth (lead programmer): I dare you to find another game that features such a cute and smoothly animated pug.
Are there any power-ups or unlockables in Pug Run, and how do they affect gameplay?Marc: There are several unlockable power-ups that you can earn or purchase in the game. Every power-up helps you get farther or collect more coins in the game.
My personal favorite is the boy power-up. If you collect this power-up, the boy himself gets drawn into the dream and gives the pug a super-boost through the power of friendship.
Garth: There is a money bag unlockable that splashes coins everywhere. Combine that with the magnet and you have one super-rich pug.
What, in your opinion, do you think it is that will keep players coming back to the single-player game?
Marc: For me, it's leaderboard dominance (which I'm sure I won't hold onto for very long). Unfortunately, I have too many Game Center friends who are too hardcore for me to compete with.
Cathy: Another thing that I think will keep players coming back is the overall ambience of the game. The music is pretty catchy and the atmosphere we created around Bogart really makes you feel like you are him, scampering through the hills, making your way towards the boy.
What was the hardest part of developing Pug Run?Cathy: I think the hardest part was narrowing down the options the team had for what Bogart could be running from and with. We eventually had to scale back and make it more focused.
Garth: It was a technical challenge and a great learning experience getting these wonderful animations to run on the original iPad as well as the latest iPhones.
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Of which part of the game are you personally the most proud and why?
Marc: Trying to get a game to look as 'traditionally' animated as possible is a challenging task, and I can see why a lot of people avoid it. I'm glad, however, we did it, and I think it gives the little pug a lot of personality.
Garth: I'm really happy with the character design and how we were able to keep Bogart's personality intact all the way from concept to final product.
Cathy: Bogart really turned into a wonderful, lovable pug. It was definitely a challenge creating so many different animations for him, but I think we've delivered a smooth game in the end.
Are there any plans for updates for Pug Run? If so, can you tell us what they'll include?Marc: Definitely. We have lots of ideas for more power-ups and cute outfits for Bogart. We are also thinking about new themes.
There are many directions we can go in with updates, and we're planning them out as we speak.
Will you be porting Pug Run to any other mobile platforms?Cathy: Yes. We are working on the Android version of Pug Run, so be on the lookout for that next month.
You can download Pug Run as an iOS Universal app for 69p / 99c on iTunes.
