Juniper Games branches out

Written by Jack Allin — November 17, 2005 at 12:37

Juniper Games, the independent game developer headed by Steve Ince, has recently announced two new games, Mekapods and Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso. In addition to Juniper Crescent -- The Sapphire Claw, Juniper Games hopes to release all three games over the course of the next two years.

Although neither of the new titles could be considered a traditional adventure, Ince describes the primary gameplay as "fundamentally adventure based".

Mekapods is an Adventure RPG featuring "a group of fun robots in a quest for the ultimate secret that will change their world." Forsaking the random battles that characterize many RPGs, Mekapods centers around a "robot built from re-cycled parts, who discovers tantalising hints of a dark secret buried in the deepest corners of his mind. In a bid to discover how to access these strange memories, he uncovers a conspiracy that has existed for thousands of years."

Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso is an arcade adventure game based on Ince's Mr. Smoozles online comic strip. In this game, gamers will "play as Ed and help him avoid the now dangerous Mr. Smoozles, who's been turned completely nutso by the evil Goragons -- dark creatures from another dimension, who have totally messed up reality.

Three games in various stages of production at once is demanding, but according to Ince, "A fantastic opportunity has come along that will allow Juniper Games to take advantage of a number of game ideas in fairly rapid succession. By taking an independent route to market I will build on my ideas for rich, character-driven gameplay with plenty of fun and high interaction density."

For a more in-depth look at the new titles, check out the newly-designed Juniper Games website.