TL;DR: Been making a game much like some old hardcore PC platformers I enjoyed, but for phones and tablets. Done from scratch as a hobby; made everything by myself slowly over 5 years. No bs like microtransactions or ads. Really hope you check it out! Feedback about gameplay has been much better than first impressions based on screenshots...
Download links: http://banzaiman.com -- Google Play -- Apple App Store -- (Steam Greenlight)
In 2010 I bought a new phone and wanted to check out some games for it. Since all platforming titles at the time seemed to be quite simple endless runners mechanically, I figured there'd be room for something else. I had been making PC games as a hobby for the previous decade and had just completed a competitive online platforming game the year before (not released publicly, just played it with friends), so I thought I'd try to do a game for phones for a change.
A working demo with a few playable levels was ready within a month. Having to research new stuff about mobile development and graphics took most of that time. What followed was years of nudging it forward here and there when I had the time, with a lot of crunching towards the end. I did not really have anyone to share the development work with, so I ended up doing everything myself. Everything from the programming, design, graphics to sound... I even ended up creating the multiplatform engine (Android/iOS/PC platforms) myself! Because of this, the game ended up being quite dear to me, but also taking a lot of time to complete.
Of course, most of the 5 years was spent... well, not making the game. It's really hard to estimate, but it could be something like 1.5 years spent close to full time on the game, with half a year on related tech stuff... and the rest thinking "I really should finish that game". I really did hate myself at times for still not getting it done. To further break it down, I can't really say more than small things make up 80% of something like this, and it's really hard finishing a project.
In the context of games these days, I guess this is quite close to doing everything from scratch. I'm not sure how much this will be appreciated though, since the player won't see much of it. Usually artisan-style anything gets a more positive response, but it might be a bit hard to communicate how big of a difference it is to checking the "I want this object to have physics" and "I want it to work on Android" checkboxes in Unity since it isn't apparent by just glancing at it. Maybe people will notice some of the custom stuff like how you can play all levels at the same time during level select by tapping some empty part of the screen.
I really don't like many of the ways the industry has changed since I started with games, and I know people here don't either. I did my best to make things as honest as possible, so it stays far away from all the microtransaction, advertisement and social media hook stuff. This means accepting the game couldn't be a huge hit in a financial sense even in an unlikely best case scenario. However, you need to evaluate what is important to you. Sadly it also means getting people to try it even for free is harder, since ad-based games do a lot of cross-linking between games within their ad networks. Anyway, the first two worlds are free, and there is plenty of challenge in them. If you want to progress past that, you need to unlock the full version. I figured you'd know at that point if you like it or not, so you wouldn't be buying a cat in a bag.
The initial feedback has been quite mixed. People who have tried it really seem to like it, praising it anywhere from "best mobile game ever released" to "really innovative gameplay" and "super clever level design". First impressions based on screenshots or trailers on the other hand have seemingly been much more negative. The visual style of the game has prompted pretty harsh words. It's hard to say what the general feeling is, since people seem more likely to write a comment if they have something really negative or positive to say.
Another thing that has come up multiple times is accusations of it simply being a Super Meat Boy copy. I've been slightly bummed about this. I wouldn't hesitate to admit to it being a Jumper clone (or any of the other older games), because it pretty much is. I made my first platformer in 2003, and many of these games have had a big influence on me. The hard platformer formula has not changed that much since those games, and everything from target times to challenging extra collectibles to square red characters go as far back. However, it seems that the widespread success of Super Meat Boy (not even the original Meat Boy from 2008!) has rewritten history a bit, with the whole genre now seemingly being referred to by the name. Kinda like what the iPad did with tablets. Super Meat Boy did not try to hide it's roots though, with Ogmo from Jumper and others being unlockable characters, so it's not like they are to blame here either. It is a fantastic game, but I'd rather see the credit go to the right place.
In hindsight I've probably done a few big mistakes. Not releasing the first working version in 2010 already and iterating on it is probably the first one. Deciding to hand-draw all 90-something levels might be another. I thought it would be appreciated as charming and hand-made, but based on some of the initial reactions I think going with a minimalistic "the visual style is that there are no graphics" look that many indie games have employed successfully might have been a better call. While it would have also saved me a lot of time, I'd personally be bummed to have lost the style though, since the whole game is supposed to be a bit of an odd comic book.
One thing I don't regret though is creating everything from scratch. It has taught me a lot both in the technological sense, but more importantly, in the social sense. It is so common for managers to think "the programmer can just add that real quick", the programmer to think "the photoshop guy can just change that real quick" and the artist to think "why don't the managers just take care of it real quick?". It's so easy to look down on the effort others need to put in when you have not had to try and do it yourself. And I don't mean just quickly trying your hand at removing red eyes from a picture and being assured how easy "all this visual stuff is", but having to do something from start to finish.
Thank you so much if you took to time to check it out and if you read this far! What motivated me throughout the development was thinking how people were going to enjoy it, so getting people to check it out is the most important thing to me now. If you have any questions about the project or just in general about something like starting with game development, ask away!
PS: You can (and should) download the other games mentioned in the trailer for free! (and Super Meat Boy seems to be on sale on Steam right now!) Jumper series: http://www.mattmakesgames.com/ N: http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/ I Wanna Be The Guy: http://kayin.moe/iwbtg/