Rise 'n' Shine

Hey guys!

So although we released Rise 'n' Shine in April, we are finally sharing it because we've kept updating it to a point where we think it's really solid. Here's the press release! The game was entirely made in Unity and Playmaker between a couple of friends.

Try it out and drop us a review!

Google Play Store Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.firesidegames.risenshine

Description
Rise 'n' Shine personifies hot air balloons as charming animal characters; and takes the player on an infinite runner styled adventure through the clouds. The gameplay introduces a challenging balance of collecting stars and powerups while optimizing fuel and dodging obstacles. Gameplay switches between calm and stormy skies to add even more variety, and as you fly higher, storms become more frequent and longer, while powerups and fuel become more rare. Stars can be collected throughout the game and used to unlock new balloon characters from a wide selection of cute designs, each with their own personalities. The game is rendered beautifully in a Disney inspired art style, full of rich colors and effects that pop. The animation and physics are fluid and really give the impression of soaring through the clouds. Although the game caters to kids, the game design and visuals may resonate with mature audiences and allure older age brackets.

History
Rise 'n' Shine began as a side project by three senior game developers in the spring of 2015. Back then, there was no sense of Fireside as a studio; just a few friends trying to launch a game on their own. What started as a small side project evolved into something larger over the next few years, eventually becoming a robust intellectual property.

The Team
Fireside was started by a few friends who collectively have over three decades of game industry experience in Art and Production. Although the studio was officially founded in February of 2017, the team had been slowly working out ideas for a game they could call their own about two years prior. Their motivation was twofold; first, having tackled mostly big budget/big team games in their careers, they had the urge to do something of smaller scale. Second, having primarily worked on titles aimed at the male 18-35 year old demographic, they felt motivated to create something wholesome that everyone could enjoy. One thing was certain to remain the same however, and that was their commitment to quality, polish, and good taste.

Tools
Having many years in the game industry, the guys were well versed in the tools and techniques of the trade. It was pretty clear that the backbone of their endeavor would be the Unity 3D engine. However, having very little coding experience amongst them, they needed another way to actually develop the game. This is where Hutong Games' visual scripting tool Playmaker came into their pipeline. Both Unity and Playmaker allowed a few friends to develop a game from start to finish without writing any code.

Trailer

Screenshots

 

Well done guys.
Would love to read a post mortem about this, from initial concept, design, development (including using Playmaker), early release, updating the game while it is released, expectations of the product, and results on the final game.

Publishing to a site like gamasutra, pocket gamer or other could garner additional attention for the game.

 

The artwork is really fantastic on here. I like the floaty feel you put into the promotional video... everything is quite consistent and makes sense. Just downloaded it to try later on. Great work on your presentation and putting this game together. Hope you find success with it.

 

Thanks guys! Some really great feedback.

Right now we are working on navigating this crazy indie marketing and exposure market. As we've heard before, developing a game is only half the battle; getting it in front of people is the other half.

Soon we will be launching on iOS so we will update you when it's launched.

 

Looks great! This popped on my feed yesterday, perhaps it can help appstore.com/promote
I think it's replacing the old e-mail contact with the upcoming release of iOS 11

Best of luck with the launch

 

Hey thanks for the heads up about this!