The heatwave this past weekend has coaxed even the most elusive, inner-sanctum dwelling movie fans and gamers out into the bright sunshine, and whether in pubs or parks, at BBQs or parties, folk have their mobile devices on them; sharing SFL clips and news, taking pics and posting online, and of course playing games.
“More and more, people are coming together socially to play games on their mobile devices.” Alistair Aitcheson told a packed audience during his talk at Develop Brighton last week, “The GameCity Festival is a great place to witness this happening with unique, new multiplayer titles. Tablets and mobiles are a great gaming option for a whole new audience as once bought, people don’t need to master or buy any more kit. I now want to see even people coming together for physical multiplayer gaming.”
A one man development studio, Aitcheson has been programming since he was 13. After completing a Maths degree, he turned to games. Handling his own business, PR, marketing, coding, animation, design, illustration, audio, and other tasks including making his own cups of tea, his real skill has been spotting and creating an exciting way to bring gamers together for physical multiplayer gaming experiences, as seen with his latest title Slamjet Stadium.
“I wanted to create something that moves multiplayer gaming away from the mundane online spaces into the real world and needs physical interaction to win. In truth, I also want people to love cheating!” laughed Aitcheson as we chatted after his talk. Using a similar idea to his hugely successful title Greedy Bankers where two players on a tablet had to create coloured square gems and bank them in for cash, but could win by stealing gems from the clutches of the other player, Slamjet Stadium immediately lands players into the action. Based on an ancient 20th Century sport known as "football" the Slamjet Stadium tournament is the hottest event of the galactic calendar. Arenas are filled with deadly saws, mysterious wormholes and ridiculous power-ups, where only the fastest and toughest can win. “Invading the other person’s space is one key to success here, though it’s so frantic, skill isn’t going to secure victory” explained Aitcheson “and though it can be difficult to overcome the discomfort, you have to embrace the idea that it’s okay to touch another human being. It’s fascinating to watch people play as they must police the game. The device is simply a facilitator, not the referee – it can’t tell whose finger belongs to who – so people need to come up with their own ways to manipulate the system. You’re essentially given a safe space in the game to play dirty!”
Tapping into every person’s competitive nature, Slamjet Stadium’s dynamic fun lies in the actions of those who play. Looking an opponent in the eye and calculating what their strategy and reactions might be allow players to creatively think about their approach to the game. Some attempt to take over the other player’s team and resort to sabotage. Arms are batted out of the way, friends might be called in to lend an extra finger or two whilst the game itself mixes up the result with traps to avoid on the playing field, creating a fast, sci-fi battle on the small screen. There were a lot of sci-fi influences that made their way into Aitcheson's game. "I have a big wall next to my desk which I fill with useful resource images - mostly to help me find the right visual cues for all the scenery, but also to help inspire the character designs. So I've got stills from Akira, Mad Max, The Rocketeer, The Jetsons, Space Channel 5, Star Trek, a bit of Moebius... I pick and choose lots of little details from them; some of them are very slight, some of them give a broad sense of how the characters should feel. My general idea was to take a range of characters from different sci-fi settings. It gives them a good reason to be competing against each other! So for example there's the Jetpack City Rockets, inspired by the rocketeer. The Space Hogs come from your typical space fantasy orc setting, the Cortex Crusaders are B-movie brains in jars. Another big influence on the game was Rollerball. I wanted the game to have the feel of a futuristic deathsport, but didn't want it to be gratuitously violent - the real violence should be between the real-world players! Watching that film helped give me a lot of the look-and-feel elements that bring you into that setting without me needing to put in anything exploitative."
Slamjet Stadium might sound dark and physical but ultimately, it’s packed with fun and Aitcheson has made sure the pace is so ridiculous that laughter trumps fairness and the joy of cheating brings out the light competitive side of people’s personalities. Hoverbikes and brains ping around the screen with points being nabbed in the most ludicrous ways. Slamjet is a quick fix with crazy moments alternating between extreme highs and lows, wins and failures. The point isn’t to prove to be the best winner, it’s simply to share silly sci-fi gaming fun where anything goes and is our top recommendation for social summer gaming.
Slamjet Stadium is available to download now for the iPad and will be coming to other tablets in the future.