Tønsberg (Norway) – May 7th, 2012 – Since May 2010, Rock Pocket Games has been working on developing Oliver&Spike: Dimension Jumpers, an episodic adventure and problem solving game, which is planned for Console, PC and Mac. Additionally, there will be tie- in mini-games available for your android and apple devices.
This very ambitious project, which is developed on Unity, has now received additional funding from the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) in the height of 1.4 million NOK. With a previous round of funding this accumulates into 2.5 million NOK which the small indie studio has been granted and which is the biggest ever overall granted sum to a single Norwegian game Project by NFI.
The team has been showcasing a first Prototype at GDC and Game Connection earlier this year in San Francisco and has since had several features on Gamespot, indiegames.com and indiegamemag.com.
“The characters and the world are very important. We are spending a lot of time fleshing them out and creating concept art through our talented art team,” says Natascha. “We share our progress, more information, screenshots, videos and workflow on our Oliver&Spike Development Blog with everyone who is interested in following.”.
“We are trying to create a unique experience for the players, which is not only linked to one platform or one media,” says Natascha Röösli from Rock Pocket Games. “Think Uncharted, meets Zelda, meets Ratchet and Clank in a mix between adventure and platform gameplay with a unique gameplay twist.”
“It’s also important to us, that there is a focus on creative problem solving, thinking outside the box and that there are several different options available to drive the story along.”
THE GAMEPLAY – WHAT’S SPECIAL
Problem solving and storytelling are lifted to a whole new level as you have to think outside of the box and use your unique dimension jumper abilities to advance through the storyline and solve quests for the many npcs you will encounter. Not only will you have the option to switch to another version (dimension) of the current area you are in, with different physical laws, you also have the power to switch to and explore completely different universes (cluster).
“There is not only one world but several to discover and several of those locations, again, have different layers and alternate dimensions with different rules. Switching from your normal familiar dimension might end up in a Jell-O version of the same environment, enabling you to get around an enemy or obstacle you couldn’t have gotten around in the “normal” location”, says Ivan Moen.
The unique Dimension Jumper backdrop however is not the only interesting detail on your journey to help Oliver discover his past, his future and everything linked to his destiny. Exploring the worlds and their dimensions or meeting the interesting characters inhabiting those worlds is going to be a treat for itself and very important but Rock Pocket Games has additional plans:
“We know that parents like to play with their kids, IF they have time. That’s the reason we are playing with the idea to have the option to play both, Oliver and Spike, alternatively, by switching between the two yourself or to enlist the help of a friend or family member if you do not want to play alone. We have to see if this is something that will work both technically and gameplay wise. Hopefully we will be able to recruit the help of interested testers during further development and get feedback on our ideas,” Natascha explains.
Take these engaging gameplay features and imagine a puzzle and adventure game with unique graphics and quirky characters and you have: Oliver&Spike: Dimension Jumpers.
Last but certainly not least: Rock Pocket Games releases exclusive Comic panels to get you involved and familiar with Oliver and Spike before you meet them in the actual game. Check them out on the Oliver&Spike Development Blog.
