Squids Preview

Since its announcement back in August, the upcoming SQUIDS has garnered a lot of curiosity from the gaming public. To help sate that curiosity, the developers at The Game Bakers were kind enough to let us go hands on with their upcoming underwater physics adventure and get our sea legs, so to speak.

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Gamezebo goes hands on with SQUIDS

Since its announcement back in August, the upcoming SQUIDS has garnered a lot of curiosity from the gaming public. To help sate that curiosity, the developers at The Game Bakers were kind enough to let us go hands on with their upcoming underwater physics adventure and get our sea legs, so to speak.

Physics definitely play a big role in things here, with the main gameplay mechanic being not unlike a rubber band. Players will pull a squid back, aim, and release. Each squid will only have so much stamina, and once that’s used, you’ll move on to another member of the team. Since SQUIDS happens to be a turn-based affair, you’ll have time to line up the exact shot you want to make – be it an attempt to crash into an oyster, a jet stream, or even into a bad guy as you attempt to deal damage or push him off a ledge. Depending on the level design and the goals that the story presents, there are a variety of challenges that you’ll have to face using the elasticity of a squid as your primary tool.

After only a few moments with the game, it became evident that SQUIDS is a game that’s dripping with personality. The first characters you meet, Steev, Winnick, and Vahine, all feel unique and do their part to help move the story along. And with a number of other characters joining the fray the further in that we explore, we can’t wait to see what each different squid brings to the table.

The characters don’t just differ in personality – they each have different traits, too. Vahine, for example, is the team’s initial healer, while Steev is a scout. And since each character can be levelled up and exploit the varying benefits of different equipment, no two squid ever have to feel exactly alike. In this regard, SQUIDS is kind of like a turn-based RPG mixed with the flinging mechanics of mobile gaming’s most popular physics puzzlers. And yes – it seems to be as winning a combination as that description implies.

There’s some real strategy to the game too. For example, you’ll want to queue up your healer to have the last turn each round so that they can help restore health to the other players after any unfortunate incidents. Who you use in what context really matters here.

While our experience with the game is admittedly brief (we’ve only played through the first five stages) it’s hard to not see the potential SQUIDS has to sail to the top of the App Store charts. It’s charming, gorgeous, and most importantly – fun. And much to our surprise/delight, the story that we’ve seen so far is both well-written and engaging. We can’t wait to delve a little further into the undersea world and bring you a full review when the game launches on the iPhone this October. Expect to see SQUIDS on Android, iPad, PC and Mac following at a later date.

Indie studio of former Ubisoft employees announces SQUIDS

by Erin Bell

Brand new French indie studio The Game Bakers have revealed SQUIDS, their upcoming title for iOS, Android, PC and Mac. The game is described as “Angry Birds meets Worms with a dash of RPG.” Intrigued yet? Start by checking out the gameplay trailer below:

Here’s more about SQUIDS from the developer:

“InSQUIDS, players will command a small army of stretchy, springy sea creatures to protect an idyllic underwater kingdom from a sinister emerging threat. An infectious black ooze is spreading through the lush seascape, turning ordinary crustaceans into menacing monsters. Now a plucky team of Squids — each with unique personalities, skills, and ability-boosting attire — must defend their homeland and overturn the evil forces that jeopardize their aquatic utopia.”

SQUIDS

Gameplay combines old-school gaming sensibilities with an interface designed with touch-screen devices in mind. Turn-based battles are fought with simple controls that allow players to stretch Squid heroes by the tentacles and fling them across the battlefield.

The developer, The Gamer Bakers, was founded earlier this year by former employees of hardcore gaming juggernaut Ubisoft.

SQUIDS

“MakingSQUIDShas been like baking a cake,” says The Game Bakers’ creative director Emeric Thoa. “We took the best ingredients from our years of AAA console game development, especially in terms of depth, and we mixed those in with the best of iOS gaming. Then we layered a fun universe and characters on top. We’ve sneaked a bite of our cake and it tastes delicious — we hope you like it too!”

SQUIDS will launch this October for iPhone/iPod Touch, with versions for iPad, Mac, PC and Android rolling out soon after.

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.