Can Phyre Overcome Tough Odds on Kickstarter?

Lucien Bos has launched a Kickstarter for a stylish puzzle game, Phyre – but it might be a tough sell on a platform not known for funding mobile games.

The fascinating thing about Phyre is that it takes the kind of sliding boxes gameplay where going in one direction without stopping exists, but adds a speed element to it: levels are about turning all the black blocks to white, but doing so as quickly as possible to get a high score by maintaining a high multiplier. It’s a play-style that Bos hopes will lead to a variety of levels, from 10 seconds to 2 minutes, with high replayability.

The reasons for the funding a game with an intentionally minimalist in style is to to fill the need for additional staff: a programmer to help bring the game to iOS, a composer to help make music, and a level designer to help improve the game’s levels.

Being a mobile-first game, Phyre may find itself having a hard time on Kickstarter. Remember, Republique needed to promise PC support in order to help get funded. The Unity-powered game currently runs on Android and an iOS version is planned if funded.

The buy-in to get a copy of the game is €2 (about US$2.72 based on exchange rates at the time of writing) A version for Windows is planned as the second stretch goal at €10,000 (about US$13,620), and Vita support is something Bos wants to do too. There aren’t many pledges yet, but this isn’t necessarily a sign against the game’s future prospects. For all we know, Threes! might have been a hard sell on Kickstarter.

Here’s to hoping Bos can overcome the mobile-first Kickstarter stigma and secure a future for Phyre.

Carter Dotson

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I'm Carter Dotson! I'm a freelance writer from Chicago, IL, by way of San Antonio, TX. I'm still not used to that whole 'winter' thing. I've had a lifelong passion for gaming, especially on-the-go gaming of all forms, and a special place in my heart for games by small developers. I care way too much about baseball, too.