Stickbound Preview

Gamenauts, the casual games studio that brought us Spacebound, Burger Rush and Cate West is working on its first iPhone game! Stickbound is a platformer with a twist: instead of having players simply run and jump over platforms, the game will use a unique pole-vaulting mechanic that as far as we know has never been seen before on the iPhone.

According to Gamenauts, players will need to use the extending stick to propel from one platform to the next. The length and angle of the stick determines the velocity and direction of the jump, and the game gets progressively harder as moving platforms are introduced too.

At launch, the game will feature two modes: Normal Mode, where the goal is to travel as far as possible with three lives (an extra life is awarded if the player collects 50 stars); and Timed Mode, where the challenge is to travel as far as possible within 30 seconds. In this mode, players earn an extra 10 seconds on the clock each time they reach a checkpoint.

Additional features will include the Rocket power-up (catch the rocket and earn a free turbo flight); multiple star types with different score values; integrated online high scores to compare with friends; and three extra characters to unlock via a mini-achievements system.

The game will be launching shortly in the iTunes App Store.

Erin Bell