Singapore-based app dev startup Anideo pushed out quite a lot of apps this year. But none of them are games. So when co-founder Andrew Solimine told me that they had just released a new game, I had to dig in and check it out.
Huntville is an iPad game which puts you in the role of a hunter. You can select different grade of hunters, but the higher quality ones will cost more ‘meat,’ the main currency used in Huntville.
You are armed with a slingshot to shoot down animals, and as you progress through the stages, a variety of bullets (like ice or fire bombs) will be made available to you. The slingshot isn’t very accurate as compared to Angry Birds’ but its inaccuracy is also what made it fun. But sometimes it gets frustrating.
Using the lowest grade hunter will only bring most of us to the eighth stage. And at that point, you will have to choose between purchasing meat (to hire a higher quality hunter to clear the stage) or simply quit Huntville. I’m very tempted to quit because there isn’t a way to get meat or progress without paying. At level eight, which took me just 15 minutes to reach, I’m still not convinced that I should spend money on Huntville. We should note that Huntville is free to download, so I guess this limitation is how it hopes to earn money.
As far as I can see, the only way to earn meat is to share your accomplishments on Facebook. Each share will earn you ten meat units. 100 meat will allow you to upgrade to the next hunter level. As a user, I’m not too pleased. Perhaps, it would be better if the game remains free and focuses just on in-app purchases or allow users to enjoy more stages before crippling the free game.
Huntville is actually developed by five students from National University of Singapore (NUS). Team Anideo met them last spring and learned that they are building the Huntville game for their iOS class. The students was then hired over the summer to work on the project as Andrew and his crew saw a lot of potential in the game. It took the students three to four months to complete. Andrew commented:
Anideo is really passionate about entrepreneurship and we also wanted to experiment within the gaming ecosystem. So far it’s been very successful and I’m hoping a great experience for the students as well!
I’ve got to say that that’s a pretty smart way to bootstrap and test the gaming realm. Download Huntville (iTunes link) while it’s free. It’s fun and certainly worth a try. Though as I said, a little frustrating at the eighth stage.
Screenshots
pull and you shoot the zebras..
10 meat for a share!
Level failed and here's the tip...