At GameRome, the event of the City of Videogames held in Parco Leonardo, we had the opportunity to try various games of independent developers still in beta or close to release. Last time we told you about Downward, a beautiful game produced by a trio of independent developers; this time we move instead to the East, in particular to Iran, where Niv Entertainments Studio has developed Boingkid, a platform for mobile, under the guidance of the director and illustrator Farhoud Farmand, who helped us during the rehearsals of the game, telling us the story of how it was born and talking about his previous experiences and projects.
First of all let's start from the genre of the game: Boingkid is an "old school" 2D platformer for mobile, currently still under development. It will have as the protagonist is the toy of the same name which, having been "born" without an instruction booklet, is looking for it and you will have to make your way through various stages where he will have to collect a certain number of objects in order to access the next area. As you progress through the levels they will be discovered and unlocked new skills, such as being able to walk on certain walls, sliding and launching "like a catapult". I must say that I was not expecting a high level of challenge, and instead the title grows in difficulty as you progress through the levels, passing from the first simple, and within everyone's reach, to increasingly complex paintings that will require various attempts and will not fail to make you launch some sound imprecation against the game and its creator (obviously I could not, having him next to us).
Definitely one thing worthy of credit in Boingkid, also because it is directly linked to its creator Farhoud Farmand, is graphic style: with gods very bright colors and designs with a "Disney-like" style, Farmand chose these types of illustrations since he was previously illustrator and writer of children's books, which have greatly characterized his career and with whom he is happy to work. The same texture as Boingkid, even if it is still being written due to the episodic structure of the game, very reminiscent of a film by the famous American animated production house; the same protagonist looks a lot like the best known Mickey Mouse (or Mickey Mouse, if you prefer) and his design, combined with that of the environment, fits perfectly with the type of game proposed, offering a excellent visual impact.
The Niv Entertainments Studio project appears to be a great title for mobile platforms, suitable for all kinds of players and of any age; we also remind you that, after a few weeks, the KickStarter campaign will begin for fundraising in order to continue the development of Boingkid. We hope that it will be very successful, also because in the past the studio has already produced a platform that was appreciated by critics: I'm talking about The Mountaineer, an excellent game with innovative mechanics for its platform style but never had great moments of glory due to a wrong publisher who, according to Farmand, was “an inexperienced and incapable rookie“.
