Monster Crew now live for Android! – Interview with Dave Pottinger

Looks like Christmas has come early from BonusXP who have today released the Android version of “Monster Crew”. There are many great games on iOS that never make it to Android, its great to see that BonusXP have taken the time to enable the millions of Android users to enjoy the spooky platforming game. If you havn’t been able to play the game yet here is a quick low down. Monster Crew is an “endless” platformer that sees you play the role as Frankie, a boy who had his precious card collection taken at a yard sale. Frankie travels to a frightening castle to try and get them back but is turned into Frankenstein. Its now up to you to help Frankie recover his cards from within the ghostly castle.

Inside the castle the game is “on rails” and your job is to collect cards and coins whilst stomping on the enemies and climbing the castle. At the end of each floor there is a stop break where players can look at their cad deck. As you start to build up your card collection again the game becomes more strategic as you can use bonus cards to provide you with power ups to help you get through the levels. However, you can only choose one card at each floor so players need to choose wisely.

Coins collected in each level can be used in the store to buy new cards or upgrades to existing cards. There are also mission objectives to complete in order to get more bonus coins to spend on cards. There is a good variety of objectives. Its a whole lot of fun and very addicting as you try to reach higher floors. Beware though, the higher you climb the tougher the enemies get! Fire breathing spiders, acid pits, ice skellingtons and ghouls all await you. If you’re afraid of spiders you might find Monster Crew a bit tricky!

If things get tough players can purchase new cards or upgrades using real money from the store. The base game is completely free and is supported by advertising which is fairly typical for free games. For $3.99 players can join the “Frank Club” and get 50% off all future Frank Bonus Cards and Upgrades.

To find out a bit more about the Android launch Remember ES got in touch with Dave Pottinger, Co-Founder and CEO of BonusXP to answer a few questions.

Dave Pottinger interview

• What made you decide to bring Monster Crew to Android?

[DCP]  BonusXP has always planned to be a multi-platform studio. Android makes total sense as the next step along that path. Conveniently, there are also quite a few Android users these days. The number one request we get for Monster Crew is to make an Android version. It’s hard to ignore that. Besides, Monster Crew is a great game; we want everyone to have a chance to play!

• What kind of challenges did you face with Android compared to iOS?

[DCP]  I know we should say it was terribly complicated and super difficult. But, it wasn’t really that hard. We use Unity for our base technology, so the core engine is multi-platform. We also spent a good bit of time preparing for additional platforms as we were coding Monster Crew (e.g. building a robust, resolution-independent UI and abstracting platform-specific operations). The result? The very first time we compiled Monster Crew for Android, the core game worked. We had a few ancillary issues to work out with some 3rd party technology, but it was really pretty easy. Easier than we expected for sure!

• Are there any Android only features for Monster Crew?

[DCP]  As much as we believe in building great games for multiple platforms, we’d like those experiences to be as similar as possible. That allows us to put our best efforts into everything. Small variances will occasionally creep up due to the differences in the platforms, of course. A great example is the “Back” button on Android devices. We did add a fair amount of custom code and UI handling to make that work correctly and meet expectations for Android gamers. But, by and large, we’d like to keep the core experience as similar as possible across all platforms.

• Will BonusXP release future games on Android too?

[DCP]  Yup. We’re planning to release our future games simultaneously on Android and iOS.

• Is BonusXP exploring any other platforms for Monster Crew?

[DCP]  We’d be fools not to, so yes to that, too. I think Monster Crew can, and will, be a lot of fun on most any platform. As a small studio, we have to be smart and do everything possible to make our games successful. Often, that involves evaluating other platforms and specialized markets in order to make your game accessible to more players. I can’t really discuss which other platforms, yet, though.

Download and play now!

Monster Crew is available for download, free on Google Play right now on the link below:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bonusxp.monstercrew

Dont forget to leave BonusXP a review after playing. Leaving a review helps spread the word about Monster Crew.

If you have an iOS device like an iPhone, iPod or iPad you can download it from the App Store here:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/monster-crew/id561545477?mt=8