Mr. Andreas Zecher – the key force behind our recent Stromzukunft game and declared game enthusiast – recently launched Mr. Bounce for the iPhone platform. Read his thoughts about the captivating game and find out where he thinks mobile gaming is heading.

What is your game about and how is it different from other iPhone games within the same category?

Mr. Bounce is based on the classic breakout game genre, but we throw in a couple of things to make the gameplay feel fresh and unique. We put the player into an unstable environment, where the ball bounces off simply everywhere. In return the game offers very precise control mechanisms like slowmotion and trajectory projection. So chaos and control are the two poles of the game.

We have a very coherent style with the game, both visually and musically. The music also plays an important part in the player’s motivation: We reward the player by building up the music successively with each level, supporting the flow of the game.

How has the game been received following the launch?

We got roughly a dozen of reviews during the first two weeks, the majority of them being very favorable. We also got some positive responses from players on Twitter and Facebook who really like the game.

What will you focus on during next rounds of updating the game?

We are planning to do more levels including new music tracks in the future, possibly with new game elements as well. We are also thinking about an online level editor, so people can build and share their own levels, but nothing is decided yet.

Why did you choose to target your game to the iPhone/Apple segment?

The App Store offers a very good infrastructure for selling your product instead of being dependent on revenue from advertising, which is the case with Flash games for example. The original Flash version of the game also looked very suitable for the iPhone. A lot of players told us that they prefer the touch controls of the iPhone over the keyboard controls from the Flash version. It is a more intuitive and direct game experience.

Have you considered making your game available on other platforms?

We currently have no plans to port the game to other platforms, but the Flash version is still available online at http://www.pixelate.de/games/mr-bounce.

What do you think the future of mobile gaming holds?

We are already seeing the rise of independent games on the PC, where developers experiment with new, innovative ideas, new art styles and sometimes also very personal games. I believe we will see more of that on mobile devices like the iPhone in the future as well.

Get started on the bouncing: http://www.pixelate.de/games/mr-bounce-iphone/

In all modesty, Spoiled Milk just finished the last touches on the possibly most aesthetically appealing lawyer web presence out there.

CHALLENGE

What started out with a typical briefing and winning the pitch round, quickly became the opportunity to blend our philosophy for design, usability and technology with a very different universe; the world of legal affairs.

Usually, lawyer web sites are incredibly boring, with visuals featuring paragraph icons, reception flowers or corporate buildings, random photographs of the employees and poorly laid out text about taxation procedures.

Too often design is ignored as a crucial parameter for influencing people’s decisions and sustaining an image of progress, extroversion and awareness.

 

SOLUTION

Our strategy for the project was to avoid avoidable complexity, keep the templates simple, add a nice visual look and feel, and on top focus on logical functionalities and clean structure.

We were supplied with astounding photographic material by the client and added a small tweak to the cut-out’s; more specifically, a thin, white line in the left side to level out the weighting.

This project builds on yet another back-end developed and fully customized using our in-house furnished Casein CMS allowing the client to edit all text, add new pages, manage user roles, etc.

Link: prager-dreifuss.com

The memory of my first day at Spoiled Milk could be described with the word ´unusual´.

You may ask: “Why do people who work primarily in front of their computers make an unusual impression?” The answer is quite simple:  The silence.

The quiet environment astonished me the most. Of course, my perception was dependent on my previous experiences of working climates, maybe that is the reason why this lack of noise and miscellaneous sounds stood out as a very different environment. To my discovery, the audio landscape was determined by the internal communication of Spoiled Milk.

The Spoiled Milk working climate is different from the climate of other companies, because of the internal communication tools used. It is different, because  it is easy  to concentrate on your tasks.  It is  different, because  nobody constantly interrupts you. Finally, it is different, because people talk – rather than typing in the company chat forum – only when they have something to say.

After some time spent with the Spoiled Milk team, working in the same environment, interviewing the people and just having lunch, I realised a few things about the internal communication of Spoiled Milk.

The internal communication environment:

• Facilitates the working and communication flow of two offices in different locations.
• Corresponds to the product Spoiled Milk offers.
• Is  part of the Spoiled Milk philosophy.
• Makes the Spoiled Milk team highly flexible.
• Improves the working process to a faster and more productive stage.

Halya Borysyuk is completing a 3-month strategic internship with Spoiled Milk in early November, during which she has observed the production and communication processes, participated in research and consultancy phases and interviewed the entire team for her written report intended for the University of Copenhagen.

Make people happy, while lowering their electricity consumption. Possible? Try for yourself in the new Stromzukunft game.

CHALLENGE

The number of electrical devices in Western homes is increasing and although these devices are becoming more efficient, the overall electrical consumption is going up and the level of CO2 exhaustion is similarly keeping the pace.

Now, this is bad news. Let us introduce the project initiator.

The VSE (Verband Schweizerischer Elektrizitätsunternehmen) works as the umbrella organisation for Swiss electricity companies. It advocates for a solid base for the electricity industry to leverage reliable power supply, it informs the public about issues in the electricity industry, and it provides members with numerous services.

The organisation launched Stromzukunft (translates to ‘Future of Electricity’) to increase the general awareness and knowledge level of the entire population when it comes to consumption of electricity. Eventually, this should have a positive impact on the challenges facing private energy consumption.

SOLUTION

In collaboration with Prime (communication agency), Liip (web development) and Ala (front-end design), Spoiled Milk was brought in to develop the Stromzukunft game – an interactive gaming experience, in which the user for a limited amount of time is requested to administer the electrical consumption in an entire house.

Three parameters determine your success: The happiness of the residents, the exhaustion of CO2 and the consumption of electricity. Success has to be reached given only a limited budget of 125’000.

Charming, simple and iconic graphics frame the fun gaming experience, which was developed in AS3 and mxml with Flex 3.

Test your electricity skills: stromzukunft.ch

Images move. Also and above all me.
Therefore no words here, therefore many images.
Not only moving, but also moved.

The introduction text on the Sebahat website says it all. These guys speak through their art and their art is creating stunning photography.

Spoiled Milk had the pleasure of designing and developing the online portfolio. Make sure you swing by and browse their rich index of still and moving images. Certainly aesthetic treats inbetween.

Link: http://www.sebahat.ch