Tama Games’ recently released iOS game Escape from the Pyramid brings some of the world’s oldest designs to modern gameplay, challenging players to avoid the afterlife in an ancient tomb. Graphically, the game goes for a simplified, silhouette style that draws inspiration from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The gameplay mashes up platformer and runner styles to lend a little excitement to a casual puzzle game. Breaking with the free-to-play trend, the studio decided to skip in-game purchases, offering the entire experience for $1.99 in the U.S. App Store. Read on for an interview with Tama Games Director Alan Crane on the game’s retro roots, its struggles as an indie title, and Tama’s solution to an argument as old as touchscreen games: If we have buttons, where should they go?
GameSauce: The flat graphics and warm colors are some of the most striking elements of your game. How did the design direction come about?
Alan Crane: This was really the main focus of the game. I am a history buff and am always reading something historical. I am usually more into western renaissance, but some three years ago I was reading The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, and started thinking about doing something in that era.
At about the same time I was also starting to play on my PS3 Valkyria Chronicles, a wonderful game by Sega. I remember thinking the art was beautiful, like a moving painting.
So I combined those two ideas and thought, what about doing something that looks like images moving in an ancient Egyptian papyrus? And thus, Escape from the Pyramid (which was originally just the code name but we ended using it as final title) came to be.
GS: What inspired Escape from the Pyramid’s platformer style?
AC: The original Prince of Persia has been mentioned as a source of inspiration several times, and I think it is the case. We had some favourite games as well that influenced the final platfomer/runner/puzzle, like Jetpack Joyride and Rayman.
GS: Was designing a platformer for a mobile interface tricky?
AC: Because of the free running it wasn’t really hard. We wanted a core gaming experience with very simple controls (a couple of buttons at most). We did consider going on a different direction and do without the free running, but we were not very happy with how the button layout would look, so we decided for free running. If not, it would have been a very different experience (not necessarily bad!).
GS: How would you describe the game’s controls? Are you pleased with the way they turned out?
AC: The controls have certainly taken some heat! And this reflects our internal struggles, too. We at Tama and our colleagues at Inteligencia Visual, who we collaborated with to make the game, had extremely different and polarized opinions on where the controls should go. That’s why ended with having an option on settings with different positions. It’s a very personal preference and depends on the device you use as well as how you are used to hold the device.
GS: What kind of reception has your game had since its release this spring?
AC: Releasing as indie is always a challenge. We have received very positive reception everywhere and we are happy with the results. Getting visibility, on the other hand, is not easy. We were lucky to get featured by Apple during the initial week and that made a huge difference, increasing sales 20 times. But beyond those initial features, visibility is super hard.
It’s a difficult market for indies, especially those who just want a premium experience without free games with ads and in-app purchases. We were aware the type of game we wanted may have been more suitable for PC or console, because of the target public. But while we love those devices, the mobile is an awesome platform as well, and we wanted that kind of experience in our pocket, to play whilst in the bus or a lunch break.
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