Pakistan’s first original game

“EGG-VENTURE” is the first shot at an original game by a Pakistani company.

For “Jump in Studios”, the Lahore based start-up, Egg-venture was a huge risk considering they could have made a flappy bird knock-off for a first game but they decided to start big with an original concept and a complete arcade game with power-ups, costumes and dozens of other unlock-able goodies. Right now the game is only up on the app-store but the team is working hard to bring it out on android as soon as possible.

With bright, colourful graphics and adorably cute evil monkeys the graphics send out a childish vibe but don’t be fooled by the looks as the game-play is hardcore, at times ridiculously difficult and yet very addictive.

There are so many ways you can die varying from being cracked by a baseball bat to being sucked into oblivion. Every villain has a unique attack and weakness adding just the right amount of strategy to the game.

It takes a little time to get used to the controls but you get the hang of it pretty soon and before you know it you will be dodging rockets, jumping over lasers and zapping monkeys to dust, while you are jumping around and collecting coins (yes its a pretty crazy game!).

Special abilities like lightning, slowing down time, rain and forcefields add a new dimension to the game. The more points you earn the more power ups you can buy which means the more you play the stronger you will get.

You can also buy different costumes for “eggward”, although the costumes are a little cliche they look cool and each costume has special power of its own. The costumes in themselves are motivation enough to keep playing and earning more points.

For an independent project the production values are pretty high although there are a few glitches here and there overall the game looks and sounds pretty good. I have to mention the original soundtracks of the game here which go pretty well with the feel of the game.

The biggest problem with the game is that it takes a little time before you get used to the movement and the game play, there is chance that players may right off the game before they actually start having fun. Although the tutorial does show you the controls it gives you no idea about what the game really is about and you get a little overwhelmed when the actual game begins.

The game does get a little too difficult at some points which can become a little irritating but adds to the overall competitiveness of the game.

The controls for activating the special abilities can become a pain sometimes, especially when there is an onslaught of rockets and bat swinging monkeys. Maybe these guys can come up with a better mechanism to activate the power-ups in the next update. Overall, the game is really fun both visually and game play wise especially when you get used to the controls.