Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers

By Jorge Ba-oh 03.04.2015

Zodiac puzzling is heading to the Wii U eShop from independent studio Intropy Games.

We interviewed the development duo behind Astral Breakers on how the concept game to be, the game's mechanics and plans for the future.

 

Cubed3: Hi there! Please introduce the team at Intropy Games working on Astral Breakers.

Michael "Miggs" Migliacio (Lead Producer): Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us! Astral Breakers is actually the first console game created by our two-person development team. We're both trained software engineers, but lead developer Lisa's been the driving force behind the development of this game -- from art style to implementation. It's actually been an interesting challenge working on the Wii U. Not only is it our first game on the platform, but also our first game we've created together as a married couple.

Cubed3: What projects had you worked on before coming together for Astral Breakers?

Lisa Walkosz-Migliacio (Lead Developer): It's actually kind of a funny story...

Miggs: Lisa's first project a few years ago under the Intropy Games label was a recipe crafting game called Usagi-chan Bunny Treats, in which the player was tasked with combining different sets of ingredients to create dessert items. 

Lisa: But you didn't think it would do too well, did you?

Miggs: No, I admit it... I was a bit naive. When she was prototyping the concept, I kept asking her, "Do you really think anyone will play that? It's just a crafting game with cute graphics."

Lisa: Boy, were you mistaken.

Miggs: Yeah, I was. I fully admit that I had a hard time grasping the concept of games being popular outside of the core demographic back then. With over 300,000 downloads later, I was eating crow for weeks. We saw a deluge of comments on our videos for the game asking for hints! Apparently, fruit pizza was particularly difficult for players to make.

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Lisa: After that, we ended up doing a couple more titles on iOS platforms: a matching game based on Usagi-chan and a timing-centric action game called Kernel Panic.

Miggs: Astral Breakers is the first game we've developed together, combining hardcore sensibilities with a look and feel that is welcoming to players of all ages and skill levels. 

Cubed3: The look and themes behind the game sound intriguing - please can you touch on the overall gameplay concepts.

Miggs: Astral Breakers is an action puzzle-drop game in which players select a Zodiac Sign and compete to fill their opponent's playing field with "Astral Spheres". They do this by emptying their own fields using special "Breaker Spheres". Each Zodiac Sign is balanced with a unique set of attacks to make life difficult for the opposition.

Lisa: Besides the core gameplay, which is more competitive, we also added a cooperative mode. We needed it, since Miggs always gets salty when I beat him at puzzle games!

Miggs: She's frighteningly good at them... 

Lisa: Hours of playing Dr. Mario on the NES prepared me for these things. The cooperative mode lets two players team up against a common enemy - a supernova that's about to explode.

Miggs: If it explodes, both sides get hit with a massive garbage drop, but creating combos stops the star from growing. Players work in tandem to survive as long as they can -- it's kind of our own take on a survival mode.

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Cubed3: With the game being a puzzler, is there a storyline in Astral Breakers?

Lisa: Kira the Star, the sharp-tongued mascot of Astral Breakers, recruits the player to stop the twelve Zodiac Constellations from destroying the cosmos by defeating them in puzzle combat.

Cubed3: What made you go for the zodiac themes and approaches?

Lisa: We wanted to stick with a theme that would be familiar to everyone. People are often passionate about the sign they are born under.  The first time someone plays Astral Breakers, they will have an instant connection to one of our selectable characters.

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Cubed3: It's certainly good to see a new puzzle game on the block! Is there anything in particular you feel has been missing from the genre in recent years? What has helped inspire Astral Breakers?

Miggs: Two player competitive drop puzzle games themselves have been lacking in recent years! A few years back, would have had people over for Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Puyo Puyo Fever nights. It was loads of fun. When Puyo Puyo Tetris was announced last year, I was super excited to finally be getting a new, fully-featured puzzle game on consoles, until I found out it wouldn't be localized due to the ownership of the Tetris license and Sega's general aversion to the localization of any title not featuring a certain blue hedgehog and his fuzzy friends...

Lisa: We're huge fans of the genre. There are a lot of puzzlers on the Wii U, but very few multiplayer ones, and even fewer with both cooperative and competitive elements! 

Cubed3: If there were one aspect of the game that would make Astral Breakers stand out, what would it be?

Lisa: Besides the fact that we have a super-fast two player puzzle game that will definitely make any puzzle fan feel right at home, we have a custom editor that allows players to create their own custom Zodiac Sign.

Miggs: Complete with its own set of customized attacks!  

Lisa: And, if you want to see how your creation performs in battle, you can set up CPU vs CPU battles featuring any Zodiac Sign in the game in the "Cosmic Duel" mode. If you're feeling lucky, you can even wager on the outcome for rewards.

Miggs: I can see the tournaments already...

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Cubed3: The art direction is bright, vivid and colourful - how did this side of the game come together?

Lisa: The spheres are vivid and colourful on purpose, to make them easy to see. We've tested the game with several colour-blind players who really appreciated the art style and the combination of shapes and colours. The Zodiac Signs themselves are silhouettes of what we can see in the stars (Leo the Lion, Cancer the Crab, etc).

Cubed3: It's great to hear that the game is coming to Wii U - how do you intend on using the Wii U GamePad controller and hardware?

Miggs: The process for building a Custom Zodiac is done entirely using the touch-based interface of the Wii U GamePad. That interface is one of the main reasons we decided to bring this game to the platform.

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Cubed3: What multiplayer features can we expect to see in Astral Breakers?

Miggs: We have several cooperative and competitive modes in the game. Users can select any Zodiac Sign in any mode in the game. Players can pit their creations against their friends, or, if they're feeling less malicious, use them to help stop a supernova.

Cubed3: Would you consider bringing Astral Breakers to Nintendo 3DS?

Lisa: While there aren't any plans at the moment, the game is definitely something that would be at home on the platform.


 

Cubed3: What hurdles have you had going at it as part of an independent team?

Miggs: We don't really have a "team" per se. It really is just the two of us. So, we're responsible for it all: programming, art, sound, production issues, testing and media. That's been our biggest challenge.

Image for Interview | Intropy Games on Astral Breakers


Cubed3: If you could both work on any Nintendo franchise, what would it be any why?

Miggs: This is a fun question.  I've grown up with the Nintendo properties, so it's a really difficult choice. If I had to choose one, though, my choice is going to be a relatively new addition to their portfolio, and that is Xenoblade Chronicles. I've always wanted to work on a Japanese RPG, especially one that doesn't play by traditional rules. I also have a lot of respect for the team at Monolithsoft and Tetsuya Takahashi/Soraya Saga.

Lisa: Don't forget Yuki Kajiura! "Sweet Song" from Xenosaga II is one of my favorites!

Cubed3: What are your plans for the future - do you see Astral Breakers becoming a series?

Lisa: Right now we're working on getting the Wii U version out the door. We're hoping the game is received well and we can look on expanding the universe and potentially creating a sequel and/or bringing the game to other platforms.

Cubed3: Any final words you'd like to give to fans?

Lisa: We're scheduled for lift-off this summer on the Wii U eShop. In the meantime, you can find more information about the game here:

Miggs: Thanks so much for spending some time with us!

Box art for Astral Breakers
Developer

Intropy

Publisher

Intropy

Genre

Puzzle

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  n/a

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date None   North America release date None   Japan release date None   Australian release date None   

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