Game of Watchcraft: Spawn of Squishy is exactly as it sounds. The team at LCDemakes have recreated the magic of Game and Watch and combined it with the gameplay and story from the popular MMO World of Warcraft into an iOS game. The game is designed on the iPad to look and work like the original Game and Watch console, with clear, vibrant artwork that reflects Game and Watch entirely. The gameplay works exactly like WoW, with you taking quests, handing them in, participating in boss fights, grabbing loot and levelling up. But to really explain how it works, I think the team at LCDemakes have put together a great video:
When I first saw their logo at PAX Aus, I immediately had to check out what exactly these guys had gotten up to. After chatting about the game a little bit, I sat down to have a go. The gameplay for this game is just like Game and Watch, where you use the control pad on the touch screen to move around and the action button to attack or open things. In boss battles you have to attack whilst dodging the oncoming attacks from minions and the boss itself. As for the aim in boss battles, it all depends on the quest which you receive, whether it be kill the boss or kill 10 minions.
I found that it was easy to use the control pad and action buttons on the iPad, and the movement and artwork were all very smooth but still maintained that Game and Watch feel. I also thought the levelling up aspect and the gaining of special loot for defeating the boss or completing the quest made it live up to the most well-known aspects of WoW. The great thing about this game is that the references to both games are extremely clear when you are playing them, even if you have only dabbled in WoW for a short time. You even get a dragon mount that takes you between screens, which is something WoW players are big on.
In my talk with the LCDemakes crew at PAX Aus about the game, they talked about their passion for re-creating the classical games like Game and Watch and combining them with other games and concepts, like WoW. They also specified they wanted to keep the original concepts of the game intact, so like most retro games (such as Game and Watch), once you die you must start from the very beginning. Game of Watchcraft is currently available in the App Store in Australia and is due for a worldwide release next month. I am excited to see what other Demakes the team at LCDemakes will come up with in the future.
