The Philippines now has "Pugo" Game, a Flappy Bird-inspired app which is equally challenging as Dong Nguyen's creation but with a new twist -- you can pick up lives to prolong the bird's journey. (Frustrations could be lesser.)
Newlyweds Patrick and Camy Cabral developed their first app “Pugo” based on the mobile phone gaming-hit, "Flappy Bird," which prematurely ended amid its global popularity among smartphone users.
It only took them 10 days to produce the app – from the art to the coding. The video below shows the early stages of the app development.
Like Flappy Bird, you earn points in Pugo by tapping the screen and avoiding obstacles in the form of trees and bushes. The small pink quail also dies when you hit the ceiling or the floor.
Pugo, however, is bigger and thus feels heavier than Flappy Bird. The gaps between the trees and bushes are also wider, giving the navigator more breathing room to prepare for the next obstacle.
What sets it apart is the opportunity to collect lives to prolong the bird's journey. A gamer will "try and keep it going as long as [he] can with the promise of that extra life.”
Flappy Bird clone -- so, what's new about "Pugo"
A lot of Flappy Bird clones have already been released since it was taken down, but Patrick says Pugo offers more. As art directors, the couple worked on improving the graphics and user experience of the game.
Instead of 8-bit graphics, Pugo is a visual treat with the lettering and layers of detailed illustration that the husband and wife created themselves.
Although they wanted to have more crisp images, they had to tone it down and keep the app’s size as close to 5MB as possible.
Although quails are usually brown or gray, its creators used pink for the character because they wanted Pugo to stand out from the background – something that they can identify with and feel themselves as artists.
The couple explained they chose the pugo (Filipino for quail) as the game’s character because they want the Philippines to look past its fascination for kwek-kwek. It is “more than just a delicacy” but “a low flying bird with an ambition to go far.”
They also added a bit of Filipino flavor to the visuals by making the Philippine Flag a power up with the sun and 3 stars from the flag bursting as you collect it.
Pugo is only available for iOS for now but users can expect an Android version in the next 2-3 weeks.--Source: Rappler