Over the past few days, I’ve been testing out the new Hipster City Cycle game and today it was just launched on iTunes. The only time I play iPhone apps is when I’m on the toilet or when I’m at the airport and for some reason, there’s been a lot of that going on this week. Sorry for the TMI but it’s the truth. So what are my thoughts on the game? I really like it. There are little nuances in the gameplay that make it ironic enough to be funny! You should check it out.
There are more screen grabs I took, mixed in with the official press-release below.
Hipster City Cycle – Philadelphia’s first pixel art video game hits the App Store!
Clip into your fixed gear bike as Binky McKee, a Philadelphia twenty-something struggling to throw off the shackles of gainful employment, and become a hipster cycling legend.
Philadelphia based indie game studio, Port127, is proud to announce the release of their first game: Hipster City Cycle. A pixelated bike-race adventure through the iconic streets of Philadelphia available in the Apple App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Hipster City Cycle spans four distinct neighborhoods each meticulously hand drawn by pixel artist, and Philly native, Keith McKnight. Your goal is to attract new friends for Binky by showing off his fixed gear skills: weaving through traffic, dodging pot holes, track standing at red lights, and flirting with hipsters. Players progress not by amassing gold coins, but by spending Binky’s savings on new bike parts and taking new friends out to party. Blow Binky’s trust fund and “progress” by moving from a swank pad in Center City to a dive in West Philly
The game is the collaboration of three friends who met while studying computer science and digital media design at the University of Pennsylvania. It began in April 2009 as a learning project for Michael Highland (design, production) and Kevin Jenkins (programming). Keith McKnight (graphics) came on board, and together they decided to set the game in Philadelphia.
As soon as Keith had drawn the first map and some initial animations it was clear something epic was brewing. Philly chiptune musicians Patrick ‘Bucky’ Todd and Joey ‘Animal Style’ Mariano later joined the team to compose an original score to complement the game’s retro visual aesthetic. Alex Alsup helped develop the game’s narrative and worked on the unique Pixelation Contest, which got real Philadelphians that Keith turned into the pixelated pedestrians of Hipster City Cycle.
You can read about the game, see screenshots and movies, and learn more about the team that built it at http://www.hipstercitycycle.com
Hipster City Cycle YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/HipsterCityCycle
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hipstercity
Twitter: HipsterCity
