PopCap fulfills one 10-year-old's awesome wish with Allied Star Police
This is the double whammy: both touching and badass at the same time. (How does PopCap do it?) The company's--recently acquired by EA--indie mobile games studio 4th & Battery has teamed up with 10-year-old Owain Weinert to create Allied Star Police for iOS devices. This 100 percent free reverse tower defense game was made to fulfill Weinerts wish submitted to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And, get this, the game is a blast.
Players create increasingly powerful units using constantly-generated cash to fend off the evil Flamoid alien race from planets in the galaxy. Vehicles range from blue ATVs with mounted machine guns to massive orange tanks that fire off massive rounds into your enemies' alien faces. The best route to victory is to always keep your four lanes of units evenly stocked up so as to not let any of the purple buggers in.
Once you reach the giant purple alien base, it's time to spend, spend spend. Keep up the spending and watch the missiles and explosions fly. This addictive, simple hook will last for three levels, though each one becomes increasingly difficult. In fact, this game is pretty darn challenging. And the fact that a 10-year-old going through as much as Weinert is made this game makes it that much more remarkable:
PopCap met Owain in April when Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Alaska & Washington told us about his wish to make a video game. Owain (which means "little warrior" in Welsh) was diagnosed with pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia last year and has gone through lots of difficult treatments. But his dad said that what he really wanted was to hang out with "real game designers". So we volunteered to help Owain make his video game during PopCamp.
This is just a glimpse at the story of how Owain made one darn impressive PopCap mobile game. Regardless of his troubles, this is extremely impressive design work, and he should be proud to call himself a game designer. (I know I couldn't even draw that well at 10, so you're light years ahead of most of us, kid.)
Click here to download Allied Star Police for iOS devices >
Have you tried Allied Star Police yet? What do you think of the games created so far at 4th & Battery? Which are your favorites? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
