Factsheet

Developer:
MaxKriegerVG
Based in United States

Release date:
November 20 2017

Platforms:
Windows
Mac
Linux
Web

Website:
maxkrieger.itch.io/crossniq

Description

CROSSNIQ is a new tile-sliding puzzle game to be played with your mouse or your fingers! The goal of the game is to create a "cross" of same-colored tiles to clear them from the screen, which gives you points and refills your time meter. Keep on swiping and race against the clock!

History

Ideas for CROSSNIQ began to form as I wrapped up work on my last project, an experimental, socially conscious, narrative-driven art game called Train. Train's development was long and grueling, involving an entire screenplay's worth of dialogue for a 90 minute game. I wanted my next project to be the exact opposite of Train: one simple game loop, easy to iterate on, something I could develop with minimal outside help, and something fun to demo at shows or meetups.

CROSSNIQ was one of those rare game ideas where the base game mechanics essentially arrived in my mind intact - slide tiles on a wrapping grid to make crosses of the same color. Before anything, I wanted to make sure sliding tiles felt as satisfying as possible, so the first two months of the game's development were spent specifically on fine-tuning the controls. The rest of the game's mechanics came into place from feedback, demos, and research.

I'm a bit of a design nerd, and I've been following the gradual resurgence of what's being called "y2k" in the visual design world - referring to a very visually distinct period of design trends from about 1996 - 2003. Some defining characteristics of y2k are: the work of Karim Rashid, The Designer's Republic, and Takashi Murakami; 90s rave flyers; organic design forms known as "blobjects"; the use of translucency and biology as visual motifs.

From the moment I began CROSSNIQ, I knew I wanted to create a y2k-flavored game. The game's UIs are heavily influenced by The Designers Republic's work on Wipeout, as well as UIs from contemporary Japanese titles for the PS1 and Dreamcast, and the drum n bass soundtrack was inspired by cult classic series Ape Escape. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the package.

Thanks for checking this out, and I hope you enjoy the game! Let's Cross!

-Max

Features

• Fast-paced arcade puzzle game described as "a cross between a Rubix cube and a match game"
• A love letter to "y2k" graphic design, inspired by titles for the PS1 and Dreamcast and by graphic design houses like The Designers Republic.
• Designed for a variety of inputs - mouse, touch, and gamepad are all supported.
• Ape Escape-inspired drum n bass soundtrack composed by local Cleveland musicians.
• Designed for color blind accessibility.

CROSSNIQ Credits

Max Krieger
Founder

Contact

Press Contact
kriegermediaworks@gmail.com