What inspired you to create the original Astro Duel on iPad which was later

followed by a version for IOS known as Astro Party?





Rusty:

I grew up playing a lot of

Super Bomberman

and

NBA Jam

with my family and friends. We’d stay up way too late. Usually things would get shut down because we couldn’t keep quiet.

Astro Duel

was originally about bringing the fun of these nights into a native multiplayer experience for iPad. After a few prototypes I realized an

Asteroids

-like design would allow the iPad to sit in the center of a table. Everyone could gather around and see the screen better this way. And to get 4 players playing simultaneously, I used iPhones as wireless controllers.





Astro Party

was sort of a response to

Astro Duel

. Hooking up iPhones to use as controllers was tricky to program. And you needed multiple phones, all with the app installed.

Astro Party

distills the gameplay to only 2 buttons. Four players using just one device. And it works!

Astro Party

is almost 3 years old, but it remains very popular at schools.



