Sydney, Australia – A failed trip to the beach inspired Aussie indie game developer duo BubblePug to make their first game called Penguin Splat. Available exclusively for iOS from the 22nd of February, the game represents 4 months of intense effort to develop an old school style arcade game to appeal to gamers of all ages.

“I took my family to a beach one day, but no one was able to swim there because it had been invaded by jellyfish. A kid had dragged one of these things up onto the footpath and was trying to stomp on its head, and I just thought I must be able to make a game out of that.” said BubblePug co-founder Louis Berghold.

In Penguin Splat, the player takes control of a rather rotund penguin and tries to jump onto the heads of the jellyfish that are invading the beach, splatting them into harmless goo, while avoiding touching the jellyfish tentacles. The player can grab power-ups with amusing effects, like gummi fish that make the penguin fatter until eventually he pops and sprays vomit all over the screen, killing more jellyfish. Another power-up clones the penguin so that the player is then controlling multiple penguins all bouncing around the screen.

“We think the gameplay is fairly unique, even though it has an old-school flavour to it. While the player only needs to tap the left or right of the screen to make the penguins jump in that direction, they have to get the timing right and work with gravity in order to master the game. There are other techniques they have to discover in order to maximise their score, which gives it that extra challenge. And it’s pretty satisfying slamming down on the jellyfish and hearing the gooey splat sounds.”

The game has been designed to be universally appealing, without pandering to any gender or age stereotypes.

“We wanted to make a game that was fun for kids, boys and girls, but also appealing to older gamers like ourselves. We think it has the right mix of simple controls, easy to learn, while being challenging to master and addictive. My daughters and I are always hitting play again to try and get a better score. The other kids we’ve play tested it with are the same.”

Device Requirements:
* Optimised for iPhone 4s, 5, 5s, 6, 6 Plus
* iPad 2, 3, Air, Air 2, Mini, Mini 2, Mini 3
* iPod touch 5th and 6th generations
* iOS 7.1 or later
* 24.3 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Penguin Splat 1.0 is free to download worldwide through the App Store in the Games category. It has one in-app purchase to remove ads.

BubblePug
Penguin Splat 1.0
Download from iTunes
Screenshot
App Icon

BubblePug consists of Aussie brothers Jared and Louis Berghold who have shared a passion for playing and making computer games from childhood. Since learning how to code in their teens they have both experimented with writing their own games, and in 2015 formed a partnership to release their first official game on the iOS App Store, Penguin Splat. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2015 BubblePug. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.