This is my current hobby project. A good friend of mine, named Mark, wrote a puzzle game, called Creatures and Castles, for iOS devices a while back. When another buddy came to suggest we work on a game together, I immediately thought of the 2010 game as a rewrite for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux.

It's a cleanroom implementation, but I've recycled all the level-centric art assets and music. Just about everything else is new code and new art by yours truly. I processed the art assets using my own sprite packer application.

The cross-platform code is made possible by MonoGame, an open-source C# game programming API that is based on the (now defunct) Microsoft XNA APIs. Progress has been pretty good, considering it's a team of one. Having ready-made assets certainly put me ahead of schedule, and I'm grateful to Hiive, LLC for allowing me to use them.

After the iOS release, Hiive ported the game to Playstation Vita and Google Chrome. The Vita version had more aspects of an action game, but the rewrite will focus on the puzzle aspects, limiting the input to mouse and touchscreens. While this will be as true to the original as possible, it will have elements that the other incarnations never had.

Unfortunately, Mark (mentioned as the instigator of this project, above) passed away a few weeks ago. It's a struggle to keep forward momentum, Mark had the lion's share of the enthusiasm and passion for the project. I fully intend to get this project over the goal line, though.

-- Joe