Kickstarter campaign needs funding to take off

Nov 10, 2014 13:06 GMT  ·  By

London-based developer Sauce Digital has put together a Kickstarter campaign for its Spritebox game creation platform with the promise that anyone will be able to pick it up and create a game without writing a single line of code.

The tool will supposedly take the form of a regular iOS application that you download from the App Store, but until then, the company still needs to rack up £45,000 (€57,294 / $71,535). So far, very few people have chipped in, and the campaign has been around for about a week.

An ambitious project

Spritebox will come with a number of templates to allow anyone to get started instantly. However, those who feel like they can do more will be able to import their own graphics and sounds through iTunes.

“When you create a new game you will be able to choose a blank project, or select one of these templates as your starting point,” the studio explains. “Then customise how it plays, add in graphics and audio, and boom you have a sparkling new game.”

“You will be able to download graphics and audio packs, to use in the games you create. Alternatively, you can import your own graphics and audio to use in your creations. Asset packs could be such things as; isometric buildings, pixel blocks or animated characters. As Spritebox grows, so will the assets available for you to use.”

Not exactly AAA, but still a good idea

The promo video up on Kickstarter (embedded below) shows that making games using Spritebox is effortless. Best of all, you don’t actually need to be a developer to make a game using this tool. It also comes with an (optional) SDK for App Store publishing.

The SDK (software development kit) also doesn’t require code knowledge to be used. However, you will need a developer account with Apple to sell games on the iTunes Store.

Sauce Digital says you can make endless running games, tower defense titles, or platformers using Spritebox. The promo video shows some top-down action resembling 16-bit console games, which may or may not appeal to younger audiences. The description suggests that a number of “Bird related titles” were created with the platform. Flappy Bird looks exactly like something that could come out of Spritebox.

The number of backers is fairly low, just 19 after a whole week. Of the £45,000 goal, only £566 (€720 / $900) has been raised.

“If you've always wanted to make a game, but don't code, this is the perfect way to make it happen. Choose a character, select a scrolling background, drag and drop some physics, you get the idea,” Sauce Digital concludes.

Another aim of the Spritebox platform is to let users share their graphics and audio in the Asset Store for others to download (presumably for a fee) and use in their games.

Spritebox Kickstarter campaign (5 Images)

Sauce Digital founder
Creating games with SpriteboxArcade shooter
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