Squids Impresses Us At PAX, Set To Release Next Month

Brett and I met with The Game Bakers at PAX this year, to talk about a new mobile-centric game they’re working on called Squids. We agreed that it’s best classified as an “Action Strategy RPG,” which is a genre I can’t remember having experienced on traditional game systems, much less one that wasn’t primarily designed with mobile gaming in mind.

In Squids, you control the characters from whom the game takes its name, pulling back on them and letting them go to slingshot their bodies across various playfields and into opponents. Contact equals damage, as do the numerous environmental obstacles present in the game’s many diverse stages.

Each squid has its own special ability, defined by its class (it’s a proven fact that class systems make RPGs at least six times better), one example of which being a gunslinger who can shoot enemies within a certain range. Your characters will level up and carry their stats throughout the game, as well.

The art in Squids is rich, colorful and vibrant, and based on the gameplay Brett and I experienced in the half-hour we spent with The Game Bakers, this should be a solid purchase for anyone sporting an iPhone (or an iPad, PC, Mac or Android device later this year).

The Game Bakers plan on supporting Squids after release via updates, and they made sure to stress that this is “Chapter One,” so if all goes well we can expect more titles in the future.

Sadly, the iPhone and iPad versions will be different, rather than releasing as a universal app installable on both devices with one purchase. The iPhone version won’t have multiplayer capabilities at launch, but it’s planned to be added in a post-launch update. The iPad version will actually feature multiplayer on a singular device, so that should be neat.

The iPhone version of Squids is set to be released on October 13th, at an unspecified price.