Evolution Board Game - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I tell friends this is my “mid-life crisis” job. I had previously developed software, but this was my first game, and I fell in love with it. We’re partnered with the board game studio that makes Evolution, North Star Games. We formed a small development team in house. We got very lucky picking up some experts from the videogame world who are passionate about board games, and a mere four years later Evolution is here.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

There’s a ton of information on the board game, and our goal was to boil this down to make a user interface that was both quick and easy to play and had great “over the shoulder” visual appeal. This took a ton of time to get right. For example, we ended up redoing the core look of the species in game 62 times to get just the right balance of information, visual appeal, and interaction hotspots.

North Star Games was founded in 2003, and their clever yet intuitive games have entertained millions of people. North Star Digital Studios was launched in 2016 to bring North Star’s well-loved concepts to a whole new world of gamers. Since then, we have built a team of video game development experts, and are prepared to deliver a unique, innovative experience for old and new players alike with the Evolution video game.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Polytopia is one of my favorite mobile apps, they just nailed the civilization type game in a simpler interface and faster game. Star Realms and Splendor are both excellent digital board games. Hearthstone is the gold standard for the digital card user interface. Our goal with “Evolution” was to bring the polish of Hearthstone to the board game world.

How long have you been working on this app?

Forever. Five PAX Wests have passed since we began ? It took us a long time to get to the point we were happy with it.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

We believed there are mobile users looking for more engaging strategy games than matching three of a kind or collecting a bunch of cards. Our goal was to cater to gamers looking for a thematic, streamlined strategy game, without clunkiness or an endless amount of new stuff you need to buy.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

Evolution brought a number of firsts to the digital board game space. For example, we put a ton of time into an intuitive onboarding tutorial, where you learn while you play the game. It’s also the first to feature a campaign with distinct boss opponents, which teaches players different strategies in the game. Once they’re ready, we’re one of the first board games to feature a four-player, skill-based matchmaking system to match up players for multiplayer games.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

We’re on the verge of releasing two big features: Asynchronous play for our multiplayer players, and a Challenge of the Week mode for our singleplayer players.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

We consciously put most of our efforts and money into development, rather than marketing as most mobile games do. We wanted a game that we know our players would love and we could be proud of. Now we need your help spreading the word! If you enjoy the game, let your friends know. You can invite them to play with you for free if you’re on the premium version.

Evolution Board Game

About App: Inspired by the action board game of North Star Games, Evolution is all about natural selection and fighting for survival in nature. Evolve your creatures to be stronger than your enemies and win all of the battles in this board game to survive!

Categories: Board

Date: October 8, 2019

Developer: North Star Digital Studio

About developer: North Star Games was founded in 2003, and their clever yet intuitive games h ... Read more

Website: http://www.evolutionvideogame.com/

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