Simple Lifeforms - A New Social Game Company
So I have recently left my role as Business Development Director at Monumental Games to found a new company focusing on what I am calling Social Games.
Who are Simple Lifeforms?
Simple Lifeforms is a new start-up company based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. The team have a passion for all types of games and have worked throughout the video game industry making massively multiplayer, online, causal, mobile and console games.
Simple Lifeforms create games that blend the best features of Online Games and Social Networks. We call these Social Games.
What games will Simple Lifeforms make?
We know that if you’re anything like us you live busy and complicated lives and don’t have a lot of time to play games. We also know that you don’t want to spend a lot of money on new computers, hardware or software just to play games. You want games that are easy to play on any computer, easy to access, quick to learn and fun to play in the short periods of time you have set aside to enjoy yourself.
Our social games will be Free-to-Play. Our games can be played on any computer with a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. You won’t need to buy a new computer or get new hardware to play our games. Our games will be available on our website but you will also be able to play our games from your favourite social networking site such as Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, Orkut, Hi5 and MySpace. Our games will be available on mobile devices and eventually handheld and other Internet enabled games consoles.
What are Social Games?
Social Games combine the best features of online games such as World of Warcraft and Runescape and also of social networks like Facebook and MySpace.
What’s so different about Social Games?
The web has become a huge social network where everyone is linked to everyone else. People have blogs, social network profiles, characters within online games, avatars within virtual worlds and their all talking, linking and chatting with each other, all day, every day.
We think this is seriously cool.
We believe that this new socially connected Internet is a great place to launch new games that allow people to enjoy fun and entertaining gameplay but also share all that cool gameplay with their friends using social networks.
What will players be able to do in a Social Game?
Players log into our website. Players create a character, choosing from a wide range of character customisation options. Player can participate in adventures, quests and stories on their own or with friends. Players gather items, prizes and rewards as part of their adventures. Players will be able to create their own content making items, images, movies and sharing these with other players in the game. Players will be able to link their character profile to blogs, feeds and social network sites such as Facebook and monitor their game progress.
What is the first game about?
In our first game, players take the parts of unborn spirits living in a spirit world that closely resembles the real world, but is more surreal. There is a spirit-world version of London, of New York, of smaller and larger towns all throughout the world. Within each of these locations, players live little virtual lives. They are spirits, trying to see themselves along the path toward being born.
You are a character in another world. This world is only a click away. You play with your friends, sending messages, trading goods, creating gifts, socialising and having adventures with them. You do so from your desktop, from your workplace, on the phone, on the move. You strive to be the best, by being the most active, the friendliest and the most helpful. You check in with it every day, or leave it for a few days and come back to check your progress.
When will the first game be launched?
Our first game is scheduled for launch in the Autumn of 2009.
Original Article Simple Lifeforms
