The first few new versions included obvious fixes and updates that made the game slightly better each time. Since the game is freeware, meaning anyone can play it instantly for free, what motivates you to be putting out updates and new builds even after all those years? What do you think made the game so popular that it managed to withstand the competition throughout the years? Especially in such a large jungle the freeware world is?ġ) The game is extremely simple at it’s core and anyone can understand what it is about at first glance.Ģ) It’s a small download and has almost no system requirements.ģ) It is very easy to compare results and compete with your friends. It has been a truly amazing ride and a very humbling experience. The combination of the game reaching new fans today, and old fans coming back years later keeps it constantly alive. We had no idea the game would become as popular as it did, or that it would continue to live as long as it has. Have you ever imagined or hoped the game would have such a long lifespan? Icy Tower came out in 2001, with a 10th anniversary inevitably approaching come this December. Eventually there weren’t that many entries submitted and Icy Tower claimed the GBA. I took that and added to it until I had something that stood on it’s own. The original idea is based on an old *nix game called xJump. The winner would get a Gameboy Advance and I decided to enter. One of the forum members wanted to play something new and started a challenge for the forum members to make small gameplay focused titles within three weeks. What convinced you to make this game in the first place? What was the initial idea?Īt the time (2001) I hung out at a forum called Pixelation. Luckily you can jump higher by running faster and the core gameplay boils down to jumping and running from left to right and back again like crazy, trying to get as high up in the tower as possible. Easy at first but it is complicated by the fact that the screen starts scrolling upwards, and if you fall off the screen it is game over. As Harold the Homeboy you have to climb a tower by jumping from floor to floor. The studio had produced a number of titles that were popular, but Icy Tower quickly dwarfed everything in terms of popularity. We focused on making arcade style, gameplay centric titles. When the first version of the game was made I was running a game studio called Free Lunch Design. From there I moved on to web games and currently I mostly work with social games on Facebook. I started out 15 years ago making downloadable PC games. OK, hello readers, I’m Johan Peitz! I’m almost 35 years old and working with games. Nevertheless, could you please briefly introduce yourself, the studio behind it, and what’s the game’s premise? A classic many players are probably already familiar with. I talked to Icy Tower’s creator, Johan Peitz, and discussed various aspects of the game – from the initial idea, lifespan, support, possible future ports and more… The game originally debuted almost 10 years ago and has managed to not only become a smash hit with more than 20,000,000 downloads, but found its way to several platforms as well – be it PC, Mac or even the iPhone and Facebook. If Harold the Homeboy rings any bells, you might be familiar with Icy Tower – a classic freeware platform game by Swedish developer Free Lunch Design.
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