Independent game developer Nevercenter announced today that their puzzle arcade game Shibuya Grandmaster is now available via free download for iOS and Android, on the App Store and on Google Play. Shibuya Grandmaster is truly free, containing no ads and only cosmetic in-app purchases, and features a system of progression that depends only on the skills you develop as you master its simple and innovative game mechanic.
Shibuya Grandmaster is the successor to Nevercenter’s 2010 iOS indie darling Shibuya, which garnered widespread praise for its rare defining
qualities: an atmospheric action-puzzler with a unique mechanic that takes seconds to learn but years to master. Nevercenter has spent the last five years refining the core concept, and Shibuya Grandmaster delivers the same fast-paced gameplay with all-new graphics, faster speeds, perplexing new challenges, and a new ranking system to guide your progression. The skilled will learn to survive the higher speeds, but only a chosen few will have what it takes to become a Grandmaster.
“We’re still getting better at Shibuya five years after creating the original prototype, and you can see it on the leaderboards” said Nevercenter’s John Plewe, who designed Shibuya and Shibuya Grandmaster’s gameplay. “It’s an old-school arcade game at heart, but we think people will find it has a lot of depth and the natural reward of a challenging new mode of thinking. We’re excited for people like the DDR kids in the arcades of Tokyo, who first inspired us, to come along and do things we didn’t think were possible.”
Shibuya Grandmaster is launching truly free, unlike other “freemium”
games which include ads, virtual currency, or paywalls. “We’re taking a chance on being truly free because we want everyone to try it,”
continued Plewe. “We believe enough people will really get into the game to want the optional customizations to truly make it their own.”
Features:
– A completely original game mechanic, celebrated by the PAX 10, IGF, and critics.
– Truly free. No ads, and the only in-app purchases are cosmetic backgrounds/color sets.
– An old-school arcade experience based on developing pure skill.
– An addictive progression system which constantly teaches you to improve.
– 7 gameplay speeds, up to the impossibly fast Gentle Rain.
– 60fps silky-smooth and responsive gameplay.
– Customization via a wide variety of atmospheric backgrounds and color sets.
– 5-song licensed soundtrack.
– Colorblind-friendly color set swapping.
– Leaderboards across multiple categories to challenge your friends.
Website: http://nevercenter.com/shibuya
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=40&v=fxGt3x1xkg8
Gameplay Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgk-MPiQWPk