The Chinese three-person development team Panda-cat is launching their fifth original game, Pocket Dungeon Legends, which aims to bring players the unique enjoyment of tactical chess battles in a mysterious dungeon. Under the new policy of SARFT this year, an increasing number of Chinese indie game developers like Panda-cat are learning to publish their games globally.
“The game doesn’t really have a leveling up and class system like other traditional RPG; instead it allows players to distribute heores’ honor points to develop attributes and equip different gears or runes to grow into different classes of different specialties.” Frank, a member of Panda-cat, indicates. This special setting gives players lots of freedom to craft their heroes and develop various strategies of getting through each dungeon level.
The game applies an old school battle setting – chess style, which indicates that each move matters. Even if players’ heroes are powerful enough, using the wrong tactic on the battle field can still lead to failure. The game highlights tactics through giving monsters obvious strong points and weaknesses. For example, the Rock Giant will become a hundred times stronger after it is attacked the first time. Therefore, players need to consider the whole game strategy before moving heroes.
“Many indie game developers like us are seeking broader opportunities in overseas market as the domestic market is getting increasingly unfriendly.” Frank comments.” Without the presence of Google Play, most domestic Android publishing platforms only focus on revenue, and the new censorial policy of SARFT (The State Administration of Radio Film and Television) is making the situation tougher than ever.” Many game developer discussion groups have been hosting heated topics such as how to adjust their games to global players in the last half year.
“It will be wonderful to see our games being enjoyed by global players.” Pocket Dungeon Legends has received positive feedback in the testing stage in China with a 500+ total rating, a 4.9 in Apple App Store of and a 4.2 rating in Google Play. The game is now ready and free for download. The Facebook Page is also open for discussion. SRPG lovers don’t miss out!