The Adventures of Shuggy
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Shuggy is a puzzle
platform
video game developed by Smudged Cat Games and published by Valcon Games
. It was released June 15, 2011 for the Xbox 360
via Xbox Live Arcade
. It follows the vampire Shuggy as he seeks to rid his newly inherited mansion of its undesirable inhabitants.
The game received positive reviews from critics. Aggregate scores are in the high 70's range at both GameRankings and Metacritic
, two aggregate websites. Critics praised Shuggys varied gameplay mechanics and vast number of levels. They also gave high marks for the cartoon art style. Some reviewers were critical of the game's difficulty level and lack of checkpoints.
platform game
. The object of each level is to collect all of the gems in order to obtain a key. The game features over 100 levels of gameplay, and players can typically see an entire level on the screen. Two player cooperative play is also supported, with 36 levels of play. In addition to cooperative play competitive multiplayer is also included, with both local and online support.
The player character can only jump and move to the left or right, however several different gameplay mechanics are applied to the game depending on the level. For example, one level can be rotated 90 degrees in the direction the player is facing to alter the level's gravity and vertical orientation. A second mechanic involves the use of a rope to swing through a level. Players can wrap the rope around cogs to rotate them. Yet another gameplay mechanic used involves a timer in the upper-right hand corner of the screen. When the timer reaches zero time effectively rewinds backwards the amount of time originally on the clock. The player character is unaffected, however a second, ghost image of the character will follow the movements the player made until the clock expired. This process repeats until the player completes the level. Should the player touch another iteration of the player character they fail the level. Several other mechanics are used throughout the levels, such as objects that change Shuggy's size, and teleportation
.
framework, a set of tools that would allow individuals to program their own games for the Xbox 360. It was entered as a competitor in Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play competition, a program awards winning games with a publishing contract on Xbox Live Arcade and development funding to complete the game. The game made the top 20 contestants, but ultimately was not awarded a publishing contract. Later that year the developer signed a contract with Sierra Online. When Sierra Online's parent company, Vivendi Games
, was acquired by Activision Blizzard
Sierra was shut down, terminating the contract with Smudged Cat Games. Shuggy was later picked up by Valcon Games
. It passed Microsoft
's Xbox Live
certification process on May 1, 2011 and was released on June 15, 2011. Programmer David Johnston stated that in retrospect he wishes he had not spent four years in development. "On reflection, once I entered into Dream Build Play, I probably should have released it as soon as I could," Johnston stated. "It could have done with a bit of polish - but not three and half years’ worth."
The Adventures of Shuggy was developed by programmer David Johnston who had previously developed Xbox Live Indie Games
titles such as A Bomb’s Way, The Tower: A Bomb’s Climb and Timeslip. Johnston wrote the game code and designed all the game's levels. PomPom Games
provided assistance with Xbox-specific elements such as Xbox Live
support. He felt that his "artistic skills are on a par with a goldfish" and so worked with Chris Hildenbrand of Imbri Design for all the gameplay art assets. Bennet Aldous, an artist at Fat Cat Comics and friend of Johnston created the game's comic book cutscenes. Shuggys music was composed by Jesse Hopkins.
. Metacritic reports mostly positive reviews, with 18 of 23 reviews scoring the game an ratio of 75% or higher. Only two of the 23 reviews gave the game a score below a 70% ratio. Shuggy sold approximately 2,600 units within the first two weeks of its release.
Critics generally gave high praise for Shuggys varied gameplay mechanics. Nathan Meunier of GameSpot
stated that "each stage offers a different flavor from the one before it" and added that the varied level experiences "[keep] the puzzle action buoyant well into the adventure." Terry Terrones of GamePro
agreed; he felt that the game was "clever [...] with a subtle scaffolding complexity". Reviewers also praised the amount of gameplay, particularly the game's 100 levels. Eurogamer
's Kristan Reed felt while the 100 levels were a welcome feature, the inclusion of cooperative and competitive levels expanded the game's value. The game's comic book-like presentation was also well received by critics. GameSpot's Nathan Meunier categorized the art as "cutesy" and Kristan Reed of Eurogamer called the art design "adorable".
Some reviewers criticized the game's difficulty level and lack of checkpoints during later stages. Game Informer
s warned players to "prepare to die a lot". Official Xbox Magazine
s Cameron Lewis also noted that players need lots of patience to play through the game. The critic from Edge
magazine acknowledged that though the game is difficult and at times frustrating that it is "still worth sticking with".
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game developed by Smudged Cat Games and published by Valcon Games
Valcon Games
Valcon Games is a developer and publisher of video games based in Bellevue, Washington, United States.The company was founded in 2005 by Colin Gordon and Glen Halseth, both former members of Kemco. Valcon publishes games that are overlooked for the US market and also localize games from other...
. It was released June 15, 2011 for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
via Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
. It follows the vampire Shuggy as he seeks to rid his newly inherited mansion of its undesirable inhabitants.
The game received positive reviews from critics. Aggregate scores are in the high 70's range at both GameRankings and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, two aggregate websites. Critics praised Shuggys varied gameplay mechanics and vast number of levels. They also gave high marks for the cartoon art style. Some reviewers were critical of the game's difficulty level and lack of checkpoints.
Synopsis
The game begins with the vampire Shuggy inheriting a haunted Scottish mansion from his grandfather. In order to make it a livable space he must evict the undesirable creatures currently living in it. To do so he must collect all the gems in a given room to acquire a key. The keys are spread across five areas: The Dungeon, The Boiler Room, The Gallery, The Graveyard and The Clocktower. Once all keys are obtained Shuggy can evict the evil tenants and claim his mansion.Gameplay
The Adventures of Shuggy is a puzzlePuzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The object of each level is to collect all of the gems in order to obtain a key. The game features over 100 levels of gameplay, and players can typically see an entire level on the screen. Two player cooperative play is also supported, with 36 levels of play. In addition to cooperative play competitive multiplayer is also included, with both local and online support.
The player character can only jump and move to the left or right, however several different gameplay mechanics are applied to the game depending on the level. For example, one level can be rotated 90 degrees in the direction the player is facing to alter the level's gravity and vertical orientation. A second mechanic involves the use of a rope to swing through a level. Players can wrap the rope around cogs to rotate them. Yet another gameplay mechanic used involves a timer in the upper-right hand corner of the screen. When the timer reaches zero time effectively rewinds backwards the amount of time originally on the clock. The player character is unaffected, however a second, ghost image of the character will follow the movements the player made until the clock expired. This process repeats until the player completes the level. Should the player touch another iteration of the player character they fail the level. Several other mechanics are used throughout the levels, such as objects that change Shuggy's size, and teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
.
Development and marketing
Smudged Cat Games started development on The Adventures of Shuggy shortly after Microsoft released the XNAMicrosoft XNA
Microsoft XNA is a set of tools with a managed runtime environment provided by Microsoft that facilitates video game development and management. XNA attempts to free game developers from writing "repetitive boilerplate code" and to bring different aspects of game production into a single system...
framework, a set of tools that would allow individuals to program their own games for the Xbox 360. It was entered as a competitor in Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play competition, a program awards winning games with a publishing contract on Xbox Live Arcade and development funding to complete the game. The game made the top 20 contestants, but ultimately was not awarded a publishing contract. Later that year the developer signed a contract with Sierra Online. When Sierra Online's parent company, Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
, was acquired by Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...
Sierra was shut down, terminating the contract with Smudged Cat Games. Shuggy was later picked up by Valcon Games
Valcon Games
Valcon Games is a developer and publisher of video games based in Bellevue, Washington, United States.The company was founded in 2005 by Colin Gordon and Glen Halseth, both former members of Kemco. Valcon publishes games that are overlooked for the US market and also localize games from other...
. It passed Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
certification process on May 1, 2011 and was released on June 15, 2011. Programmer David Johnston stated that in retrospect he wishes he had not spent four years in development. "On reflection, once I entered into Dream Build Play, I probably should have released it as soon as I could," Johnston stated. "It could have done with a bit of polish - but not three and half years’ worth."
The Adventures of Shuggy was developed by programmer David Johnston who had previously developed Xbox Live Indie Games
Xbox Live Indie Games
Xbox Live Indie Games are user created video games released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games are developed using Microsoft XNA, and developed by one or more independent developers that are registered with App Hub...
titles such as A Bomb’s Way, The Tower: A Bomb’s Climb and Timeslip. Johnston wrote the game code and designed all the game's levels. PomPom Games
PomPom Games
PomPom Games is an indie video game developer based in the UK. Originally a developer of classic arcade style games for the PC, they are most well known for Mutant Storm Reloaded, a new version of their own popular PC game Mutant Storm.-Games:...
provided assistance with Xbox-specific elements such as Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
support. He felt that his "artistic skills are on a par with a goldfish" and so worked with Chris Hildenbrand of Imbri Design for all the gameplay art assets. Bennet Aldous, an artist at Fat Cat Comics and friend of Johnston created the game's comic book cutscenes. Shuggys music was composed by Jesse Hopkins.
Reception
The Adventures of Shuggy was well received by critics. The game holds an aggregate score of 78.22% at GameRankings and 77/100 at MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Metacritic reports mostly positive reviews, with 18 of 23 reviews scoring the game an ratio of 75% or higher. Only two of the 23 reviews gave the game a score below a 70% ratio. Shuggy sold approximately 2,600 units within the first two weeks of its release.
Critics generally gave high praise for Shuggys varied gameplay mechanics. Nathan Meunier of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stated that "each stage offers a different flavor from the one before it" and added that the varied level experiences "[keep] the puzzle action buoyant well into the adventure." Terry Terrones of GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
agreed; he felt that the game was "clever [...] with a subtle scaffolding complexity". Reviewers also praised the amount of gameplay, particularly the game's 100 levels. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's Kristan Reed felt while the 100 levels were a welcome feature, the inclusion of cooperative and competitive levels expanded the game's value. The game's comic book-like presentation was also well received by critics. GameSpot's Nathan Meunier categorized the art as "cutesy" and Kristan Reed of Eurogamer called the art design "adorable".
Some reviewers criticized the game's difficulty level and lack of checkpoints during later stages. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
s warned players to "prepare to die a lot". Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
s Cameron Lewis also noted that players need lots of patience to play through the game. The critic from Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
magazine acknowledged that though the game is difficult and at times frustrating that it is "still worth sticking with".