Word Fighter's Jane in attack stance (Image: Feel Every Yummy)
A character based on the Pride and Prejudice author uses the power of words to take down enemies in the upcoming iOS/Android game Word Fighter. "When it's time to throw down, Jane is ready to destroy you," says the developer.
When Gian Cruz and Kris Zabala, the founders and sole employees of up-and-coming app developer Feel Every Yummy, came up with the idea for Word Fighter last year, they originally planned it to look similar to Street Fighter, and created their own cast of tough-looking characters that paid homage to Capcom's beloved arcade fighting series. However, they felt that for their new word game, a literary take might make more sense and have a broader appeal.
"We changed our art direction because the majority of the feedback we got was that the gameplay was quite solid, but the gritty Street Fighter-style of our early builds made the game feel like it catered to boys," said Cruz in my recent interview with him. "With this being an iOS game, and a word game at that, we had to make the game be as universally appealing as possible. Once we landed on the new literary theme, our creative brains were firing on all cylinders. It felt great to find a concept that we loved, and we think other people will love it as well."
The result is the version of Word Fighter that we see today. Inspired by Boggle, Scrabble, Words With Friends and Super Puzzle Fighter, the object of the game is for players, as famous authors personified by their literary works, to spell words quickly on separate tile grids. The better the word -- based on length and letter value -- the more damage you do to your opponent. Special power-ups like attack multipliers and tile shufflers are added to the mix, so it can be anybody's game. Players will be able to battle each other locally or online in real-time, and the developers even plan to have cross-platform play, which means iOS users will be able to battle against their Android friends.
At launch, the game will have six playable characters including: Edgar, the melancholy hero; Agatha, the spunky lady detective; and Jane, the damage-dealing damsel. "Jane," inspired by Jane Austen, is pictured here, and Feel Every Yummy gave us an exclusive first look at the concept art and character design.
(Image: Feel Every Yummy)
"Female characters in video games can be written and treated so much better than they have been, and game developers ultimately have the power to change that," said Cruz of his inspiration for making strong female characters in Word Fighter. "Since our game requires an ensemble cast, I told myself at that point that the female fighters we create will be more than just pretty faces -- they need to have some depth and character."
"For Jane in particular, I essentially wanted to make a bad-ass version of Princess Peach," he added, citing the Super Mario Bros. character famous for being constantly kidnapped. "Simply put, Jane is a princess who doesn't need saving. She's beautiful, and she can also kick your ass. At a glance, she appears to be a very prim and proper lady -- as you can see in her portrait -- but when it's time to throw down, she's ready to destroy you."
Word Fighter will be available for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices later this year.
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Tracey John is a veteran games, tech, comics and toy reporter based in Brooklyn, New York. You can find her on Twitter @TraceyJohn or at her website, www.traceyjohn.com. Got a tip? Send an e-mail.
