Entertaining Kids Around The World
Hero Factory: Breakout
The LEGO Company
Catch'em & Cuff 'em
The Galaxies worst criminals have escaped Hero Factory's maximum security jail!
In 2010 the decision was made to print unique codes on 40 million construction sets from the Hero Factory product line to help connect their physical and digital products. The recently launched Unity 3D game found at www.HeroFactory.com is the end product of this process. 'Breakout' is a third person action adventure game designed to look and feel like a AAA console title, yet be playable in a browser. Our goal was to create a game that appeared to have a similar level of complexity to Crackdown or GTA if you watched someone play it. However, if you then focused on the actual player, you'd find they were eight years old and only using one or two fingers at a time to control the game. The game achieves this by automatically targeting objects and jumping when required to lower the number of commonly controls to five keys. It also places the character on invisible rails to help navigate complex obstacles and you are not attacked by off screen characters for the majority of the experience. In order to successfully deliver the concept 4T2 hired Adrian Smith, the Executive Producer of Tomb Raider 1-6 to improve their internal production process from that of an online marketing company to a professional games studio. Three further additional hires were made to ensure a look and feel matched the projects ambition. The game features a virtual currency system used to upgrade various components the player can equip their characters with. Enhanced components allow a child to access previously unreachable locations in order to complete all of the secondary challenges in the game. It also makes the game easier to complete, helping to ensure a high percentage of players complete the primary missions. The unique codes found on the toys give the player an immediate boost to their virtual bank account in a similar manner additional currency can be purchased in a Freemium game. Alternatively, children can simply play the game frequently and grind their way to success. This allows LEGO to reward both loyal gaming fans and the people who purchase their products. An exclusive mobile experience with a new control system, game objective and camera angle will be launched later in 2012. Coinciding with this is a detailed player's guide published in LEGO Club magazine.