Monkey See Monkey Chew is Out!

Took a bit longer than I expected, but the update was released today. As stated a few times already, this one features monkeys that are up to no good. Check out Dave's State of the Island for details on this update!

And thanks for everyone Tweeting and Facebooking (Fbooking? Fooking? Faking?) the Update Song Video...its racked up over 16,000 views so far and we're hoping to rack up more now that the update is out! Please help us push it more if you haven't Tweeted, commented or favorited. Dave's crazy idea of having a song written about our app is just another one of our attention-getting schemes to be the first at something (first episodic app, first comic book, first song, etc.) and see who follows suit :)

One of the favorite comments for the song is "why were they working on this video instead of the update?"....But guys, the video is just footage OF the update, particularly the dance pack too, since the song is included with guitar-playing pygmies! So there!

I made some screen shots, but this is the most difficult update to screen shot. The monkeys are unpredictable, its like taking a picture of a hyperactive child!


Plucking bananas from the banana tree attracts the monkeys. You can get up to 3 monkeys.



Monkeys like to ride the backs of the pygmy, but it always ends badly.



Drop a pygmy on a monkey and if there is another monkey on the island, they play catch. Then you can drop other pygmies into the game and see how many they can juggle!



The Dance Pack Too also includes the tasteful fart dance with lots of fun sound effects.




Lastly, we've done some menu rearranging. Here is the key:

Map - changes location

Island Menu - allows you to enable and disable island-specific features

Global Menu - allows you to enable and disable global features

God Power Menu - allows you to enable and disable god powers

Custom Menu - Gives you access and altar customizable elements, including the Custom Store, the Tribe Stat screen, Story Mode

Community Menu - Gives you access to community features such as Open Feint Achievements and Challenges

Settings Menu - here you can mute sounds, turn on and off gravity, turn on and off name lables, etc.

Hopefully this is cleaner than it was. There is a bit of debate if some features fit on the global menu and god power menu, but hopefully this makes it easier!

Dave's State of the Island!!!!

Hey everyone. Dave did his latest recap on Touch Arcade. Lots of stuff going on, so it was a biggee. One of the more off the wall things we've had in the works was the above Update Song! We had planned a dance update and Dave got it in his head to get Jonathan Mann (songatron.com), the perpetrator of the infamous i-Phone 4 Antenna Song, to write a song for us ...and to the fans who hound us about updates! And it was awesome. So my job was to animate the first pygmy boy band to perform it. Its part of the dance pack, but we decided to make a little video as well...as you can see above. In the video, there's a sneak preview of Monkey See Monkey Chew and some of the other dances from the dance pack.

Anyway, Dave explains it all, so go check it out and the latest icon!

>> Read Dave's State of the Island on Touch Arcade! <<

P.S. If you turn on Closed Captioning, you can see the lyrics!

Pocket God "Best God Game on iPhone"

Hey guys. So, this week has been rough. Dave and I were up until 4 am pushing through Monkey See Monkey Chew. There was some unexpected coolness that we discovered as we were playing with the monkeys. It was akin to how we discovered then when you bounced a coconut on Pygmy's heads you could attempt to keep the coconut in the air by lining the pygmies up and seeing how many times the coconut would off their skulls. However, this unexpected feature turned out to be difficult for Dave to work out the bugs, but we thought it was cool enough to integrate as part of the update, so we went back and forth on that trying to make it solid. Then around 4 am we had a somewhat heated discussion about marketing graphics. Then I went to bed and I think Dave kept working. So if it wasn't submitted some time around 5 am, then it will be today!

What kept me super busy over the last two weeks was a new dance pack...and it has a cool surprise, but I'll wait for Dave to post his state of the island to let everyone know.

During this, we've also been working on the iPad game as well. And I'm going to focus on that for the next week or two.

While PG has been flailing in the rankings, we are still lucky enough to have some new press....

>> Dave is interviewed on TheStreet (MainStreet) <<

Cnet's Tap That App named us best "God Game"....and the third game "Fingerzilla" in the list is interesting...I hadn't seen that yet!

And the Winner is....

Louis Forie of Burnaby, British Columbia! He was our randomly chosen winner (we used random.org to pick). He took the picture at Tazmanian Comic Connections! Congratulations Louis! And thanks to everyone who entered! Pictures have been posted on Flickr below..

The latest comic, by the way, has been submitted and is in approval. The next update will contain a free newsletter called "The Pygmy Peril" (even if you don't buy the latest issue), including answers to comments, an article about the T-Rex update, and some free comic content from Ape Entertainment. And going forward, we will try to add a free newsletter between the remaining issues of this series, which will also have Pocket God mini-stories. And in the works is a Pocket God comic with a story geared to the holidays....but of course with our own twist to it.

Again, thanks everyone! We are getting close to finishing the next episode "Monkey See, Monkey Chew"...and we are putting in a couple surprises that we think everyone will love.



By the way, we posted all pictures. Some took pictures at multiple comic shops and some sent duplicates...or ineligible entries, or photoshopped strangeness...But they are all posted here anyway!

The Pygmies Land On Verizon!

A version of Pocket God is now available on Verizon BREW-based phones! This version of Pocket God has many of the features of Pocket God iPhone that you've come to know and love, but with a few new twists. As a vengeful god, you have control of an active volcano, lightning storms, hungry animals and much more. Or give gifts to the pygmies in the form of fish, coconuts, dancing, etc. This version uses different controls but requires the same exploration, and you must unlock god powers as you go. Hints guide the way as you discover all the god powers available!

The Verizon phones have different screen sizes and the resolution is a bit more limited than the iPhone, but we think Bight did a great job...






So, if you iPod Touch users happen to have a Verizon phone or know someone who does, be sure to check it out!

>> Get Pocket God on Verizon's Media Center! <<

Comic Shop Contest Almost Closed! Plus random news!

Hey guys! Deadline for the GET POCKET GOD IN YOUR COMIC SHOP is August 30. In case you missed it in some of our posts. We've loosened up our requirements to include local book stores that hopefully carry comics! Get your picture taken next to the comics, or graphic novel section!

Also, I've been very busy this week. Working on marketing graphics and best of all, the Pocket God figure box! I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes well with the figure. We've seen the prototypes and moulds and examples of past work so we're hopeful we won't have another manufacturing blunder!

As for the comic, above is a sneak preview for issue 2. The Pygmies venture away from the island in an overturned turtle shell. If you read the comic, you'll know that a blunder caused damage to the "gem of life" which enables their perpetual resurrection, so they decide to travel to a legendary temple to fix it. But guess who's waiting for them in the water?

For everyone who purchased the digital comic, we have a surprise for you! Between the issues Ape is going to submit updates that will include a magazine called the Pygmy Peril. It will include replies to comments on iTunes, various articles, exclusive art and more. Be on the look out!

I haven't had a chance to recap the Wizard World conference. The guys at Wizard World were really awesome to us. And we were happily surprised at how many people stopped to talk to us, buy comics and get signed posters! Here are some images!


Blagojevich stopped by the booth!



Some fans dropped off art! This is a cool map created by Austin Stengel, explaining the location connections!



Adults, teens and kids stopped by the booth, but a few were too cute not to photograph



Buy the comic, get a free poster!



We gave out prizes for beating Dave at the Runs!



Dave gave a presentation with one of his clever titles. I made him a slide.

Back From Wizard World Chicago!

Dave left from Chicago to visit with family, but I just came back tonight and have a bunch of things to post. We had a lot of fun at the Wizard World convention and were shocked to completely sell out of the Pocket God comic! We didn't have the plushes (we had a lot of 'splainin' to do) but because we felt so guilty, gave away a ton of posters, urns and figures until we ran out. I have a lot of photos and fan art to post soon...but I saw this on Twitter from Bleedingcool.com and thought I'd post it. By the way, if you took a picture at the convention send a note to boltcreative@gmail.com and we'll blog it!



And by the way, I was keeping up on signing comics for kids and had NO idea Dave was being interviewed on video which is why I look like a deer caught in the headlights :)

P.S. There have been a lot of kids writing in about the contest saying they don't have a comic store nearby. We are going to loosen up and let you take a picture in a book store with the flyer. Just be sure to leave the flyer with a worker at a cashier!

Wizard World This Week! and uh oh, Pocket God Plush delay

Hey everyone, just a reminder for all who will be in Chicago and/or be at Wizard World, Dave and I will be there promoting the PG comic, giving out posters, and even holding a panel to talk about the whole Pocket God story....the panel is called "A-Hole in Time, Pocket God's Past Present And Future" or something like that!

Okay, there are a lot of twitters out there about the Plushes being available at Wizard World, but we've hit a manufacturing snag and it looks like we are showing up empty handed. We'll have the samples, but none to sell :( We are really bummed about this, but we are kind of new to this and are finding out the pitfalls of toy production.

We will definitely have free posters for signing and the Pocket God comic, which has content not on the digital version!



Oh yeah, and update on the next update, I think we're calling it "Monkey See, Monkey Chew"...I have been animating monkeys, monkeys, monkeys and they are doing all sorts of mischievous, and perhaps somewhat inappropriate things. Dave is hooking it up while I work on another custom pack....There won't be as much of a wait this time around! Also, we've seen all the art for the next Pocket God comic and it looks amazing. We've also seen some "thumbs" for issue 3 today when their adventures get really crazy....and I got really stoked on how awesome the whole mini-series is coming out. More later!

Pygmies Invade the Trenches!

Its been a while since we've had a cross-over, so we've teamed up with Thunder Game Works to send the Pygmies to Western Europe in their hit Tower Defense Game, Trenches! Its totally hilarious, so if you haven't gotten this game yet, now you have an excuse. You can read more about it on Slide To Play.

>> Go get Trenches and start killing Zombie Pygmies! <<

Slide To Play Interview

Tim Rattray interviewed Dave and I and posted this great article on their site, talking about the comic, Journey to Uranus and regular ol' Pocket God!

>> Click Here to Read Article <<

And again, thanks to everyone who purchased the comic. It hasn't gone unnoticed. In fact, we're discussing adding free content between issues to tie people over, including artist sketches, concept art, interviews, and who knows what else! More on that later!

Early Comic Reviews

Thanks to everyone who bought a comic in the last week and brought it until the top 25! It was one of iVerse's fastest rising books and is currently number one in the book apps section.

And people are starting to send in their comic book shop pics, which is awesome. We'll catch up on that very soon. Someone will be collecting them every few days and we will start posting them on our flickr account.

In the mean time, here are a few reviews of the comic (either from a advance copy of the print, or digital) we've found so far!

App Advice: 4.5 out of 5

"The art style is amazing with such fine detail packed into every panel building so much upon the simplicity of the app. Every pygmy has its own style that fits their personality perfectly, and it’s great seeing them interact from panel to panel. "

>> Read full review here <<

Comixtreme: Surprisingly Good

"Jason M. Burns has taken this simple concept and woven it into a really funny comic book... Rolando Mallada totally sells the comedy in this issue through his artwork. "

>>Read full review here<<

Richard Vasseur: 5 out of 5

"These cute little guys and girl are wonderfully delightful characters. You will love following their adventures.
The adventures these little people have on their little Island are so much fun. And the lazer shark and octopus really give this a added punch."

>>Read full review here<<

ComicNews: check this one out!

"Jason M. Burns makes this a very interesting and funny comic book. The artwork of Rolando Mallada does a wonderful job of complimenting the story. Simply some very good art here!"

>> Read full review here <<

Newsarama:

"Jason M. Burns has proven time and time again, that he has a knack for fun, all-ages type stories and this book continues that trend. While it may seem pretty brutal with the notion of killing these characters over and over, it's no more violent than a Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon (and who doesn't love those?).... Ronaldo Mallada has a great style and captured the essence of the game with his environments, and the pygmies themselves. He can also draw one mean laser-shark. "

>>Read full review here<<

So have you bought the comic yet? No? Click here to get it! Its only 99 cents!

A note on the contest. A few people say there are no comic shops near them. If that is the case, then a book store of some sort will be ok...hopefully with a comic section! And I'm not sure if its clear in the original instructions, but the code that is on the Pocket God comic poster will also be sent to anyone who emails a picture.

Episode 33 FINALLY Out

This is by far the biggest delay in an update, but in conjunction with the release of the comic, its out! This update includes a new area, Ape Mountain, where you can perform a terrible sacrifice ritual to bring out the giant ape...and then its feedin' time! We've also added another skin pack, where you can change various items to pay homage to old school video games.



But the big news is the PG comic is now up on iTunes....help us get it in the rankings. Its only 99cents (US) which is lower than we initially expected! Thanks guys.

>> Go Get the Pocket God Comic! <<

And check out the post below this (or click the margin graphic), to find out how you can enter a drawing to win a $1,000 Apple Gift certificate, and get the unlock code for the jet pack in Ooga Jump!

Get Pocket God in the Comic Shops! CONTEST CLOSED

WE HAVE A WINNER! CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT IT!


Hey guys! The digital comic has been released, but now a print version is available for order to comic store owners. The print comics will have extra content and stories not found in the digital version! But we need to increase awareness, so we've come up with this promotion. If you participate, we'll give you a special code that unlocks a Jet Pack in Ooga Jump! Also, you'll get the chance to win a $1000 Apple gift certificate!

All it takes is a camera, a flyer, and a visit to your local comic book store! Here's what you do...

• Print out this FLYER. If you don't have access to a printer, just draw your own version on paper.
  
• Bring it and a camera to your local comic shop.
  
• Take your picture holding the flyer somewhere in the shop where we can tell its a comic store. Near the comic racks, in the front, etc. Wait...do they have the Pocket God promo poster up? Get that in the shot!
  
• Leave the flyer with the cashier at the register. The flyer should say it all, but tell them you are fan of Pocket God!
  
• While you are there, look for the Pocket God promotional poster. If it is up, the unlock code for the Ooga Jump jet pack is on it!
  
• Send us your picture to this email.... contest@boltcreative.com! Please include your name, the city and the name of the comic book shop. We will automatically send you the Jet Pack unlock code and enter you in a drawing to win a $1000 Apple Gift Certificate!
  
• You may enter for every (different) comic book shop you submit! Don't know where a comic shop is near you? If you download the digital comic, a comic shop locator is included with the app!
  
• Deadline for entries is Aug 30, 2010.
  
  >> CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL VERSION NOW ON iTUNES!!! <<
  
  

Dave's State of the Island!

Dave talks about the delays, next update, skin pack and asks people's opinion on the next episode's title!

>> Dave's State of the Island on Touch Arcade <<

Back From Comic-Con

Hey guys. Dave and I came back to San Francisco from San Diego yesterday after spending four days at the ever-popular Comic-con trade show! This was my first time and it is truly and amazing event. CROWDED but amazing. Ape had two booths and we did our signing at their new off-shoot brand "Kizoic" every day for two hours. We brought posters as a give-away, and Ape had produced the first issue of Pocket God for us to sell! We gave posters to everyone who bought a comic and signed everything. We also previewed the Pocket God plush prototypes, created by Alix. We are in the process of producing the standard Pygmy, but decided the next one to produce HAS to be the Zombie Pygmy. We also showed people the initial version of Journey To Uranus, which still needs a lot of work, but got a lot of approval for it. It was a lot of fun for us and want to thank everyone who stopped by! It made our year!

As for the update....why is it taking so long? Well, to be honest, we were hoping to line up a bunch of promotions at the same time to get people to buy the comic, but some of it may or may not happen. I was actually a little confused myself and thought it was submitted a while back and we were holding it for the comic and promotions to go through..but again, everything is taking too long but it looks like the comic will be approved soon. So we decided to just submit it last week and release both, no matter what, on August 3, promotions or not. Sorry for the delay, but Dave took that time to optimize the game more and it runs MUCH faster even on slower devices. He also cut a bunch of time off the initial load...so at least we used the time. I used the time to work on "Journey to Uranus" but now will go back designing the next update which will involve......more primates!

If anyone reads this blog and received the comic at the Con, feel free to give their review in the comments...We want to hear 'em good or bad!

If you are in Chicago in late August, be sure to come to the next convention "Wizard World". Dave and I will be doing more of the same there, but will also have more exclusive stuff to give away and will even have plushes for sale!

Here are some pics that were snapped at the booth...

Comic-con Schedule

Oh boy! There is a lot of frustration about waiting for the update in the comments. I'm really sorry I haven't gotten to responding to them. I'm, actually, just as frustrated as you are and just trying to push through the pile of Pocket God work. There is some somewhat unfortunate stuff going on behind the scenes that I can't go into. Every time I hope we can move forward something is in the way. Thanks for everyone's patience! Dave has done some awesome work optimizing, so the next version will not only run faster, but he has fixed it so we can cram in yet MORE content to the Pygmy's world.

So, yes, going to San Diego, will interrupt my progress on Episode 34 (the next one, not the one in the queue)...but I am really looking forward to Comic-con. I've never been and I hear it is a blast. Plus we will be hanging with dudes from Ape Comics and they are really good guys. Dave and I will have our laptops and will be working during the off-times...but I'm going to want to get in some comic and toy shopping!

So, Ape basically has us scheduled to do a signing every day and we urge you to come by! We will be giving out posters, comic samples (I think), and if you say the code word "Summer Squash", we will give you a Pocket God figure (till supplies run out)! No, its not the plushes, but those are in production.

We will be at the Kizoic/Ape Booth, and our signing times:

Thursday, July 22, 2PM - 4 PM
Friday July 23, 4PM - 6 PM
Saturday July 24, 1PM - 3PM
Sunday July 25, 11AM - 1 PM

Stop by and say hi!

Back from vacation and the chaos begins

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of blog entries. We're incredibly busy, but I just came back from a week-long vacation, and before that Dave and I traveled for a Pocket God related meeting. Here's what's going on...

The comic is in the approval process and the update is submitted as well. Should be out any minute now. I am working on getting art to the programmers for Uranus. I worked on much of the preliminary art months ago, and now am getting my head back in it. Uranus will involve some 3d elements which is looking great! Dave is working with the guys to solidify the game mechanic. Once I give them enough to keep them going. I will work on the art for the second part of our Primate trilogy...which will involve monkeys! These monkeys will be of a smaller variety.

Dave and I will fly to San Diego Comic-con next week to support the Pocket God comic.

In the mean-time, Diamond Publishing has posted an 8-page preview of the PG comic. Check it out!

>> Read the Comic Preview Here <<

The cool art above is from elbetor.

Journey To Uranus coming to iPad

Hey guys! Remember that teaser image we put up a while ago.... well, finally, we're unveiling the next Pocket God project, "Journey To Uranus", coming this Fall to the iPad! It won't be a remake of Pocket God or even "Pocket God II", but Pocket-God spinoff set of mini-games centered around being able to take Pygmies to other worlds. All the interactivity will focus on the strengths of the iPad, namely the bigger size, the extra screen real estate and multi-touch.

>> Read CNN Article Here <<

This doesn't mean we are stopping Pocket God "proper". We have recruited the programming team (Paul Pridham and Elias Pschernig) to help us out while we still work on PG updates. We are already working on the next update as part of our primate theme. And the current update "A Pygmy A Day Keeps the Ape Away" is ready to go...We just have to wait a bit for the comic to be reviewed so we can time both to come out at the same time! As usual, sorry for the wait!