Issue Ten - A Quest Called Tribe debuts

The new issue of the Pocket God comic is here, launching the new story arc, "A Quest Called Tribe." The mysterious new female pygmy Sun convinces the tribe to help her on her quest to find the rest of her missing tribe mates. Although Ooga doesn't trust her, Klik has his reasons for wanting to help, relating to the shadowy figure who has possessed his dreams. This adventure whisks the pygmies off to an exotic, mysterious place outside their comfort zone, and Ooga doesn't like it one bit. Is he right? Is he wrong? Will Nooby ever get a clue about anything?


I hope you can tell by the images above how APE Entertainment has really outdone itself with the artwork! Plus, the comic includes the usual extras, including the Pygmy Peril newsletter and an exclusive re-mastered version of the first Pocket God animated short.

>> Get yourself Issue 10 now! <<

Closing things off, we're flattered to discovered that the Facebook Apple App store has named "Pocket God" as one of its "Addictive Games"!

>> See it here! <<

Thanks, Apple!

Bleeding Cool talks about Pocket God sales!

Here we are again, letting you know we're still alive (more or less) and continuing to expand the PG madness behind the scenes!

Some good news.. the new iOS Pocket God update is nearly finished! Allan and Dave have furiously been laboring to bring our shiny new addition to life. It's going to be interesting, it's going to be fun, and it's probably going to be messy. Watch out!

Also, the "Decapithon" game is still in progress for Pocket God Uranus. We've been working so hard over this we're starting to feel like we're ON Zombie Island. Though we're glad that Big Booga already seems to be a hit with people! Wait 'til you see him in action.

As to the Pocket God comic, issue 10 has been at last submitted, containing the first part of the "A Quest Called Tribe" story arc. And speaking of the comic, Bleeding Cool has noticed that the digital comic has hit a milestone:

>> Read it here! <<

Just for perspective: Pocket God comic readers outnumber the entire population of Casper, Wyoming. Not that we have anything against the town of Casper, Wyoming; it's just a town we picked at random. But it makes ya think, doesn't it?

Fix available for the recent "Two and a Half Pygmies" Android update!

Hey, folks! Apparently some people have had crashing and/or sound trouble with the new Android four-in-one update so ngmoco now has a fix available (Version 1.3.1) that should clear that up.

>> Click here to get the fix! <<

If you still continue to have problems with Pocket God for the Android, contact ngmoco at support.ngmoco.com with your device information so they can assist you.

As always, thanks for being patient and understanding!

Slow News Week: What's going on?

So, once again we've hit a lull in Pocket God world. That is not to say we aren't extremely busy behind the curtain with updates. We hope to get one out in the next two weeks and then the other soon after. We're not sure which update will come first, PG Uranus or PG proper, but here's a quick blurb on each project.

Pocket God: We are adding yet another new area to the map! However, it might not be what you expect and it will have a new creature. I am still actually animating the creature, but this part should be done pretty soon. Dave's been upgrading Pocket God code (again) and we will be using some new technology, so a bonus feature will soon be added to Battle of the Gods. What is it? Well, I'm told not to reveal it but it's gonna be cool!



Pocket God Uranus: The second part of our Zombie Island addition is taking a bit more time. It actually has THREE new characters in a brand new game (above is a sneak peek of Big Booga)! And I'm going to go ahead and clue you in, it will involve zombies and is called "Decapithon". Use your imagination on that one!

Pocket God Comic: Well, we caught some heat for our cross-over. While we made an attempt to write a story that will be important to the Pocket God world, it is, admittedly, an odd issue. However, the next story arc "A Tribe Called Quest" is on its way and is more in line with the first two arcs... except (we hope) BETTER! The adventure is bolder, the stakes are higher and the cast of characters continues to grow. As the tribe gets to know Sun, they resolve to help her. This takes the pygmies on a new journey that hints at their mysterious past and alludes to future conflicts with mysterious forces. And as we learned at the end of Tale of Two Pygmies, Newbie (Nooby's allegedly evil clone) is somehow involved! Check out this sneak peek of Issue 10!



Pocket God Facebook: As some of you may be aware, we had some growing pains starting in the spring. As the community grew, it strained the servers and technology behind it, so we've gone back to the drawing board a bit. Frima has been working hard all summer to stabilize PG Facebook and we're gearing up to make a big push for new players again! Meanwhile, it has been chugging along and there have been some new additions. This deserves its own blog entry so more on this later.

Top Secret Pocket God Project: Still top secret! Hence the name! Of course you could point out how ridiculous it is to call it top secret when it can't be THAT secret if I'm writing about it. But let's just say it's Top Secret and not Top Top Secret. Or we could just forget about it for now and move on to the next item...

Pocket God Merchandise! Items we've been promising all year (turns out merchandising is HARD!) are on their way and we will definitely have new stuff to sell before Christmas! More on THIS later!

Speaking of merchandise, the above pygmy plushes are fan-made by MJDIllusion!

>> Check out MGDIllusion's Deviant Art page! <<

So that's quite a bit of news for a slow news week! I hope it whets your appetite. Since it's probably not practical to invite everyone into our homes to watch us work, you'll have to take our word for it that everything we've mentioned is on the fast track to becoming a reality. Stick around!

Two and a Half Pygmies for the Android... four updates in one!

At long, long, long last, your patience is finally rewarded! ngmoco has finally completed the latest update for the Android, "Two and a Half Pygmies"! Despite the title, this actually combines four of the iOS updates in one fell swoop:


Episode 32: Crack is Wack


Drag your finger along the island to create a crack in the Earth. Cracks formed under pygmies will send them plummeting to the Earth's core, and initiate the new mini-game "The Runs" (an homage to the awesome app store game, "Canabalt").


Episode 36: Konkey Dong


Place a pygmy in the grip of the gorilla idol on Ape Mountain (be sure to have the banana tree turned on) and the mini-game will begin. When the game starts, tilt the device to go left and right, tap the right to jump, tap upper left to climb up a ladder and lower left to climb down a ladder.



Episode 37: The Moron Pests


The pygmies, through their dreams, access the "Island of Misfit Crossovers", a surreal dreamscape where anything can happen. In this particular case, it's a misfit crossover with the Moron Test! Drop the snake on the Pygmy, and the snake will swallow him whole, taking you to the mini-game "The Moron Pests." Like the Moron Test, you are forced to answer seemingly easy questions, but in this, correct answers help the Pygmy run faster as an angry turtle chases him! See how far you can get!



Episode 38: TWO and a half PYGMIES


The first ever guest-pygmy visits Oog Island. He's a mysterious stranger who babbles about winning, and does weird things like turn into a tiger and slice other pygmies in half. Who is he? He's a total freaking rock star from Mars, that's who he is! Oh, and he calls himself Charlie.

>> Click here to receive the latest update, TWO AND A HALF PYGMIES, on the Android! <<

Thanks for being so patient. We know it's been a long time, but we hope you'll find it was worth the wait!

A comic review, an article, and Legos

Hey again, folks. Hope you all had a great three-day weekend! As for us, we've spent Labor Day... laboring on updates. We're dedicated, what can we say?

We've come across a review of the first four issues of the Pocket God comic. It's a pretty positive review, adding some nice things about Jason, Rolo and Paul, the diehard team at APE Entertainment who help to put the comic together!

>> Read the Comickazee review here!<<

Speaking of APE, Dave Hedgecock describes his involvement with the comic in this article from July. It's pretty interesting seeing how the comic came to be from his point of view!

>> Check out the article at Pipe Dream Comics!<<

And lastly, on the lighter side of things, here's a homemade Lego pygmy. Don't you wish you had one of your own?

Crazy Mike is crazy

Hey, kids! It's a bit of a slow news month. Our heads are down, and we've been working 24/7 (and sometimes 25/8) on the next updates for Pocket God and Pocket God Uranus on the iOS. Meanwhile, ngmoco has been working on updating the Android app. They are lumping several updates together (these updates are already on the iOS) so it's going to be a big one! We'll let you know when it's out.

In the meantime, we thought we'd post this review from Crazy Mike's Apps. He has this to say about the Android version of PG:

This Android app allows the user the opportunity to torture, torment, and yes at times be nice to their very own race of pygmy peoples in various environments (island, underwater Atlantis, and north or south pole you figure out). Pocket God is the ingenius idea of the “crazy” guys over at Bolt Creative and this classic iOS game is just as fun on the Android platform.

>> Watch the video review here! <<

Thanks, Mike!

Battle of the Gods video tutorial!

Hey folks! For those who are visually-oriented, there's a brand new video tutorial by JKDabomb for our latest update:



As much as we appreciate the compliments, we appreciate more how well it shows the workings of the game! Check it out! And thanks, JK!

In other WITU news, we're still working hard on Pocket God's next updates. Pocket God's next update in particular promises to have some sting to it. And we could say that Pocket God Uranus will show you how to cut your problems in half. We could say that, but we won't.

As for the comic, the next story arc is called "A Quest Called Tribe." On this journey, the pygmies find out more about Sun's background. Hint: it's full of secrets.

That's all for now. Keep reading the blog, there's bound to be more news happening.

Episode 40 - Battle of the Gods is out!

"Battle of the Gods" finally out! I was a bit taken aback how much anticipation there has been, but the wait is over.

Now, on God Island, you can enter the battle arena. All you have to do is earn at least four god idols and set them on the four pedestals to open the temple. Drop a pygmy into the temple to enter the game.

Here you have a chance to go up against every episode's god; there are forty so far. In the battle, both sides get four idols that have certain attributes and powers. Choose the right idols at each turn to win the battle. It plays like a two-tiered rock-paper-scissors, and each idol has a chance of damaging the opponent's health.

At each turn, both sides picks an idol which has two attributes, Realm and Attack Type.




Realm:

There are 5 Realms: Oceanus, Aeris, Animus, Infernus and Pax. If you win the realm, you will activate the idol's special power. Each Realm's idol has a special power which might include protecting you, damaging the opponent, inhibiting the opponent's powers, or some other helpful ability. Then, the attack happens.

Attack Type:

There are 3 Attack Types: Strong, Fast and Counter. If you win the attack type, your pygmy makes the successful attack that will inflict damage upon the opponent. But the special powers can affect the amount of damage, so this doesn't always mean you're the most successful in this turn. Choosing the right idol will make a lot of difference.

Dave describes the update in his "State of the Island" on Touch Arcade.







If this sounds complicated, just begin the game with any four idols, but make sure there is one Strong, one Fast and one Counter idol in the four. This way you can play the game while pretty much choosing at random. The first few levels are fairly easy and it's only later battles that require some strategy!

Thanks, guys, and enjoy!



Also included in this update is the Mafia Pack. Change the island statue into a pygmy with cement shoes, the igloo into a casino, the doodler into Scarface and more! It's an offer you can't refuse at 99 cents.

Finally, the awesome "Battle of the Gods" poster at the top was created by the fantastic Josh Ellingson! Check out his site!

Issue #8 is here!

Hey again!

At last, the final chapter of the "Tale of Two Pygmies" storyline arrives at the app store, and it's got some major stuff going on. The tribe is divided against itself, and accusations, rocks and spikes are flying. However, things aren't what they appear to be. If you thought you knew who took the Gem of Life, you were probably wrong, unless you had psychic powers. And like the pygmies themselves, mysteries die... only to regenerate once again.

Ape Entertainment has done an excellent job yet again. Check it out, why don't ya.

Episode 40 FINALLY Submitted!

Hey guys. Really sorry for the delay. Dave pointed out that it is getting kind of cliche for us to say this is "the most complicated update so far." But we did get a bit ambitious! We really hope everyone likes it because this is nearly a whole new game added to the game. It really is a fitting 40th update celebration, because it expands on the Challenge of the Gods and adds what kids have been requesting for a while...pygmy fighting! AND this game is right up Dave's alley. He loves strategy and RPG elements in games. He really worked hard on the rules and we went back and forth on how to present it. And yes, while it is very strategy-based, but you CAN play it just by guessing at first until you pick up on the rules...then in later battles that get harder, you have to strategize and pick idols with purpose. The mechanic is basically a two tiered Rock-Paper-Scissors but each idol also gets a special ability that keeps things interesting. Dave will probably explain it better in his state of the island. But part of the delay is that we wanted to make sure that with more complexity in game play, we made it flow nicely and I think we did. And of course we kept it funny too. I had fun doing different pygmy fighting animations. We decided that sometimes it would be with weapons, and others, something more like anime Dragon Ball Z powers. Then of course we had to have a very Pocket God final death at the end of each battle.



We've decided the next update is going to much more of a traditional PG update closer to Monkey See Monkey Chew or March of the Fire Ants. I'm a little behind on the blog. We've decided to recruit help because we just have too much on our plate to be consistent about communication... Besides working on PG and PG Uranus, Dave and I monitor and approve all PG projects including the comic and Facebook....so it's getting too hairy to handle everything ourselves, so we've been finding new people to help us. I will still add entries, but will have someone else fill people in in between.

BTW, I'm not sure why I'm still having to approve some of the comments. I'm not supposed to have to any more. If your comment doesn't come up right away, I apologize. Again, hopefully I can get the blog running smoother with help!

Pocket God at 2011 San Diego Comic-Con!

It's that time of year again, kids! This week we're headed to San Diego to attend the infamous Comic-con. This time around we're loaded up with swag. We'll have the usual poster give-aways, but for sale will be PVC figures, t-shirts and of course, COMICS! Dave and I will be hanging with the Ape gang at the Ape Comic Booth (#1804) every day from 1 to 3...so come by, say hi (don't be shy, we're chatty), check out the stuff, and we'll sign a poster for ya! The big question for this year is: will the code-word "summer squash" get you anything? You'll have to stop by and find out...but if I were you, I'd do it early. Oh, and we can demo the slightly-delayed Battle of the Gods. It's almost there but we need another week to polish it up. Here is Ape's schedule:

Overdue blog post! Where is the update?

It's that time of year again! Vacation time! To complicate matters, we're working on the craziest update "Battle of the Gods" we've ever worked on. The plan was to have it done before I went on vacation but after working hard on it, it became clear that it needed more love. The reality is we're trying to make a game design that would take most companies several months to a year and squeezing the production into a month (ok, a little more). There's quite a game behind that battle arena! I'm back but it needs some more animations from me now. But mostly we need to work on the game mechanic a little more.

In the meanwhile, Journey To Uranus now has zombies! And you can do more than create them. you can take them off planet or have another pygmy fight them! We also have more planned for the zombies for the next update, so I know it looks like not much is happening but we are working hard.

To make matters a EVEN MORE complicated, Dave and I will drop by Comic-con this coming week. We're trying to submit beforehand, but I'm concerned we won't. So, vacation is over and it's back to work!

More coming!

By the way, the awesome poster above was created by Aaron Blecha of Monstersquid.com.

Pocket God Forums 2 Year Anniversary!

Liam, a.k.a. SaintsAlive, a fan of PG from the almost the very beginning, contacted me the other day to let us know that the Pocket God Forums have just hit their two year anniversary! He and a few friends started the forum as an alternative to Touch Arcade, where they could freely discuss updates, suggest features and share art for Pocket God and other apps that they appreciated.

Saints shares admin duties with PocketCow, who has been instrumental in keeping the forums up and running, and are helped by Tigermouse and Jamesbond007.

So, to celebrate the 2 year, they interviewed Dave and I about the current state of Pocket God.

>> Read PG Forums Interview Here! <<

And while you are there, be sure to check out the rest of the forums. Of course my favorite part is always the fan art, especially the comics. They are often hilarious and have me laughing out loud!




Thanks SaintsAlive, Pocket Cow, Tigermouse and Jamesbond007! Keep up the good work!

I had to remove the animated gif at the top (by Pygkid104 a.k.a. Failboat103), because I just linked it to it's photobucket location and apparently we've exceeded the maximum views. Will put it back when I get a copy and put it on my server.

Update on Comic Issue 7!

We have an update on the PG comic. So it looks like the latest issue (Issue 7, Tale of Two Pygmies Part 2) is showing up on the app now! Still a few glitches that iVerse is working fast and furious on the update to correct. The most obvious of which is that the cover for issues 7 (Ooga and Klik staring each other down), on the menu is showing the cover for issue 1. But you see the correct cover once you open the comic. This will be fixed very soon.

Bottom line is, you SHOULD BE ABLE to download the latest issue now! And if you are having technical issues and can't read something you purchased (or is otherwise free)....we WILL fix this pronto. We're on it! Be on the lookout for updates that improve the functionality as well as the look and feel of the app. Believe us, it means a LOT to us to create the best pygmy story we can and have people get into it. Dave and I have been so focused on working with Jason Burns and David Hedgecock to create an epic adventure, filled with mystery, drama and of course our evil sense of humor. We probably weren't watching the app development as closely as we should have. But we are now! So thank you for your patience. And btw, if you've read issue 7, feel free to post your reviews here and speculate on what will happen next! I bet you can't guess!

Pygmies All Over the App Store Charts!

So, this last week (comic issues aside) has been an amazing week for the inhabitants of Oog Island. Once we released the update of PG Uranus as universal app, it zipped up the charts! Sure we still are bested by that pack of ticked off avians, but we'll take it! This morning, it dawned on me. Pocket God is currently at #1 in Entertainment, PG Uranus is at #3 in Games and Overall Paid, and Pocket God, the Comic is #2 in books! And that's not counting the iPad charts. It's a perfect Pygmy storm! So guys, one LITTLE nudge could put the comic at #1, and one MASSIVE nudge could put Uranus at #1 Overall! Tell your friends and family, give the Pygmies a chance!

Pocket God Episode 40 Sneak Peek

So I wanted to take care of the comic bug controversy this morning and held off on the Sneak Peek at episode 40 that I promised if Uranus went top 3 (and btw, it's now in top ten grossing). Then Dave sent me an angry touch arcade post form Jakerocksalot16 calling us on it, so whoops! Better get on it! At the moment, the art section is still being produced independently of the game engine, but here is some art for ya!

That looks like one angry Pygmy!

What's Up With the Comic?!

Hey guys. This morning I was psyched to hear the comic was approved only to find out that the new issue isn't showing up....and the new issue of the Pygmy Peril is causing some people to crash. Darn it! After all the production delays...artist getting sick, iVerse being backed up...we finally get it out and it doesn't even show up on the app! I am excited for everyone to see how this arc turns out...there are a few surprises and has a great cliff hanger for the next arc....which takes the Pygmies off their island on a new epic adventure with new mysteries, characters and settings.

If we can just get out this $%! Issue! Well, we'll post on the blog any news, but hopefully it gets submitted and expedited by Apple for the weekend, but we can't count on it.

So, I promised some sneak peeks if Uranus got to number three (and it DID, woohoo!!!). So for that reason, and begging forgiveness for delays, here you go!

Three whole pages of Issue 7 Tale of Two Pygmies (part 2)
(click the pages to see the readable version!)






Panel from Issue 8, Tale of Two Pygmies (part 3)


Rough pencil from Issue 9 (super secret epic adventure) AFTER ToTP


Stay tuned for a sneak peek at the next Pocket God (the app), episode Battle of the Gods!