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We talked to the Dub Dash devs about the new and improved Android version [Sponsored]

And their plans for the future

We talked to the Dub Dash devs about the new and improved Android version [Sponsored]
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Dub Dash has just launched on Android, and it comes with several quite impactful improvements.

For a start it's free - but you can pay to remove the ads if you find them to be a nuisance. Then there's the new Challenge Mode which automatically generates new levels based on tracks you've already unlocked.

If you haven't checked out Dub Dash yet, it's a challenging rhythm action game on iOS and Android in which you have to navigate a wheel in a 3D level in time to the beat of the music.

We talked to Darko Pavic and Lars Krecklau, the developers behind Dub Dash, about what's changed in the brand new Android version, the new Challenge Mode, and what we can expect in Dub Dash's future.

How does the Android version play better than the iOS version?

Darko Pavic: "We've remastered the the menu using high quality images instead of the dark and blurry music visualization theme as before. Also, you'll now have to complete a map to unlock a new one now.

"We've also introduced a new mechanic, a teaser of which can be seen in the background of the level selection screen."

Lars Krecklau: "We've also put a lot of effort into reducing the difficulty. It's still a tough game but we've reduced the level of frustration.

"For example, you can now build up a collection of lives by playing Challenge Mode. Then, whenever you die, you can use one to revive at the last portal."

Have you learned any lessons from the iOS launch and how have they benefited the Android version?

Darko Pavic: "For the iOS versions, all of the tracks were unlocked from the beginning, which wasn't the best decision.

"The statistics showed that players overestimated their ability and tried to play the more difficult levels before mastering the easier tracks.

"This leads to an early frustration so we decided to redesign it so that the tracks will be unlocked one by one."

What led to the decision to launch Dub Dash for free on Android instead of premium as on iOS?

Lars Krecklau: "Well, there's already a free lite version available on iOS. The difference here is that the Android version contains the same content as the premium version but with ads.

"We got a lot of great feedback on social media - especially the official YouTube channel. From the comments, we learned that Android users tend to prefer free to play - but we didn't want to lose our premium playerbase either."

Can you tell us more about the new Challenge Mode which is unique to the Android version?

Lars Krecklau: "Challenge Mode generates brand new levels based on music tracks that you've already unlocked, and rewards you with lives for completing them.

"For now, the generated tracks only contain jump mode and jump pad sections. Since these are already very tricky, the random map will contain less or more of them depending on how many levels you've unlocked.

"You can only play Challenge Mode once every few hours in the free version, but, if you remove the ads, you can play this mode an infinite number of times."

Where do you see Dub Dash headed moving forward? Will development continue on future updates?

Darko Pavic: "Definitely! If we can build up a sufficiently large community, we're planning to develop a level editor based on free music, such as the tracks that can be found on newgrounds.

"It's quite a lot of work to build a track from scratch in 3D, so the user will get a pre-generated map that can be refined in every detail.

"We are also thinking about bringing the multiplayer from the Steam version to mobile but we need to perform some optimisations to make this possible.

"Finally, we're thinking about how to integrate third party libraries for music playback like Spotify. It's a long term goal, but it would be great to challenge your friends in multiplayer on a map that was automatically generated to your favourite music track!"

Dub Dash is out right now in the App Store [download] and Google Play [download].