Previews

Hands on with the mobile version of Freaky Creatures

Collectible monster game to connect mobiles and PCs

Hands on with the mobile version of Freaky Creatures
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| Freaky Creatures

Cross-platform gameplay has long been discussed with regards to mobile games, yet Freaky Creatures looks set to be the first to actually employ it. Abandon Interactive has spent the last three years conceptualizing and building the technology behind the colorful collectible creatures game and we went hands on with it to test its limits.

Freaky Creatures can be likened to a cheekier variation of Pokémon. You manage a stable of up to 20 monsters, customizing their look and equipping them to engage in battle with other creatures. From dragons to cyclops to gray extraterrestrials, there are ten basic creature types, each with five customizable parts. Between selecting colours and accessories for head, chest, legs/tail, and left and right arms, thousands of unique creature combinations are possible. You can even assign a theme song for your creature.

Once you've decked out a creature, you're able to send it into battle. Freaky Creatures utilizes a turn-based combat system that operates in a way similar to a game of rock-paper-scissors. For each turn, you choose a body part to counter your opponent's selection. The amount of damage dealt depends on your equipment and whether you part is stronger or weaker than your enemy's. In addition, special power cards picked up through the course of play can be used as one-time bonuses that boost attack power or steal an opponent's item.

The game can be played in three ways: on a PC, via a web browser, or anywhere through a mobile phone. Each offers the same game, albeit with minor differences to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of the platforms. (The PC, for example, boasts full three-dimensional graphics, which are pared down to two-dimensional sprites and text menus on mobile.) With regards to the core gameplay, though, what you'll find on mobile mirrors what's played on PC.

What's more, any changes to your creatures made on one platform applies to the other two. Reconfigure a creature's appearance on your mobile and then log into the game on your PC, for instance, and you'll immediately see the changes you made on the mobile version. All three versions of the game run on the same database, so changes are reflected instantaneously across each platform.

What's most exciting about Freaky Creatures is the ability to engage in cross-platform battles. When signed into the game from any format, you can entertain battle challenges from other players regardless of their platform. For instance, you could easily instigate a battle on your mobile while out and about against an individual sitting at home in front of their PC. The hope is that ubiquity will hook you into the game since you're able to play practically anywhere.

Access to all three versions of the game is granted upon purchase of a retail package that includes a figurine and USB thumb drive containing the game application. When it ships later this year, you simply install the game onto your PC from the USB stick and set up an account. Getting the mobile version will require synchronizing your handset to the PC on which you installed the game client.

From our experience so far, we're very much looking forward to trying it out in the real world.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.