Matcheroo on the front page of Kongregate

We recently posted Matcheroo, a puzzle game by John / Forklift Kid, to Kongregate. It's been doing very well and tonight it made it to the front page. Check out Matcheroo on Kongregate.

News Coverage

[Update] James Wagner Au wrote a very nice article on GigaOm. Although Josh should get the credit for PlayCrafter looking so good, I am but the interaction designer (so I'll take credit for the "intuitive feel of the building experience" ;-)...)

James Wagner Au on GigaOm: "[...] what impressed Om and I most was the site’s whimsical beauty. [...] I particularly liked the intuitive feel of the building experience, and the robustness of its internal physics — an element that should appeal to all the hundreds of thousands of gamers who embraced Line Rider."

We are getting some nice news coverage:

Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb: "PlayCrafter is another example of the way the new web is enabling users to become creators and blowing up the world of content options everyone has to engage with. We love this kind of stuff."

Phil Elliott on GamesIndustry.biz: "PlayCrafter is attempting to address the problem of offering users a comprehensive set of tools, while at the same time keeping the editor accessible [...]"

Ryan Stewart, Evangelist for Adobe: "The games are fun, the interface is nice, and the application is very impressive. "

Raph Koster: "[...] they almost force a game grammar approach to things, in a way."

Remedy: "Lets even the most inexperienced 'programmer' create something of their very own."

And a mention in a post on Player Created Content on Kim Pallister's blog.

Game Creation: Now Open to Everyone!

We opened up the site this morning. It's official, PlayCrafter is now live. :-)

Sign up for PlayCrafter between now and August 22nd to qualify for our Grand Opening Giveaway. The winner will have the choice between:

• a Microsoft Xbox 360 and 8,000 Microsoft points for Live Arcade game downloads
• a Sony Playstation 3 and $100 for the Playstation Network Store
• a Nintendo Wii and 10,000 Wii points for game downloads

Every friend you invite who signs up for PlayCrafter gives you another entry into the giveaway.

The Long Tail of Games? PlayCrafter Wants to Open the Door to User-Created Games

The world of video game making is largely reserved for only those who have dedicated a considerable amount of time to learning the tools required. PlayCrafter is looking to change that with our version of the ‘camcorder for games’, a tool that combines power with ease, enabling anyone to make a game in a matter of minutes.

PlayCrafter is a new flash-based website that lets users easily create a variety of 2D games. The games use physics and are created by dragging and dropping customizable game pieces. The site is in public Alpha. If you think you’d like to try your hand at making a video game, or just want to play games others have created, check it out at www.playcrafter.com.

Users can upload their own graphics for all of a game’s pieces, including the background of the game. Creators can build upon the ideas of others by editing or personalizing existing games and discussing their games with the community. Creators can publish their games to the site itself, and also share their creations with their friends. PlayCrafter will even allow you to post your new game on your blog or social networking site. We currently support eleven different game types including golf, breakout, shooters, platformers, puzzles, with more on the way.

Creators can earn a share of revenues generated by their games. Currently, ads are shown when games that have been published off-site are loaded. We have plans to increase revenues for creators in a variety of different ways.

PlayCrafter is changing the way games are made by dramatically lowering the cost and expertise required for game creation.

What Are You Gonna Make?

We put together a short video to get you pumped about PlayCrafter. Enjoy!

New Game Pieces!

We just added a number of exciting game pieces. We can wait to see what you'll do with them. Enjoy!

New Player Controlled pieces:

• Corkman, our platformer character. He runs around following your mouse, jumps when you left click.
• Delaware Davis, a top down view treasure hunter character. He runs around following the mouse.
• Attack Choppa, a side view helicopter, follows the mouse and shoots when you click.
• Intercepter, a classic arcade style spaceship. Moves side to side only and fires when you click.
• Arty Cannon, a rapid fire artillery cannon.
• Hand, manipulates the world directly, grabs on click.
  

New Treasure & Taker pieces:

• 3 connect, put 3 of the same color pieces together and they disappear.
• Killer Crab, he might run sideways but he is very effective at following the player.
• Evil Queen, spawns lots of little bugs that seek out the player. Watch out!

Recent Activity and More...

We have added a number of exciting features. You can now follow creators you want to keep up with and receive an email when they create a new game. You can also receive an email when someone comments on your game or leaves you a holler in your booth. Control which emails you receive by clicking on "My Account Settings" in your booth.

Your booth now features a Recent Activity board. You can see new comments on your games, new hollers, new games that creators you are following have created and new fans (people who are following you) all in one place.

We hope you'll like all this new stuff. We love to hear from you so please send us feedback (by clicking on the feedback link in the footer or by sending email at support [AT] playcrafter [DOT] com).