Choose Your Champion:
- Chihuahuas are famously weak and unthreatening, but the Aztecs and Toltecs were said to take their slightly larger ancestors—Techichi dogs—into battle.
- Further south, the Incans had used Llamas as their primary beasts of burden, among other things, for centuries.
Candy Critters imagines these animals coming to the forefront of their respective empires to do adorable battle.
“I wondered what would happen if llamas and chihuahuas had their own ancient empires and went to war with each other,” explained Whitney Grace, lead developer of the project, over email.
The game design takes inspiration from Mancala, an ancient game dating back to at least the 7th century—which makes it among the oldest known games ever played. It has historically been played with small stones, beans, or seeds as game pieces. Gameplay involves choosing a pile of pieces out of several holes or pots and distributing them—in order—so that hopefully the most “arrive” at your goal as possible. Player choices essentially come down to choosing which pot to pick next, because they all have to be distributed in the same fashion.
Candy Critters builds on this mechanic by replacing those game pieces with cards that have different strengths and abilities.
“Cards are moved around a play mat, while players try to match candy weapons to corresponding warrior cards. There are also cards to use to your advantage or hinder your opponent. Game play is 2 players and lasts 30-60 minutes,” Grace said.
By adding another element to an otherwise fairly well-known gameplay structure, Grace hopes to make a game that parents won’t mind playing with their kids.
“I wanted Candy Critters to be easy enough that kids could pick up the rules, but engaging enough that adults would want to play without complaint. Parents are corralled into playing tedious games that their offspring might love, but they can’t stand. Meanwhile kids want to play with their parents, but they don’t like condescension. Candy Critters uses what I call the ‘Sesame Street effect,’ entertainment made for kids and adults,” she said.
The art, by AJ Merrich, aims to be on the cute side of the scale while not being too juvenile.
“I compare his art style to Sonic the Hedgehog and Cartoon Network’s cartoons from the early 2000s, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and Cow and Chicken,” said Grace. “The cute animals were carefully designed to appeal to children and adults.”
Alexander Sierputowski of GameDirection LLC is taking the lead on game design. To learn more, you can visit the game’s webpage, where you can subscribe to be updated or any new developments.
And if you’re going to be at PAX Unplugged this weekend, keep an eye out for some chihuahuas and llamas in South American battle armor.