Attack Kumquat HD 1.2

Broadsword Publishing Limited has announced a new Chinese version of their Attack Kumquat HD 1.2 app for iPad. This is the latest in a series of updates in response to customer and reviewer feedback and follows the launch of a Welsh language version.

The player must successfully create mechanical linkages, causing a chain reaction that squashes the kumquat, a small orange-like fruit. Players release a metal ball that interacts with bombs, trampolines, boxing gloves, cannons, magnets, rope, weights, scissors, and scaffolding to squish the fruit. HD gameplay takes place in the Arctic, Jungle, Grand Canyon and Sahara through 72 levels.

Designed specifically to exploit iPad's 1024-by-768-pixel, high definition screen, the game provides console-level graphics and animation on a mobile device. Attack Kumquat HD includes an integrated tutorial, and requires players to unlock levels sequentially (once unlocked, a level may be skipped or re-played). In Episode 1 The Arctic, Level 1, players are introduced to the object of the game, "The aim of the game is to squash kumquats."


A four-panel sequence illustrates how touching the green Play button releases the metal canon ball. Playing Level 1 displays an orange, eye-blinking kumquat on the snow-covered ground. A virtual pan reveals three stationary layers: ice-packed ground containing a snow hill with a kumquat on top in the foreground, snow-encrusted evergreens in the midground, and dark snow-capped mountains in the background.

A deep blue, photorealistic cloudscape moves across the screen behind the three layers. Touching the Play button, the metal ball above the kumquat is released, falls, and squishes the fruit. An orange splatter pattern is all that remains, the musical fanfare plays, and the points gained are displayed.

The Level 2 tutorial shows a spherical bomb with lit fuse, and demonstrates that the bomb pickup is unlocked by dragging and dropping it to a place onscreen where its red selection glow turns green, "The bomb will explode when hit." In this position four green arrows surround the bomb, indicating that it can be moved again, or the player can select another pickup. Playing Level 2 displays the kumquat atop a tower of ice blocks. The metal ball is set to fall down an inclined plane of ice and into the tower, while the bomb, in the top left corner, awaits unlocking. Touching play proves that the metal ball dislodges but does not collapse the tower.

Only two areas on the screen allow the bomb to be dropped: on the ground beside the tower, or on the tower beside the kumquat. Touching Play sets the ball free; it falls, rolls down the side of the plane, rolls into the bomb, explodes the bomb while knocking it into the base of the tower, the tower collapses, and the kumquat falls to the ground and is squashed.


Feature Highlights:
* Physics-based kumquat-squashing mayhem
* Nine different pickups
* Four scenarios and 72 levels
* Controls for Pause, Play, Re-Play, and Select Level
* On/off controls for music, sound f/x, and tutorials
* Hi Scores library
* Attack Kumquat website, Facebook, and blog connectivity

Level 3 shows how the trampoline pickup is unlocked in the same manner as the bomb, and "You can use the trampoline to bounce the metal ball." This time dropping the pickup is more difficult, as the player must estimate the ball's momentum as it rolls down the plane, hits the trampoline, flies over the gorge, and rolls into the kumquat.

Level 4 increases the number of elements in the chain reaction needed to squish the fruit. One bomb and one trampoline must be properly place before letting the metal ball fall. At Level 5 the player must successfully create an action/reaction sequence using two trampolines and a bomb. Higher levels require the player to do virtual panning across the screen to understand the problem completely. The virtual perspective of the foreground moving horizontally faster than the midground, which moves faster than the background, enhances this effect.

"Attack Kumquat HD features hours of involving, physics-based fruit bashing with loads of replay potential," stated Head of Art and Design David Rowe. "We have added 18 extra levels which brings the total up to 72 with even more to come!"

Pricing and Availability:
Attack Kumquat HD 1.2 is $3.99 (USD) and available worldwide through the App Store in the Games category. Review copies are available upon request. Attack Kumquat HD Lite is available as a free download with the option to purchase upgrades within the App.

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