Lab Run

Lab Run details

Main role: Designer
Secondary roles: Producer
Year: 2017
Platform: Android, iOS
Support: Digital / Smartphones and Tablets
Production: 3 full months, 6 extra scattered
Developer: Nerd Monkeys
Publisher: Super Banana Games

Presentation

Lab Run is an infinite runner for mobile devices.
I grabbed the usual formula of a characters running through an infinite level and added a few different touches. The player has to constantly jump from test-tube to test-tube using the left and right hand alternated. Occasionally he can use a double jump to get out of sticky situations.

International trailer

Main features
There isn’t much of emergent game design or fantastical stuff here, the game does it’s job of providing an exciting and ever harder gameplay conditions as the player reaches further and further. There are power-ups and power-downs as well as obstacles like fire, acid and other typical laboratory stuff.

 

Technical details
André programmed a flexible editor so that we could decide on the monkey speed, distance for jumping as well as space between test-tubes and other difficulty settings. This way it was easier to change and adapt the game as the team and friends played and tested the game.

Development

We had to make this in 3 months as the budget was really small. It took just a little while longer and unfortunately I still feel we didn’t get the sweet spot for grabbing the test-tubes and the combo system. The usual micro transactions and coin grabbing system also took a lot of the time allocated for the game which meant we had to spend a lot of extra time squatting bugs related to the App Store and Google Play.

Team

Production: Nuno Serrador / Diogo Vasconcelos / Filipe Duarte Pina
Design: Filipe Duarte Pina / Nuno Serrador
Programming: André Silva
Additional programming: José Rua
Art and animation: Rute Soares

Curiosities

The monkey is actually a cientist that right at the start of the game mixes the wrong formulas together and turns himself into a tiny simian! BAM!

Links

Super Banana Games – www.superbananagames.com
Nerd Monkeys – nerdmonkeys.pt

Get it on
iOS – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lab-run/id1195701736?ls=1&mt=8
Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.superbananagames.labrun&hl=en