Game Insight started this tradition of openly sharing its plans with its players and business partners alike at G!Day0 in 2020. This year, not only did the event offer a glimpse at the company’s plans for the next year and beyond, but there was also a recap of the promises that were delivered on from G!Day0. This kind of unparalleled transparency, and being held to account, simply isn’t seen among casual game companies. Anatolijs Ropotovs, CEO of Game Insight, said the explanation was simple: “For our part, we consider it vitally important. We do it for our players, who are real fans of our games, and many have been with us for years. For that, we owe them a debt of gratitude. And as fans ourselves, we know that whether you’re waiting for the next season of a beloved TV series, an anticipated sequel to a favorite PC/console game, or the next update that will expand your village in The Tribez, you are always hungry to find out what’s in store for the property you’ve formed a deep connection with. Really, the question is, why wouldn’t we do it?”
In addition to all the updates about the games, the vision for Game Insight’s “Social 3.0” initiative was the overarching theme of the keynote event. “Just like everyone, we’ve been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns have focused our attention on how important it is to cultivate our interpersonal connections, while remaining safe in our bubbles — and we realized we could do more to help,” explained Anatolijs, and as he put it during this year’s keynote, “we understood that everything we built in the last decade has a very special meaning in building communities and connections between our players.” He went on to announce his plans to go even further by pledging to imbue the company’s casual games with the next level of player-to-player interactions and richer social features. That means players will soon be able to do things like customize their character avatars to show off to their friends as they meet, chat, cheer, swap gifts, and trade items at new in-game locations, which will act as social hubs. The result will evoke authentic social play, as if it was game night in your own virtual living room, or interactions in MMO games, rather than the anemic take on social features from the old-guard mobile free-to-play games. The takeaway promise from G!Day1 is that Game Insight will be adding more features to its games that will help players connect and play together by the next G!Day event in 2022.
There is more information about the Social 3.0 vision, here.
Or, read on for a summary of the big announcements about the leading casual games from Game Insight:
Airport City is a simulation game where you take control of your own airport empire. Since last year, a relaxing Flyover feature was added that lets players watch landscapes slip by beneath their planes as they cruise to their destinations. And as promised last year, the designers added a 3D hangar where players can get a close-up view of their aircraft. Soon, there will even be a customization option in the hangar that will let players pick the color scheme and decals of each plane to match their vision for their fleet. More cosmetic upgrades are on the way for the flight crew as well, and, as always, the design team will continue expanding the game with more buildings and events.
The Tribez is the defining game for Game Insight and its familiar cast of characters includes Dino, the company’s loveable mascot. In the past year, the game’s designers crafted a new storyline at the opening of the game, and added plenty of new events. A new Adventure Mode was introduced, where, for the first time, players actually take control of their Tribezmen and guide them to explore the islands firsthand. A new Merge Adventure will soon be added that will let players visit a mysterious garden where they will merge items to discover new elements, and merge elite items for even bigger and more beautiful decors for their villages – and even meet and train exotic new pets. The biggest news for The Tribez is what’s coming to bolster its social features; soon players will be able to customize their own Tribezman to appear at their friends’ islands, and meet new friends at a real Trade Island – the perfect place to meet and chat with other players, and trade rare items. And another exciting announcement from the keynote is a new animated miniseries, The Misadventures of the Tribez, which will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the mishaps the Tribezmen face in their daily lives.
Paradise Island 2 made its first G!Day appearance this year, but as its players already know, it debuted a decade ago as the first free city-building game on Google Play and Apple App Store. Presently, it’s the most social game in Game Insight’s catalog, letting you team up with other players in a union as you build your own island resort. In the spotlight at G!Day1, Anatolijs presented the breadth of attractions that boost the main resort-building fun: from match-3 and memory challenges from the company’s “Mind Fitness” line-up, to competitive squirt-gun battles, to co-operative boss fights, and much more. Paradise Island 2 will also soon be getting an enhanced chat system that will allow players to mingle on an upcoming “Social Island,” and ask friends for help when their new farms and adorable pets need some care.
Another first of its kind, Mystery Manor, the first free-to-play hidden-object game on mobile, has had players on the hunt for clues for over 10 years now. It also rounded out the casual catalog at G!Day1. Building on 10 Seasons-worth of stories and an entire new floor of the Manor to explore, the company plans to keep adding new features like Forgotten Novellas, which will put players in control of a storyline involving the Manor residents; each choice players make will affect the outcome of the novella. Recently, the Manor expanded to include a room with match-3 puzzles, but soon an entire adventure will be introduced with hundreds of new levels for players to enjoy. New ways to find clues are constantly being added to the Manor, like the Echoes mode where players spot the differences between two snapshots of a room, and it was revealed at G!Day1 that a brand-new Tri Peaks solitaire game will soon make a run at the Manor as well.
There are even more updates on what the next year holds for Game Insight’s casual games in the full public presentation of G!Day1.
Watch the full keynote here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6782935234431221760
