Buildbox (www.buildbox.com), drag and drop game creation software that allows someone to easily create a game, has been updated to version 1.1. Instead of scripting or coding, a user drags and drops image files directly into the software, builds out their levels and moves sliders to adjust gameplay settings.
According to Trey Smith, the founder of Secret Headquarters, the company behind Buildbox., the software can create nearly every major arcade game type from classic top-down shooters like 1942 to platformers similar to the original Super Mario Brothers. It’s also easy to invent new gameplay like he did with his hit game Phases (which reached #28 in the Apple App Store), he adds.
Buildbox works with both Mac and PC. It exports games to iPhone, iPod, iPad, Amazon Fire Phone, Amazon Fire HD, Amazon TV, OUYA, Mac, Mac App Store, PC, Steam, Desura and more. It’s available for US$2,675; a subscription plan is also being considered.
Along with version 1.1 of Buildbox, the Game Business Challenge has been announced. This two-week challenge consist of a free trial version of Buildbox and a training course prepared by Smith, who has over 15,000,000 downloads in his personal game business. In the challenge he teaches users how to come up with good game ideas and create a finished game within two weeks.
“Our goal has been to create a game building platform that was as easy to use as PowerPoint,” Smith says. “We tried other tools on the market and they were very complicated. We set out to create something that anyone could use and still make great games.”