Triazzle Island - 20 Years in the Making
Chapter One
Really? Well, kind of! Triazzle Island, the newest Triazzle digital puzzle game is about to launch and I can't help but think back over the 20 years since the first paper Triazzle puzzles debuted in 1991 and the 18 years since the original computer game was introduced. Triazzle Rainforest Edition (Mac & Windows) was one of the first casual puzzle games on the market in 1993 and was, I believe, ahead of its time - it certainly was ahead of the market, for the casual game market had not yet exploded into what it is today. Triazzle was licensed to and produced by Berkeley Systems who made After Dark, the publisher of the famous flying toasters screen saver application. They had the idea that there might be a market for certain types of games that didn't appeal to teenage boys and so they chose Triazzle to launch a new concept. In parallel they were developing another little game called You Don't Know Jack. Jack, as we all do know became a huge success, eclipsing interest in Triazzle and diverting their attention from brain teasers. Still, Triazzle did sell over 50,000 copies; a decent return in those days before downloadables, handhelds and mobile platforms. Triazzle Rainforest Edition was bundled with Macs and several PCs, won a few awards and had a devout following that exists to this day. Several years later, Activision picked up the license and released an update compatible with Windows XP but not Mac.
Chapter Two
About 10 years later, wanting to expand the franchise, I partnered up with Digital Content, a small indie developer in Minnesota, and we created Total Triazzle. This game offered much more puzzle content than the original Rainforest Edition, including Master and Star Triazzle formats, about a dozen graphical themes, and a puzzle-maker interface that allowed a lot of user customization. It also featured an original soundtrack by my brother-in-law and film and TV composer, Billy White Acre. Unfortunately, there was no budget for animation which turned out to be a problem; the users really wanted a similar experience to what they had come to expect. Total Triazzle never secured a distributor; therefore the game was sold exclusively from Triazzle.com and didn't make any serious inroads to the market.
Chapter Three
In late 2007, I read an article in my Carnegie Mellon University Alumni magazine about a computer games teacher at CMU's game design program. Maybe she could tell me how I might pursue another attempt at getting Triazzle redesigned and reintroduced into the evolving digital game world. I emailed her and she referred me to another teacher at CMU who also headed his own game design company in Pittsburgh, Jesse Schell, who happens to be one of the best known authorities in game design and author of the book, "The Art of Game Design". Coincidentally, Jesse was going to be in San Francisco at GDC, so we arranged to meet. It was an exciting and inspiring meeting for me. Jesse was familiar with Triazzle and felt the brand and puzzle concept was a good fit for Schell Games. We discussed plans to joint venture the project. Then, over the ensuing months, as luck would have it the opportunity waned; the timing was not good for Schell Games to commit to the development, so Triazzle went back into the drawer to await another day.
Chapter Four
That day came about six months later when I received an intriguing email from yet another college professor, his lilting Irish accent emanating off my screen. He asked if I had any plans to make Triazzle into an iPhone app. I had not, I said. The App Store had just opened, I didn't have an iPhone or even an iPod and knew little about them other than that they seemed very cool and my daughter was addicted to her iPod. Professor Michael Brady of Trinity College Dublin was very interested in taking a crack at developing an app and he would need me to do it. I agreed. So began a full year of collaboration on the iPhone game, both of us learning much of the ropes as we went along. Mike was quite expert at programming but had never developed a game, let alone an iPhone game. I was experienced in game design and had been peripherally involved in the previous two Triazzle computer games, but had never had full game design responsibility. Not one to ignore a challenge to do something new, I dove in. Billy was happy to write a new score and help with sound effects and with his background in film score was the most experienced of us three. Mike and I communicated via email, iChat and Skype and became partners and good friends during those intense months when we both worked into the wee hours as well as weekends, dancing around our full-time jobs to make Triazzle 3.0 a reality for iPhone. We launched in July 2009 to rave reviews and impressive sales. We were even featured in the iTunes App Store - one of a tiny percentage of apps that receives that honor. TUAW said, "'Triazzle 3.0 is one of the most uniquely beautiful and ultimately playable games I have yet to see on the iPhone . . . Technically the game is a marvel." CNET wrote, "It has all the makings of an instant classic." And Slide-to-Play said, "...we think the developer should make the music available for download on iTunes."
Needless to say, very few games on iTunes have serious staying power. It takes a rare combination of characteristics to compete effectively against tens of thousands of products in one store - and the one characteristic Mike and I lacked was . . . time. So, after a very rewarding design experience and a modest profit, Mike and I both went back to our day jobs and reluctantly abandoned the fans who were clamoring for updates.
Chapter Five
If the iPhone game was anything it was a serious proof of concept. Mike and I had made a remarkable entry into the mobile game platform without any real experience and had succeeded. I called Jesse Schell again and had him look at the game. "I love it," he said. "Lets do it!" And so work began at Schell Games to take a serious look at what could be done with Triazzle -- this time with an top flight design team led by the former Disney Imagineer. I recruited Billy White Acre to write his third score for Triazzle and it would be his most ambitious and best yet, adding a level of musical polish that very few games deliver. I served as creative director, consulting on every aspect of game design, art and story. We met regularly over Skype between my studio in California and Schell's offices in Pittsburgh and Austin. Together we created two new triangular game modes to expand the triangular puzzle concept beyond the original matching puzzle. We eventually included one of them into the current project, saving the other for a future edition. This project adds many features that have never been included in earlier versions: a mythical storyline, progressive and zen play options, dozens of new puzzle formats, more than 60 levels, achievements, a new hint system, and even in-game tutorials. And of course we took all the care and attention to deliver the same stunning nature art that has always been the Triazzle trademark.
At the time of this writing the production is winding down into its final couple of weeks and we are all very excited by what we have created. The team at Schell Games has done a wonderful job at creating an immersive experience, paying close attention to the difficulty ramp and the variation of play. I believe that Jesse and I have brought together a winning combination of experiences to create a totally new and evolved Triazzle brain teaser. After 20 years, Triazzle Island is certainly the most ambitious and expansive rendition of the puzzle. Now it’s up to the market to tell us if we have succeeded!