Swipe This!: The Guide to Great Touchscreen Game Design

Game Design Spotlight 4: Jetpack Joyride

Format: iOS (Universal)

Developer: Halfbrick Games

Designer: Luke Muscat

Suit up with a selection of the coolest jetpacks ever made and take to the skies as Barry Steakfries, the lovable hero on a one-way trip to adventure! From the creators of the worldwide phenomenon Fruit Ninja comes the action-packed Jetpack Joyride.

Tell me, who can resist stealing an experimental jetpack? Not hero Barry Steakfries. And not me! Jetpack Joyride delivers exactly what the title promises . . . a thrilling joyride for as far as possible without getting fried by electrical fields, blasted by rockets, or … well, that’s about it!

Jetpack Joyride’s controls are as simple as you can get. You use just one finger to control this game. One finger! Touch anywhere on the screen to make the jetpack lift Barry up, and release it to make him drop back down to the ground. Even though the controls are limited to staccato bursts that move Barry up and down, believe me, it’s more than enough to keep you challenged. The player’s path is complicated by electrical zappers, some short, some long. Some that rotate, some that are slanty. In addition, deadly fields of flying laser beams zoom about. If you don’t jet up and maintain your elevation, you get fried.

Jetpack Joyride’ ...