Two Weeks On: A Round-Up

It's just over two weeks since Mush was launched, so we thought it was time for a round-up of what's been going on!

The game is continuing to get a positive response on the Marketplace, currently sitting at #5 in the US and #6 in the UK under "Top Games". We seem to have divided the audience a little - in particular, we've picked up that a few players would like the game to be longer and more difficult - but overall, we can't complain about average ratings of 4.5 stars! Here are a few of our favourite comments...

"Great job guys this game is adorable BTW im a 17 year old guy who loves skyrim and BF3 and this game makes my heart turn to mush (in a good way ^_~)" - Player741572160

"The best game on WP! I am proud to be a WP user when I play this! The greatest use of an accelerometer or a touch screen I have ever experienced in a game. This is mobile gaming!" -  sizeXLundies

"Absolutely wonderful game!! Only thing that can make it better is more levels!! WP needs more games of this calibre." - NaturedPond

"I'm CloudLXXXV, & i approve this game!" - CloudLXXXV

"Great game. Super slick visuals. A fun and original platformer. Easy to pick up but be warned, very difficult to put down." - Pushie Slim

We've had a few more reviews too:
8.5/10 on PocketGamer.fr
77% on All About Windows Phone

And our favourite description so far:
"[Mush is] a sweet and sincere little snack that's charmed its way onto my list of the most delightful experiences Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7 has to offer." from Kotaku, where Mush was Gaming App of the Day earlier in the week!


Of course, much as we love the glittering praise, not every comment can be complimentary. Luckily, we know that criticism is equally (if not more!) important in helping us improve our games - not to mention keeping our egos in check - so all feedback is very much appreciated :)

That's it from us for now. We're having a Mango meeting tonight and will be discussing possible updates for Mush, so do hop on Twitter and give us a shout if you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see!

Over and out.

Develop Highlights

As promised, here are some photos of our highlights from Develop. Apologies for the slightly bad quality on some of these, it's definitely time to upgrade our photography equipment.

Despite the relentlessly horrible weather, we had a great time at the conference, catching up with a lot of the usual suspects on the indie game dev scene and also making some new acquaintances. We enjoyed checking out the indie showcase games, particularly gawking at Lume's beautiful artwork and racing our international squirrels. We'd also like to take this chance to say congratulations to all the award winners. :)

Kate enjoying a very refreshing paddle in the sea...

Ahmed managing not to get his feet wet...

Dan Da Rocha of Q.U.B.E. fame, leading a very interesting panel discussion...

...with a mystery guest (thanks to Kate's unrivalled photography abilities)...

It's Henry!

Managing to make sense despite being a little worse for wear...

People milling around...

Fellow Newport Alumni Toxic Games accepting the Indie Showcase Editor's Choice award...

Henry chilling at the end of an exhausting few days, engrossed in Neighbours...

Little does he know that he is also being watched....

What a pair.

In further news, we've enlisted some help from our knitting maestro friend Miss Cox to produce some prototype Mush-andise. Well, it's more for us than anything, but we will share photos of our progress and you can let us know what you think!

Finally, our artist Kate will be attending GDC Europe again this year, so give us a tweet if you want to catch up in Cologne!

Mush Day One!

Well, one day on the Marketplace and we've already had an amazing response :)

Thank you so much to everyone on Twitter for the awesome comments, and to everyone reviewing Mush on the Marketplace too - we love reading your feedback!

We've had a bunch more coverage in the games media (this article on Hookshot Inc. being one of our favourites...), and you can have a listen to us on BBC Radio Wales (around 2 hours 55 minutes in).

We've also been psyched to hear from some true fans - hope to have some pics to post up soon, and if anyone else has any fan photos or artwork, please send it our way and we will be more than happy to put it up here! We honestly can't get enough.

Also also, we're always talking here about what funky Mush merchandise we could make (it's been a bit of an obsession ever since we hand made these..) What about a Mush beanbag? Or a pom pom hat? Tweet your suggestions @angrymango :D
  

Press Coverage, Thank You's

Did we mention that Mush is out next week and we're super excited?!

Here's some of the coverage we've had so far...

BAFTA award-winning Windows Phone game Mush out next week - Edge
Dare to be Digital veterans see debut title published - Develop
The Xbox LIVE for Windows Phone title on July 4th is the adorable Mush from Angry Mango - WPCentral
Mush for Windows Phone coming July 4th - Go Windows Go
Mush will be released on July 4th - our pals at the University of Wales Newport

Award-winning Mush heading exclusively to Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone this July 4th - AppModo
Mush is coming soon to Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone! - Gamercast

And another bit of shameless self-promotion from Kate: Mush Launching On Windows Phone July 4th! - PlayXBLA

We've also had a great response on Reddit, thanks for all the lovely comments!

Over the next couple of weeks, we'd really like to share some stuff with you - not just us getting hyped, but also a bit of reflection on our experiences and what we've learned, both technically and personally.

But, before we get to that, there is something else we need to do. It really has been quite a journey, and one that we could not have completed without the support of a lot of people. We know these thank you's can be long winded, but we've been waiting to do this for two years, and ask you, just this once, to kindly indulge us ;)

In no particular order:

We'd like to thank the University of Wales Newport, for running an awesome course and setting us on the right path. To Barry Atkins, for helping us get to the BAFTAs and generally speaking a lot of sense, to our tutors Corrado Morgana and Richard Hurford for generally speaking a lot of nonsense and their ever-sunny dispositions. Thanks also to Mike Reddy, whose persistent emailing prompted us to get involved in events like X48 and Dare to be Digital.

Thanks to the University of Abertay for seeing the potential in us and giving us the vital launching platform to begin our careers.

Thanks to the Dare to be Digital teams of 2010. We hate to write in clichés (honest!) but you made the experience worth it, and we still miss you guys!

Thanks to all the members of the indie dev and games press community who have given us advice and encouragement, and helped spread the word.

Thanks to the UK Microsoft mobile team, for supporting us from the beginning and helping us to go from a student team with a prototype to a professional game development team.

Thanks to the team at Microsoft Studios, not just for giving us a commercial opportunity that we never imagined we would have, but also for your patient support and encouragement.

Special thanks to our families, who housed us and fed us through many late night sessions of caffeine-driven crunching, and the friends and loved ones who put up with all our stressing and obsessing.

Thanks to everyone who helped us out with translations, whose hard work has enabled us to release the game in six different languages!

And lastly, thanks to everyone who came to see us and play the game at the various events we've attended  - particularly the kids, whose delight made us smile when our optimism was all but spent.

You have each, in some way, been crucial in getting us to where we are.

4th July: Mush Release Announced!

Mush will be hitting the Windows Phone Marketplace on Wednesday 4th July!

We told you we had super exciting news, and boy, we weren't lying. We've been positively dying to tell you this all week, and now the time is here we can finally relax. Or continue bouncing of the walls like hyper children. Whichever.

Read Microsoft's official announcement and an interview with me (Kate Killick) here and check out our shiny new website!

Better still, it means we can finally unleash this beauty: feast your eyes on the official Mush trailer!

We also have a bundle of screenshots for you and, for any press reading this, head over to the press kit page for tons of downloadable goodies, including press releases, promo art and delightful mug shots. You can also get in contact with us at our shiny new address: press[at]angrymango[dot]com for any information or inquiries, or just to tell us to calm down.

Awesome Games Dev Show!

It's safe to say that the Wales Games Development Show yesterday was a hit! We had a great time - not only did we get to chat to our fans (and we did meet some real fans!), and watch some very interesting talks, but we also got to see a lot of what is going on in Wales at the moment. And it is a lot! We were certainly not the only ones surprised to find so many exciting things happening in the industry around South Wales, and we really hope that there are more events like this to bring devs together. There is definitely a buzz about Cardiff at the moment, and we can't wait to see how the games dev scene there grows over the next few years.

You can check out the photos on Flickr and Facebook - we were pretty busy in between getting to talks, manning the stand and checking out the other games, so if any other attendees have photos from the event, we'd love to see them!

Finally, thanks to the organisers for a great day and, it has to be said, a cracking buffet lunch.

Mush at E3 & Wales Game Development Show

Yes, if like us you were glued to E3 coverage earlier this month, you may have noticed one fuzzy little guy making his way on the scene! Unfortunately we couldn't make it over to Los Angeles – we're just too busy loving the wet British summer – but you can take a peak at the folks from WPCentral having a go here.

We are also exhibiting tomorrow at the Wales Games Development Show, along with our friends at Toxic Games and a bunch of other cool devs. If you didn't manage to nab a ticket in time, they have unfortunately sold out now – but for those who did, make sure you come over and say hello!

Finally, we have some very exciting news that we will be revealing in the very near future. We're pretty sure you'll be excited too :)