Let's get into a massive deep dive into developing S.A.M - The Strong Arm Machine from Jetpack Joyride!
We wanted to add something that kept people engaged with the game, and kept the game relevant in a sea of "runner" games. We also wanted to own the game ourselves - this was the first big update from a new team taking over from the original "Ninja Pack" group.
Our first attempt was to build into - what was all this stuff was actually for? So the thought was an agent that you had to knock over and get their briefcase. This is a quick mockup I made.
And here's the prototype!
And.. it's not very fun! Kind of boring to deal with. So.. let's try something different!
What about a Sonic styled Egg-O-Matic? Looks more fun, but doesn't feel right. Barry smashing his face into it doesn't look right - especially when the game is about avoiding things.
So then we asked - what's the COOLEST thing we could do? What about a Scientist police squad? You have to avoid the rockets, while hitting the squad. Okay, but still felt a bit meh, and not great for smaller phones.
What about.. a T-Rex chase, Jurassic Park style? A quick mockup I had done.
In this case, a T-Rex would be behind you, and you're trying to destroy it with missiles. But avoiding missiles is super difficult.
What about... A Mega Barry? Some kind of Rock, Paper system mechanism? Eh, too complicated.
Let's simplify! What if you were in a giant robot that you need to shield? Some mockups I made using Metal Slug sprites.
And here's a prototype! Marvel Vs. Capcom Cap shield and T-Rex fit in well. It's a new Jetpack Joyride mechanic - you have to hit everything, rather than avoid! We have our mechanic!
Some concepts. First it was a big Barry, but why would the scientists make this? Something more menacing, more "Legitimate Industries".
An early version with a fire cannon instead, but it didn't really fit either. Needed to be a shield!
Let's talk about the S.A.M building sequence! We wanted to make sure that this felt epic, so it's built in 3 different sections!
S.A.M has 21 pieces in all, and a lot of destructibility. I feel for the people now who make skins for him!
And here's a bit of final gameplay! Big robot, bashing through stuff. He's got 3 hits to him, which makes him very useful, and hopefully get you back every day to play him again!
Using S.A.M means you got a daily challenge! Collect 5 and get a unique piece of clothing!
We added 16 new costumes at the time - so 32 unique pieces. To collect them all means playing for 160 days! That'd be great retention! Plus you could buy a present directly, which increased our spending too!
One of the fun things about S.A.M is his name. In other languages, we made sure his name also also used the S.A.M code.
How did this go? Huge! Our retention went up by 10%, and people loved it! It was a great addition to the game, and has been expanded upon a lot since.