RAPID RUNNER: SEMI SECRET PORTING CANABALT TO THE IPHONE

9.7.2009

It’s been somewhere just past two months since Kyle Gabler and Kyle Grey re-launched their old Carnegie Mellon Experimental Gameplay Project, and already it’s re-proving what an invaluable technique rapid prototyping can be.

Case in point: Fathom and Flixel dev Adam ‘Atomic‘ Saltsman goes bare-bones for his brilliant one-button run-for-your-life stunt-man sim Canabalt, and its resulting release goes viral, aided by the terribly smart social-service add-ons Saltsman appends after its original debut.

And then this: already working on a number of additional iPhone projects (including his classic arcade inspired Retro Racer Revival) via his Semi Secret imprint, he rides the word-of-mouth-wave and quickly decides to port Canabalt to the platform, in what will surely be your new favorite buck-or-three time passer.

Saltsman talked to the IndieGames blog and said the initial iPhone version won’t yet contain any of those social aspects that have helped drive its success (though he “doesn’t rule out other crazy new features”), but he does say that contributing to the game now via its Donate button will very likely net you a free promo code for the iPhone version, alongside the desktop wallpapers and soundtrack mp3 you currently receive.

All this from five-days of dev time, tossed out like a diversion-in-a-bottle which, happily, washed up on lucrative shores.

Canabalt [AdamAtomic, iPhone port demo, Semi Secret]

Previously: