#IDARB

It Draws a Red Box

Release Date: January 30, 2015

Sports, 2D, indie games, splitscreen, multiplayer, singleplayer, internet, LAN

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A sports game with a minimalist style, inspired by the arcade 8-bit games. The game is marked by an unusual production process – the final form of the game has been developed thanks to the suggestions from the fans, who unceasingly provided the developers from Other Ocean with their ideas, while the developers have brought them into existence. The game puts a strong emphasis on the multiplayer experience.

Mechanics
Technical aspects

#IDARB is a sports game with a minimalistic style, inspired by the arcade 8-bit games and now available on PC and XONE. The game puts a strong emphasis on the multiplayer experience. #IDARB has been developed by the Other Ocean studio, also known for creating such games as X-Men: Destiny, The Amazing Spider-Man, Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, and Dark Void Zero.

The title is an acronym for ‘It Draws a Red Box’, which regards the unusual origins of this crowd-funded game. The project has started from designing a single red square, which the developers have shared on Twitter with only one question – ‘what should we do with it next?’. In a relatively short time, based on suggestions from thousands of players, this red box has been developed by adding multiple new elements and eventually, it evolved into the final form of the game. Interestingly enough, even after #IDARB has been released, developers continuously implement certain changes based on the craziest suggestions from the players.

Mechanics

The basic mechanics of the game constitute a combination of concepts drawn from such games as Smash Bros and Dyna Blaster with a futuristic sports game that is a crossover of soccer and basketball. Players compete against each other in one arena, and they are tasked with putting the ball in the opponent’s goal. Players can face each other in two configurations – 1 vs 1, and 4 vs 4. An interesting feature of this rivalry is the ‘no holds barred’ rule. During the game, one can blow up certain elements of the environment, steal the ball using the explosives, as well as utilize jetpacks and multiple power-ups. Each goal is scored on a scale from 1 to 5, depending on the shooting position and the number of acquired multipliers.

Technical aspects

The game works with Twitch, allowing players to stream their matches, during which the audience can influence the result of the end result, e.g. by activating certain power-ups with special commands – certain additional elements might appear in the arena out of thin air. These elements include bombs and adversaries like cops and clowns, whose task it to disturb the match. Additionally, the developers give at players’ disposal tools to implement new pieces of content into the game, as well as create new characters, teams, crests, tournaments, and even music themes. The PC and XONE release of #IDARB offers a relatively simple single player campaign since at its core the game focuses on the multiplayer experience as well as the e-sport tournaments. In the game, up to 8 players can play together on one device, and via either local or online multiplayer mode.

Last updated on July 26, 2017

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