Ideabox Games is founded in May 2011 and within one year, it has made some significant accomplishments as a mobile game developer enterprise. The team won the Special Winner award in the Bada Global Developer Challenge competition organized by Samsung Group. To date, the company has released several games, and it is most well known for popular smartphone games Plants War and Rainy Day Season 1/2.
Rainy Day Season 2
When I first downloaded the game to try it out, I was struck by its beautiful graphics and details. The game itself is relatively simply. Mr Skinny is an office employee that is going home after a long hard day of work. The weather turns bad and Mr Skinny has to avoid the raindrops, collect items and make it home safely with the help of shelters and other items.
The gentle sound of the rain is realistic and soothing and it makes for a relaxing game, especially with the beautiful graphics and sweet background music.
Plants War
On the other hand, Plants War is an action packed game where players explore the Dryad Forest in 3D graphics and help Leafy and other plants in the forest to defeat against attacking beasts. It is a strategic war game that has attracted a large fanbase , with 1.2 million downloads currently. The game also boasts of an impressive soundtrack, which adds to its appeal.
Right from the start, CEO Park Jin Bae is targeting the U.S. market. He believes that the U.S. market is the biggest and with the most growth potential for Ideabox Games. The team has been actively marketing both games through banners in popular gaming sites, and advertisements in other mobile phone games. Marketing for the Android version is focused on local users and
Although both games were created with the U.S. market in mind, they were more popular with SouthEast Asia (SEA) gamers. This is especially so for Rainy Season 2. CEO Park attributes it to the fact that the graphics are more Asian-like, and the characters are all Asian. In addition, the rainy season is more common in this region and hence users are more able to connect with the game.
Ideabox Games have not received any external investments and currently, there are no plans to do so. However, CEO Park acknowledges that the company will be welcoming investors, both local and overseas, in the next few years.
Rainy Season 3 is in the works now and it will feature a different landscape, possibly simulating the streets in London or New York. Look out for more new games by Ideabox Games in the future. For now, try out the two games!
Rainy Day Season 2: http://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/the-rainy-day-2/id441045796?mt=8
Plant Wars: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plants-war/id498591688?mt=8