In Backyard Monsters: Unleashed, players build fortresses in their backyards and guard it with walls, lasers, traps and other reinforcements to keep enemies out. In a demo fo the game that Polygon played, we were shown that all the strategic elements from the browser version of the game remained intact - the user interface was the main thing that was different. We're absolutely trying to make the experience one that is fun, really accessible to people, and the things we've changed have mostly been with an eye toward making shorter gaming sessions." "We're not trying to dumb down our gameplay. That's what we've tried to do with Backyard Monsters," Shaw told Polygon. What we didn't want to simplify was the gameplay. "What we wanted to simplify was the user experience. Her role is to ensure that all the strategy and design of Backyard Monsters is brought over to mobile platforms so that the game is appropriate for those platforms without losing the experience that Barber says "really satisfies RTS and RPG players." Shaw had previously worked on mobile titles at ngmoco and was at Maxis before that. The studio brought on Caryl Shaw to be the executive producer of Backyard Monsters: Unleashed for mobile. What we didn't want to simplify was the gameplay." So we started thinking of ways we could bring Kixeye games to mobile without diluting everything to the point of being super flavorless and not consistent with our brand." "For the purpose of focus, we've stayed away from mobile, although we've always been fans of mobile. "One of the biggest mistakes start-ups make is they lose their focus, so we felt like fighting a war on many fronts was not the best idea and that we should really focus on what was working. "For us, browser was working really well and still is, and we're one of the few developers on Facebook that can manage their business model in a positive way," he said. He said it's taken Kixeye this long to develop for mobile because the studio wanted to focus on its strengths before developing for other platforms. Speaking to Polygon, Kixeye's chief marketing officer, Brandon Barber said that the studio plans to expand into the mobile space by first bringing over Backyard Monsters, then War Commander and eventually brand new IP that could potentially have cross-platform persistence. Browser-based social game developer Kixeye will venture into mobile territory this fall with the release of Backyard Monsters: Unleashed on mobile devices.īackyard Monsters is a tower defense game that is currently one of the most popular real-time strategy titles on Facebook, attracting millions of monthly players.