Colorcast free was developed by two developers with the support of a three additional collaborators. With the aim of take feedback from final user, an alpha version was presented on Gamelab 2015 (http://gamelab.es/2015/indie-hub) where the game was well received and drew the attention of Juan Gril, founder of the former Joju Games.

After that, the devoloper presented the game in a few more events to polish final details and finally, it was published on Google Play at the end of 2015. Unfortunately, the game didn’t reach the expected revenue so that team members decided to start new jobs in other companies or sectors. Now, as a solo indie dev, he’s in charge of updates and new projects during his free time, however difficult that may be at times. The last year he released Apple and Amazon versions. And this year Windows version on GameJolt and Inch.io.

Store links

• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colorcast-free/id1171704764?mt=8
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thedigitalspell.colorcast.original
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=com.thedigitalspell.colorcast.amazon.original
• https://gamejolt.com/games/colorcast/238261
• https://thedigitalspell.itch.io/colorcast

As we know, first release had two versions: premium and free with ads. Today, all versions are 100% free, nor ads, neither IAPs. We glad to have a interview with Patricio, The Digital Spell developer.

• Q : Tell us where you came up with the idea for this game. What were your inspirations?
• A : The aim always was to create a game easy to learn but hard to master. In our initial prototype we work a lot with the smart box, the key of the game, and how the user could interact with it. After, we add color mixing and so multiple gadgets in a level to know if they co-worked fine. In this process, some ideas were descarted. Colorcast gameplay is inspired by Portal and Trainyard. On other hand, Look & Feel and audio are inspired by Lyne and Monument Valley. You can see a design evolution here: https://gamejolt.com/games/colorcast/238261/devlog

• Q：What version of cocos2d-x did you use?
• A：3.14.1

• Q：How did you decide to use cocos2d-x instead of Unity, Unreal Engine or SDL?
• A：At the begining, we doubt between libGDX and Cocos2d-x. Finally, we decided by Cocos2d-x, because I used it in the past with multiple prototypes. Unity3D and Unreal seem us too excessive for our 2D simple idea.

• Q： What features did the engine offer you that made development easy?
• A： Resolution design and multiresolution. Tween actions.

• Q：What tools did you use besides the engine?
• A：The discontinued project Cocos Studio 1.6. It works fine yet, but I don’t know if Cocos2d-x will continue supporting it in future versions. UI and levels are created with this tool.
• I’m using Ant to provide several features like one-click-deployment or asset management by platform to minimize package size.

• Q：What 3rd party libraries did you need to use? 
• A：We are using SDKBOX.

• Q：Did you create the art yourself? What tools?
• A：Our collaborator used Photoshop, but I’m using GIMP 2 and Inkscape now.

• Q：Did you create the music yourself? What tools?
• A：Yes, our music designer composed it with Steinberg Cubase.

• Q：Will you continue to make games in the future?
• A： Yeah, I’ve just got a new prototype. It will be a game for toddlers, because I have a 3 years old son and others are coming.

• Q：Do you use SDKBOX? If so, what plugins are you currently using?
• A：Yes, always try to update to the last version (2.3.9 now): Facebook, Flurry analytics, Share, Sdkbox Play.

• Q：Lastly, any advice for those also making games on how to get to a release point?
• A：I think marketing is the key. First, try to negociate with a publisher. Alternatively, you could do it on your own from the beginning of the project and don’t wait to the end.

In conclusion, Colorcast is very interesting and challenging. Furthermore, they’re fundraising to help good causes: http://www.colorcast.thedigitalspell.com/donate.html

Go and support it.