Weirdbeard Games have announced plans to port their mobile tower-building puzzler 99 Bricks Wizard Academy over to Sony’s ever-expanding PS Vita library.
Yesterday Weirdbeard Games, purveyors of mobile and flash games for nigh on decade, declared proudly on the PlayStation blog-forum-thing that they would be bringing their mobile title 99 Bricks Wizard Academy to Sony’s still somewhat underfed handheld.
99 Bricks Wizard Academy is a strange little puzzler that looks familiar at first glance, but quickly turns gamers’ expectations on their heads. By committing the blasphemy of combining Tetris-styled pieces with a physics engine and focusing on tower building rather than line clearing, Weirdbeard Games take the classic building game concept and turn it on its ear, then collapse a pile of tetrominos on top for good measure.
99 Bricks Wizard Academy is a magical physics tower building game. The tetromino bricks are not used to create and clear lines, but as building blocks. You have to stack them with care otherwise your construction will crumble.
We love using a twist on a well-known concept to create new experiences. Luckily people who have played 99 Bricks Wizard Academy also love the playful way they have to re-wire their brain to use the tetrominos in an all-new way.
Like with the handheld’s larger console cousins, Sony’s PS Vita has become a great entry point for indie developers looking to move into the console marketplace. Though the console’s first-party support has been somewhat weak to date, the system’s great selecton of interface features and Sony’s open policies concerning indie development have brought many would-be developers into the company’s library, helping to keep the handheld alive and kicking.
One concern some gamers have shown for 99 Bricks is whether Weirdbeard Games will work to give the title ample control options on the Vita. While mobile ports are becoming more common both in the handheld and console/PC markets, control issues have continued to be rampant with many titles that make the transition. Should Weirbeard Games be able to address these concerns, however, response to their announcement of bringing 99 Bricks Wizard Academy have been overall positive, meaning the company could very well have a success on their hands.