TinyCo and FOX have released their new free-to-play iOS game based on the popular TV show Family Guy. The game, called Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, has gameplay similar to EA's freemium The Simpsons: Tapped Out, released in 2012.
In the Family Guy game, the town of Quahog has been trashed by a fight between Peter Griffin and Ernie the Giant Chicken, and gamers must help Peter rebuild the town, collecting many of the characters from the game along the way. The game features original content from the voice actors along with stories and jokes from writers at Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door productions.
The TinyCo team stressed that the freemium elements are solely there to speed up the game or for cosmetic decorations, but that users will never be forced to pay money to progress. It's meant to be something that users play for short bursts -- "on the bus or on the toilet", according to the company -- but it can also be played for long stretches, particularly later in the game.
Family Guy's trademark irreverent humor -- including numerous cutaway gags -- are everywhere in the game, with some characters from the show making a brief appearance for a single joke before disappearing for the rest of the game.
The game features Facebook social integration so gamers can visit friends, but the social play is strictly optional. Logging in to TinyCo's servers with a Google+ or Facebook login does make it significantly easier to play the game on multiple devices, however. The game backs up progress to the cloud, allowing users to seamlessly shift their ongoing game from an iPad to iPhone on the same account. It can also be used offline, on an airplane for example, but will need to eventually sync to the cloud to save progress.
"Not only is the game exponentially more entertaining than reading this press release, it’s the only place you’ll find Peter and Quagmire napping together," said Rick Phillips, SVP, Fox Digital Entertainment. "We’re excited to deliver a game that brings the spontaneity and eccentricity of the show to the mobile gameplay experience for the first time. TinyCo successfully marries the world of FAMILY GUY, its infamous cutaways, lampooning of current events, and irreverent humor with entertaining game mechanics."
"We've had an absolute blast bringing The Quest for Stuff to life," said Andrew Green, head of business development and business operations at TinyCo. "Working with an IP like Family Guy wasn’t a responsibility we took lightly, and thanks to fantastic collaboration with Fox we’re delivering a game that both fans and newcomers will love."
Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff is a free download for the iPhone and iPad. [App Store]
Top Rated Comments
Removing this.
I'll go back to my micro transaction free Xbox games now.
... Well ****.
I recently finished BioShock Infinite, and am currently deep into Metro Last Light. These games had an upfront cost, are extremely high quality, and do not deploy microtransactions in any fundamental way.
So whilst casual mobile gaming seems to have been largely consumed by an insidious free to play model. There are still immersing and breathtaking stories being told by games on other platforms.
I sincerely hope the average quality of casual mobile games increases, especially on iPad. That we begin to see complex and engaging content with a fair and reasonable cost of entry that you only pay once.
End optimistic post.