A few days ago developer Owlchemy Labs (comprised of the guys who made Super Ramen BROTHers [Free] in 24 hours) released a new video for Smuggle Truck, the first game under their new studio moniker. Smuggle Truck is a 2D side-scrolling physics-based driving game where the object is to reach the finish line of each level while hanging on to as much of your cargo as possible. In this case the “cargo” is actually people who are prone to flying out of the truck bed as you go speeding over the terrain.
Development of Smuggle Truck began back in August of last year as a quick weekend project for an entry into a game jam-style contest. The developers have spent the last two months fleshing out the game, and recently it underwent a complete graphical transformation after the two-man team of Owlchemy happened upon a collaboration opportunity with former LucasArts artist Bill Tiller, whose cartoonish style you may recognize from The Curse of Monkey Island and other LucasArts titles. Smuggle Truck looked alright before, but it looks really fantastic now with the redone art. Have a look at this early teaser trailer for the game:
One interesting aspect about Smuggle Truck is the inclusion of a level editor, which is essentially the same editor the developers have used to create the levels in the game. They have recorded a brief video showing a work in progress version of this level editor in action, in anticipation of a level creation contest they plan on holding in mid-February. Smuggle Truck won’t be releasing until March, but Owlchemy will be dropping the level editor before then and anybody will be able to create levels on their computers and submit them as part of the contest. The grand prize will be a character with your likeness added into the final version of the game as one of the people in the back of the truck.
You can keep tabs on the upcoming contest by checking out the Owlchemy website or Facebook page, and the developers have been dropping new information in our forums as well. With a silly premise and great looking artwork, we’ll be keeping our eye on Smuggle Truck as it nears its March release on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and the web.
