Shelled Online Free & Published

I'm pleased to announce that Shelled! Online now has a free version for all to download and enjoy!

With the free version you can:

- play in any online game or host your own
- choose any of the 6 multiplayer game modes
- play any of the 20 single player skirmish levels
- play the first 5 mission levels including interactive tutorial
- play for an unlimited time

You can play the free version forever. However upgrading to the premium version gives you access to:

- 19 special weapons to blow away the competition
- over 30 tank parts to customize your appearance
- an additional 15 custom-scripted missions to test your skills

The premium version upgrade is $9.95 US and can be purchased through Red Thumb Games directly. Made with TGE.

###


In other news, Shelled! Online has now been published by Cherry Credits! This is the first publishing deal for this game so we are very excited to see some distribution.

Here's Shelled featured on the Cherry Credits front page:


Here's the Shelled product page on Cherry Credits:


Cherry Credits is based out of Singapore with a unique publishing model that sells physical scratch-off cards in 7-11 stores and other internet cafe related points of sale around Southeast Asia.


The advantage is having a bricks-and-mortar entry point to an otherwise online-based e-commerce system, as well as being able to tap into the tween/teen market who often has cash but not credit cards to buy games online. Look for the actual scratch-off card design soon!

###


Dragon Hatchery is nearly complete, and we'll be submitting to casual game publishers this week. Look for announcement news when the game is released. Made with TGB.

###


Elsewhere, I am continuing to do contract consulting work for Luma Arcade and am very busy with that, with some half-dozen projects I am doing design work for, including several GG projects you will hear about in coming months. Luma has been an awesome experience and I can't wait to write a full blog about my time here in South Africa.


Shelled Online did not make it into the finalists for the 11th Annual IGF, though it has been my career-long goal just to submit a worthy entry, and that I did. Congrats to the finalists, and see you at GDC in March.


I've picked up a co-development project with another studio to do an indie sports title which I've just begun work on and which should see completion this summer. No details to leak yet but I am excited to have some contract work to sustain me for when I make the transition back to the United States, and it'll be another great title to add to the RTG portfolio.


Lastly, I wanted to say congrats to fellow indies Pavel Tovarys for Archibald's Adventures and Larva Mortus and Keith Nemitz for Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble whose games won awards in the 2008 GameTunnel Awards. Great work guys and lots to be proud of, congrats!

That's all from here, be sure to check out Shelled Online if you haven't done so already -- now that's it's free there's no reason not to!

Happy 2009 Everyone,

Joshua Dallman
Red Thumb Games