Nitrome

Nitrome Limited
Limited
Industry Browser games
Founder Mat Annal
Heather Stancliffe
Headquarters London, England
Products Various games
Number of employees
 15
Website nitrome.com

Nitrome, commonly known as Nitrome Limited, is a British independent game development company based in London. The company makes Flash-based games. Their games are recognizable by the pixel art design and cartoon like appearance, along with a jingle to the start of every game and the use of chiptune. Nitrome was originally started by Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe, two graphic designers, intending to create games for mobile phones. Instead, the company began taking on commissions Internet-based flash games. Some of the games of Nitrome have characters which are inspired other characters from video games, tv shows, and others. Nitrome's games are published on their website and are often available to license on other websites such as Miniclip, MTV Arcade and Friv.

History

Nitrome's creation stemmed from a conversation between Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe, in which Annal suggested that they make a game for mobile phones. Stancliffe was initially hesitant, but was persuaded that it could be a successful idea.[1] The temporary website for their upcoming project was first launched on April 3, 2005,[2] with a preview video of Chick Flick, their intended first game.[3] Since then, Nitrome has made 146 flash games, their 135th game being Turn-undead, released October 7, 2014, and are venturing into mobile phone and PC gaming, as their current flash games aren't providing enough revenue. In November 2011, Nitrome released their 100th game, Nitrome Must Die, in which players shoot enemies from the previous 99 games that Nitrome has made before Nitrome Must Die. Their 136th game is Endless Doves.[4] In 2015, Nitrome made history by releasing their 140th game, Fluffball, their unreleased game from 2007, and their 141st game, Silly Sausage in Meat Land, sequel to their 2011 game, Silly Sausage. Also in 2015, their 142nd game Cooped Up, was released,[5] followed by Green Ninja, Vault, Beneath the Lighthouse, and ultimately, their first published game, Ultimate Briefcase, in 2016.

Games

The games made by the company are divided into four main categories. "Hearted"[6] are the games that have received the most hearts from the heart button upon every game, and are thus considered the most popular. "All Games"[7] is a list of all games produced by Nitrome, while "Multiplayer games"[8] are designed for more than one person to play at once. Last, Touchy, released in 2012, featured games that are playable on Nitrome's mobile phone app, Nitrome Touchy. Games can be in more than one category. In March 30, 2015, Nitrome announced that Nitrome Touchy was discontinued. Turn-Undead was the final Touchy game, released October 2014. Support for Nitrome Touchy will be provided until June 30, 2015.[9]

Nitrome has made games for MTV Arcade,[10] Candystand and Miniclip.

Most of the games are divided into levels (usually between 10 and 100), and also give the player the option to replay any level they have completed, even if they have lost. Some games also feature the concept of bosses.

In July 2009, Nitrome Limited released Twin Shot 2, their first game to use MochiCoins, a system allowing players to pay for extra content in browser games.[11] Mat Annal said that Nitrome were "trialling" and that they "don't intend to use it in every game".[12] They used MochiCoins again in B.C. Bow Contest, which they have updated twice. MochiCoins, however, were discontinued by Mochi Media, preventing Nitrome from using them in any more of their games.[13]

Since 2014, Nitrome's game development has focused on producing mobile games.

Versions

Nitrome 1.0

Nitrome.com 1.0 is the first version of Nitrome.com. It was launched on April 5, 2005, and was small at the time. The website did not stay up long, as it was replaced by Version 1.5 in 2006, between 8 and 16 November.[14]

Nitrome 1.2

Nitrome 1.2 was a previous version of the Nitrome Limited website, With a slightly different game grouping, no "heart" system, and subtitled pictures instead of icons.

Nitrome 1.5

Nitrome 1.5 was an updated version of Nitrome 1.2; thinner icons and blog/shop added.

Nitrome 2.0

New features include: more content on the front page, RSS feeds and the introduction of Hearting, Sharing and Tweeting.

Nitrome 2.5

The current version, as of July 19, 2013. Nitrome accounts added.

References

  1. ↑ "about us". Nitrome Limited. 2006-06-19. Archived from the original on 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2009-02-04. One day Mat said to Heather: "Y'know all this web stuff's ok, but wouldn't it be great if we could just make whatever we wanted?" [...] "I don't think anyone's gonna give us free reign [sic] to do just do whatever we want!" [...] "Well, why don't we make a mobile phone game?"
  2. ↑ "Web Page Launched". Nitrome Limited. 2005-04-03. Archived from the original on 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2009-02-04. We've launched our temporary web page today.
  3. ↑ "Chick Flick Video". Nitrome Limited. 2005-04-03. Archived from the original on 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2009-02-04. Exclusive first showing of our soon-to-be-finished java mobile phone game.
  4. ↑ http://www.nitrome.com/blog/articles/1192/
  5. ↑ http://www.nitrome.com/blog/articles/1312/
  6. ↑ "Nitrome - Hearted games".
  7. ↑ "Nitrome - All Games".
  8. ↑ "Nitrome - Multiplayer Games".
  9. ↑ http://www.nitrome.com/blog/articles/1294/
  10. ↑ "MTV Arcade".
  11. ↑ Annal, Mat (2009-07-20). "Twin Shot 2: Good and Evil". Nitrome Limited. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  12. ↑ Annal, Mat (2009-06-25). "Twin Shot 2... more info". Nitrome Limited. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  13. ↑ Annal, Mat (2012-07-19). "Mochi Coins to be Discontinued!". Nitrome Limited.
  14. ↑ "nitrome". Archived from the original on December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 6, 2012.

External links

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