October 3, 2012January 10, 2019

PlayStation Mobile: Pillage and Plunder with Loot the Land, Out Today

At Playerthree, we’ve been beavering away all summer to bring you Loot the Land as a launch title for PlayStation Mobile!

Loot The Land is a fast-paced puzzle game in which you have to help your raiding party of angry Vikings in their quest to conquer the land. By connecting complex lines of various icons using an original touch play mechanic, you’ll be pillaging and plundering villages and castles in no time.

It’s very exciting to have a launch title for a new platform, and PlayStation Mobile is a great opportunity for us to bring all our casual gaming experience to the PlayStation audience. The game is played entirely using the touch screen, so it will work on PS Vita just as well as tablets and smartphones with no physical controls.

But don’t let the simplicity of the interface fool you – this game is simple to pick up but very hard to master! While your Vikings are busy marching along, they’ll encounter events that hinder their progress, including sea sickness and monster spider attacks. You’ll need quick reflexes to keep your viking army going in the right direction.

As well as waging battles with your enemy you can collect mana to spend on a variety of spells to help you win each skirmish. There are eight magic runes to choose from and each of us has our favorite pair, but as yet we haven’t found one clear, all-conquering combination! You’ll need to experiment with the full range of spells available in order to be victorious – the final levels in the game are very different in style and structure from the first.

Loot the Land is out now on PlayStation Mobile — we hope you enjoy it!

Need more information on PlayStation Mobile? Want to know more about supported tablets and phones? Head here.

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28 Comments

6 Author Replies

Strathmore
October 3, 2012 at 10:45 am PDT

Is there trophy support or can I totally ignore this and other mobile games…?
Gadirok
October 3, 2012 at 10:53 am PDT

@1:

Its really pathetic that the only reason you will look at or even “play” games are for trophies. Judging by your avatar, you already purchased the R&C collection. Did you totally ignore “R&C: Tools of Destruction” as well?

Trophies should be treated like a bonus to a game. Its not part of the essential “gaming” experience. Try achieving something like breaking the high score/ rankings rather than having false pride in intangible “trophies”.

I’m just saying, I wouldn’t mind trophies either, but to completely ignore games that don’t feature trophies? It isin’t just pathetic, its sad.
Elvick_
October 3, 2012 at 10:55 am PDT

@1: You should be ashamed of yourself.
ThreeLeggedFreak
October 3, 2012 at 11:38 am PDT

$4 is too expensive when similar games are $1-2 on iOS.

I think these early devs are hiking the price because of lack of competition.
ThreeLeggedFreak
October 3, 2012 at 11:40 am PDT

#1 is not pathetic nor should he be ashamed of himself. Trophies should be on psm games from the start. Blame Sony for not having it on their SDK. Hopefully they will have it on the November SDK launch.
warriorprincess8
October 3, 2012 at 11:50 am PDT

I agree with Strathmore at this point in gaming trophies or achievements should be a given, it has now become a part of gaming that a majority of people like. This should have been a no brainier for Sony, they will loose money because a vast majority of people will not purchase these games do to the lake of trophy support. I have an iPhone for small on the go gaming why would I spend $5 or more on what should be a 99 cent game. I can get the same casual gaming experience on my iPhone for a less expensive price that includes achievements. Even Nintendo will now be offering an achievement system on the Wii U. Why? Because they know there are people who will not purchase there system without them. These games aren’t huge triple A titles that gamers will play regardless of Trophy support. So they will for sure loose money because they haven’t been included. I won’t even look at the offering of these mobile games until Trophy support is a part of the package.
Squiggle55
October 3, 2012 at 11:53 am PDT

This is the game that stood out to me the most when I was browsing the new store last night. Thanks for the post!

1)There aren’t any microtransactions associated with the game, are there?
2)Is there replay value? (like high score keeping) Or are you done when you beat all of the levels?
3)If there is score keeping, is there some sort of endless mode that exists purely to better your high score?
- Luigi Fumero
  October 3, 2012 at 2:18 pm PDT
  
  Hi Squiggle55,
  
  thanks for the interest shown in the game. We are really overwhelmed with the response we received so far.
  Regarding your questions:
  
  1) No, there are no micro-transactions in the game. The only money you will spend in game is the one you will pillage with your viking’s army.
  
  2) There is no high score in the game. When you finish a level you will be awarded a medal depending on how fast you have been in conquering the castle or village. You unlock the next level even if you are very slow and you only get a bronze medal. So to answer your question, the challenge is in getting all the gold medals and I am sure you will go back to earlier levels to beat your best time.
  
  3) Unfortunately at the moment there is only the “story” mode. An extra “endless” mode is something we want to add in a future update as well as a high score (best time) chart per level.
Fedast
October 3, 2012 at 12:06 pm PDT

Totally agree with post #2. The only achievements that worth are the ones you get in real life. I play games just to relax and have fun.
Elvick_
October 3, 2012 at 12:09 pm PDT

@6: Wii U’s achievement system is optional. It’s not mandatory. And iOS achievements are even more useless, just as the system in place to create an account is. The entire ‘Game Center’ is. Even 3rd party alternatives on iOS suck.

If you think a game not having them isn’t worth playing, I feel sorry for you. You have the mindset of a child. It’s sad.
Ryumoau
October 3, 2012 at 12:14 pm PDT

No trophies and overpriced for a cheap mobile game. I imagine this new PS Mobile game initiative will die out like the worthless PS Minis that used to come out on the psn store.
Ryumoau
October 3, 2012 at 12:17 pm PDT

@ Elvick_
god, i swear every post you make is so freaking predictable. we get it already. You accept anything Sony does without question. Good for you. Not everyone else is willing to be a mindless sheep.
warriorprincess8
October 3, 2012 at 1:07 pm PDT

I am a child and you are about what 65 @Elvick I bet your Arthritis hurts so bad you can’t even get a Trophy. U can stick to these 2 minute games while we children will play real games with trophies. Welcome to 2012 were many gamers like and want Trophies. Your opinion is that gamers who like trophies are pathetic my opinion is that they are not. Either way they won’t be getting my money for these over priced mobile games without trophies and I’m sure I’m not the only child, teenager or adult who feels this way.
Zezzler
October 3, 2012 at 1:09 pm PDT

@1
The fact that you blatantly not playing games for a lack of trophies really shows how much you actually care about the video games themselves.

You are missing out on thousands of video games just for the fact that you won’t play them for a lack of trophies.
- Paul Sullivan
  October 3, 2012 at 2:34 pm PDT
  
  Hey guys,
  
  I’m really appreciating the different perspectives on the value of trophies in games. It’s extremely exciting to see PlayStation Mobile go live, and feedback from you all is an important piece of the platform’s continuing development. So, please keep the thoughts coming!
  
  As Luigi mentioned above, you can earn medals depending on how fast you’ve conquered the castle or village. He highlights that the challenge is in getting all the gold medals. I think this speaks to those of us that seek personal affirmation of success that trophies can provide. For the external, Luigi also mentions that they want to add a high score (best time) chart per level in the future.
  
  All good stuff, but again, thanks for the feedback!
Awol_Wolf
October 3, 2012 at 1:23 pm PDT

@ Warriorprincess8

Am I reading what you said right? and just said “real games with trophies” as if any game WITHOUT trophies aren’t “real games” ? I am honestly asking this, before I say anything else.
warriorprincess8
October 3, 2012 at 2:30 pm PDT

@Awol_Wolf
It was sarcasm if you look further up the thread I was called a child and pathetic because I would like trophy support with all games. I stated that even IOS games had some type of achievement system and the games were the same caliber of these mobile games at a less expensive price so I would just stick with those games. The person then said that IOS games stink. Which is ridiculous because they are the same type of games such as minis and now the current mobile gaming being offered by Sony. I play all games including games without trophies I am not the type of gamer who buy something like Cloudy with a chance of meatballs to get a trophy. My opinion is the majority of gamers enjoy trophy support so why not just add it especially when revenue is concerned and there are gamers who will choose to get a game on another platform that is the same or similar because the enjoy trophies. Until these games are cheaper I wouldn’t purchase and I feel for $5 and up they should at least have trophies.
- Luigi Fumero
  October 3, 2012 at 2:51 pm PDT
  
  Hi,
  
  I love trophies, I like any type of progress-tracking and sharing that games nowadays offer. I cannot wait to get home to sync my PSN trophies with the new ones I unlock on my Vita while on the train :)
  But what I am really interested in is to know what my friends play and let them know what I am playing. The PSVita and its Activity Feeds are fantastic for that. While I would love to have trophies in PSM games I am satisfied to know my friends can see I have downloaded Loot The Land or I am playing Super Crate Box.
  
  ciao
  
  Luigi
lisatsunami
October 3, 2012 at 3:13 pm PDT

Buon giorno, Luigi:

Trophies are a lively subject here. I’m on the side of always wanting PSN trophies, too, but if that is not possible that does not invalidate the worth of your or any PSM game.

The other lively subject on our blog re: Vita is adding all PS1 & PS2 games. I guess it can’t possibly be the same people arguing, since those don’t have trophies either.

Any new Vita content is great news, in my book.

Best wishes.
plaztiksyke
October 3, 2012 at 3:18 pm PDT

What’s the native rendering resolution? Does it take full advantage of the Vita’s display?

What audio codec and bitrate are used? A big complaint I have with iIOS games produced with Unity is the crappy 128kbit/sec MP3.

Are these games playable on PS3, like Minis? If so, is the Move used to emulate touch? That would be so cool!

I hear what you are saying about activity feeds, but it doesn’t replace the joy of seeing my friends’ last 6 trophy icons and then meeting up with them in Home or sending a message to get tips on how they did it. PSM *needs* trophies to justify the > $2 price points. I can understand wanting to keep trophies “exclusive” to first-party hardware, but I think you’ll find the willingness-to-pay for these kinds of games quite low without them unless there are amazing differentiators in graphics and sound quality.
- Luigi Fumero
  October 3, 2012 at 3:30 pm PDT
  
  Hi plaztiksyke,
  
  PSM games on Vita use the full 960×544 screen, then it all depends on the developers if they want to create assets made for Vita or stretch lower res versions.
  In Loot The Land we made assets specific for each PSM device. There is no scaling, everything you see is 1 to 1 pixel perfect! And we did it for PSVita and all the other devices too so Loot The Land will look the best it can whatever the device it runs on.
Awol_Wolf
October 3, 2012 at 3:39 pm PDT

@warriorprincess8 .

Got ya, it is silly to be called pathetic because gamers want trophies, but it is also silly to NOT play a game just because there isn’t any trophies.. either way both sides of the argument is silly. The ones that win are the ones like you and me that play games no matter what, however I do think if these game makers want to compete with ISO games they will have to add some type of trophy system to these games. (like ISO games have now and most are 99 cents)

If enough people put constructive criticism towards the idea, I can see it being added, just like ps3 added trophies a few years after being on the market.

I am willing to accept the fact though that these games would sell by the TONS if they had trophies, it is just the way gamers are now a days (And understandably so) ..
DaWolf619
October 3, 2012 at 3:43 pm PDT

“In Loot The Land we made assets specific for each PSM device. There is no scaling, everything you see is 1 to 1 pixel perfect! And we did it for PSVita and all the other devices too so Loot The Land will look the best it can whatever the device it runs on.”
That is more important to me than Trophy Support. If a Developer is going to put the time and effort to take full advantage of the Platform the game is going to be on, they will get my money everytime. That’s Awesome!
vanwinkle
October 3, 2012 at 4:11 pm PDT

This will be the next PSM game I purchase. And I have to say I really appreciate you coming in here and actually responding to people, unlike the Super Crate Box guy (hey, I’m not hating; Super Crate Box is a great game and I’m having a blast, but still).

I’m don’t know if you’re still reading this, but are you guys looking to bring more games to the PSM platform?
- Luigi Fumero
  October 3, 2012 at 11:59 pm PDT
  
  Hi vankwinkle,
  
  I am back, sorry I could not answer earlier, but we are based in the UK and it was time for bed. :)
  Yes, at Playerthree we are considering more PSM games. We are in the process of finishing other titles (one of them for Vita) and once we will be done with them we will definitely think about more PSM games too. We like the platform a lot, PSM is receiving a lot of good feedback and we like working with Sony.
  So keep your eyes open for more!
Squiggle55
October 3, 2012 at 5:17 pm PDT

@Luigi Thanks very much for the answers to my questions. I’m very happy to hear that you are considering adding an endless mode and a high score chart with a patch. That’s the kind of stuff I really love to have in a puzzle game.
EmperorLawlight
October 3, 2012 at 6:23 pm PDT

No trophy = no buy.
Kanashimi
October 3, 2012 at 7:15 pm PDT

While I have no problem with games that don’t have trophies, I am more convinced to buy something with trophies. It doesn’t mean a game without them is unplayable or should be ignored, but it will go lower on my priority list versus something that does.

People enjoy trophies for different reason and they shouldn’t be made to feel foolish simply because it’s a big factor in their purchase. It’s a nice incentive and ensures you’re getting more gameplay out of something you might just play once.

Regardless, the game looks great. I will say there’s quite a few things right now competing for my attention, so this will probably be something I pick up in December.
GhostMachine1
October 3, 2012 at 9:06 pm PDT

I’m super excited to play these games!
Elvick_
October 3, 2012 at 11:31 pm PDT

“In Loot The Land we made assets specific for each PSM device. There is no scaling, everything you see is 1 to 1 pixel perfect! ”

Well that sold me on the game. This will probably be the only game worth playing on my Sony Tablet S, although I could always connect my dualshock 3 and see if that works with the other two games I got, but I need one of those cords first.

And for the record I like trophies, but if you completely write off a game because it lacks them. You are foolish. There is nothing wrong with LIKING trophies, but placing the ENTIRE value of a game on whether it has them or not is foolish. And not buying a game because it has no trophies is placing all it’s value on the fact it has no trophies. Thus it isn’t “worth anything”.

@11: lol, no I don’t. But if it makes you feel better, believe that all you want. If you actually read the PS Blog, you’d know I complain too. I just have valid complaints. Not childish ones about lack of trophies.
BrianC6234
October 3, 2012 at 11:54 pm PDT

I just bought Loot The Land and played it a while. It’s a lot of fun. I don’t understand people who say they won’t buy a game if there’s no trophies. I like trophies but smaller games like this don’t really need them.
- Luigi Fumero
  October 4, 2012 at 12:02 am PDT
  
  Thanks BrianC6234. We are glad you like it!
  
  You have earned a trophy.
  Friend of Playerthree.
  
  :)
Squiggle55
October 4, 2012 at 8:03 am PDT

@Luigi I bought the game last night and we really enjoyed the gameplay. But it also left me with lots of ideas for how to improve it with a patch. Hope you all consider some of this.

Here are 2 absolutely essential things that need to be added:
1) Keep track of your best time for each stage
2) Actually list what the target times are to earn the different medals on each level. I didn’t see these target times listed anywhere.

And here’s something I would just really enjoy to get a lot more out of the game for a long time:

1) An Endless/Survival Mode where you simply try to survive as long as you can. If you are pushed back to the left side of the screen then your game is over but otherwise you simply try to survive and beat your top score. The high score could be your longest time survived or most coins collected. Most coins collected would be better possibly because topping your time survived could possibly become monotonous (and eventually very hard to top if the difficulty gradually increases) while collecting more coins would be based on strategy, skill, as well as luck.

thank you for you work!
- Luigi Fumero
  October 4, 2012 at 8:52 am PDT
  
  Thanks Squiggle55. Nice ideas. 1 and 2 were already high in our wish list.
  The endless mode will work well, we will need to carefully fine tune how the difficulty progresses.
  The fine balance between making the opposing forces stronger and the grid full of difficult objects will be key to make this mode fun.