Boonce–New Windows Phone cannon-shooter game available now

Father/son team Garry McMahon, 41, and Ed McMahon, 17, have teamed up with artist Robert Rule, 109, to create their debut game for Windows Phone. Boonce is a 2D cannon shooter game boasting a plethora of original concepts and challenges. Thoughtfully designed levels and beautiful hand-drawn art are backed by a mellow soundtrack that belies the game’s fast-paced and rewarding experience.

Garry explains how it all started: "I was worried about what luck my son would have looking for work – young lads seem to be having a tough time of it these days. I had asked him many a time about his interests, hoping to see something which he could turn into a career. He kept on saying videogames. Eventually I said I’d help him turn his hand to making them. I didn’t have any experience programming but within hours we were finishing off a simple tutorial and had made a very basic game."

With over a hundred level cards spread across two ‘decks’, Boonce has plenty in the way of variety and challenge. Destroy an array of unique targets in different ways to progress through the game and earn medals based on your performance. Throw into the mix the fact that each target comes with its own rules for being destroyed – some must be hit directly, others require you to bounce the ball first and others must be avoided altogether – and it’s fair to say that each level offers a fresh challenge for the player.

"It’s been a long journey since that night" says Ed. "Over two years have passed, but in that time we’ve managed to make a game that we’re both really proud of – this is a dream job. I know if we keep on putting the effort in we’ll make games that people want to play."

The trial version of Boonce! comes with 28 levels to beat and includes a sneak peek at the Science Lab deck. If players like what they see they can buy the full version for a modest amount through the game itself. Kalidorn have more decks planned in regular updates, each with their own new toys to play with. The first update deck is The Lab, with Teleportals and Anti-Gravity Fields and is available today as part of the full version. Thank you for playing and we hope you enjoy our game!

Boonce is $1.99 with a free trial and can be found in Marketplace here.