There’s a new App on the block – or should that be up on blocks – for your nearest Apple or Android device. Freewheelin’ was developed by Glasgow’s Chunk Games, but the design was created by a team of three (aged 16 & 17) from Earlston High School (in the Borders, near Melrose, for those non-geographical society readers).
The design was part of the Arnold Clark Scottish Schools Challenge. A competition which challenged high schools throughout Scotland to come up with an innovative and original new game design for the company.
Chunk then took the team’s ideas and turned them into the fast-paced, tyre-based racing game, which is now available – for FREE – on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The competition attracted over 700 entries from across the whole of Scotland (so how SG remained unaware of it and unaffiliated with the judging panel, we can only guess…) before being whittled down to the final 10 nominees at the end of 2011.
They say everyone has a book in them and it seems the same could be said about mobile games. So Arnold Clark asked school students for their best mobile game ideas in return for a new school bus, some amazing Apple goodies and last, but not least, the chance to turn their idea into a fully-fledged game!
The brief for a simple, fun, and hopefully, addictive idea resulted in 700 brilliant storyboards and ideas from 150 schools across the country. Arnold Clark and Chunk had the hard job of picking the winner, but finally Tyre Trial, from the ‘Appy Chappies of Earlston High School, was chosen as the idea that best hit the brief.
We worked with the ‘Appy Chappies to develop the idea and features for the final game and Freewheelin’ was born. A game where you take a runaway tyre as far as you can down a tricky, twisting track; catching bonuses, picking up power-ups, pulling stunts and avoiding the evil Totafaces.
Congratulations to Ross, Stuart and Andrew. Big thumbs up to Chunk for yet another nice release for smartphone owners and an impressed nod to Arnold Clark for what looks like an exciting new competition and opportunity for Scottish schools to support and foster creativity. We look forward to the 2012 competition.
