Glasgow’s Chunk has created a great reputation for building games which tie into television programmes and specifically those for kids.
The company has just released a new title, based on one of the world’s most beloved children’s licenses, Peter Rabbit.
The flash-based game is aimed at 4-6 year olds, and was commissioned by CBeebies to go alongside the series featuring the Beatrix Potter characters, currently airing on the channel.
The game, called Hop To It, sees characters Peter Rabbit, Lily Bobtail and Benjamin Bunny run through different environments to collect food and gifts for Cotton-tail’s party.
The characters run as a group, with Peter as the lead, jumping over obstacles to collect items, and running away from ‘baddies’ trying to catch them.
Each level features a different environment and baddie from the TV series, with a variety of food to collect. In Mr McGregor’s Garden, for example, the bunnies collect radishes and escape from his cat, while in the fields, they collect Strawberries and run from Tommy Brock, the badger.
The characters always outwit and escape from the baddie, either by running away, or by jumping down a secret tunnel. At the end of each level, the rabbits see how much food the player has helped them to collect.
There are no weapons crates. At no point does Peter square up to Mr McGregor and unleash a whole can of ‘smash bottom!’ on him. All is gentle, rolling wonder and delight. With carrots. And radishes. A whole salad of rabbit-friendly goodness and fun for the family.
The gentle rolling hills and levels within the game environments reflect those described in the famous Beatrix Potter books and TV series. Completing all four levels will unlock a secret code to access additional content in the Peter Rabbit’s Journal game, also on the CBeebies Peter Rabbit game page.
The game uses simple controls, appropriate to the age of the players – simply tapping the space bar to jump.
Donnie Kerrigan, founder of Chunk told us
Peter Rabbit is loved by generations of children, so it’s great to be involved in creating something that will live in the memories of this one. We all wanted the game to feel like the show, with great adventure, excitement and even a little bit of danger, which is unusual in games for this age group. I think we’ve pulled it off.
Congratulations to Chunk. The Beatrix Potter characters are now well over a century old. Bringing such well-loved children’s characters to life after so many generations have grown up with them is quite a challenge.
Peter Rabbit: Hop To It (Online) – Free