Note from Tom This is a guest blog post from our friends over at AirConsole! It's a great platform, and we have on occassion played on it here at Scirra HQ :)
AirConsole is a web-based platform for local multiplayer gaming that uses smartphones as controllers. We are always looking for more game developers who contribute to the platform and with the recently launched AirConsole Game Dev Contest 2017, the timing is perfect for you to get our Construct 2 plugin and get your game out there.
What is AirConsole?
What we offer is a free video game console platform that uses cutting-edge browser technology. You turn your smartphone into a gamepad using a simple activation code that shows up as soon as you push the play button on the homepage. Once you are connected, your smartphone allows you to navigate through our wide selection of games.
Additional players can easily join the same session, needing nothing except for a smartphone and an internet connection, making AirConsole ideal for spontaneous play sessions at parties, or all sorts of social gatherings.
You don’t need any hardware beyond what you probably already have in your home: a computer or SmartTV and one Smartphone per player. No need to buy expensive controllers, no need to huddle around one laptop to reach the keyboard.
When AirConsole was launched just over a year ago, we offered six games - meanwhile, our library has grown to over 40 titles, with more arriving every month. With casual sport games like ClusterPuck99, the Mario Party inspired game collection Silly World Series and co-operative strategy games like Castle Hustle, we offer a wide range of genres.
Beside expanding our game offer, we constantly strive to make the entire platform more intuitive and more entertaining for our users. Most recently, that meant adding the possibility to store high scores and share them with friends.
Within the near future, we hope to become the number one place to go for local multiplayer and party games - but we need talented game developers like you to get there.
Game Dev Contest
This winter, AirConsole offers a unique opportunity for game developers to get your games published, to get it played by thousands of people worldwide and to earn money with it. The competition is open until the end of February 2017, that gives you plenty of time to create the coolest things you can imagine. In this competition we invite you and your team to use Construct2 to create a fun and creative local multiplayer game for AirConsole.
The winning game will be awarded prize money of $10,000! The second and third placed games are worth $2500 and $1000 respectively. There are also three Construct 2 business licences to be won!
The submission requirements are simple:
- Your game is built using the AirConsole API and is fully controllable by smartphone
- Your game has not received funding from our previous game contests, with the exception of the Fall 2016 Student Competition
On our Developers Page we offer a variety of guides, tips and tricks that reflect our most important learnings from creating games that fit this multiscreen gaming setup in the best possible ways. We encourage participants to make use of this knowledge and to come to us for help with anything that is not covered online yet!
For more details on how to upload your game once it’s done, check out the Contest Announcement over on our website. We also recommend having a look at our Judging Criteria page, to severely improve your chance of creating the winning game.
Construct2 Plugin
AirConsole offers a Construct 2 plugin with which you can enhance your Construct2 game with local multiplayer. Our plugin handles the connections to player’s smartphones, and our Controller Generator offers a simple way of creating your controller file with very little coding effort on your part.
Be sure to have a look at our detailed guide on how to use the AirConsole API from within Construct2 - and contact us if you have any question or feedback...
For existing AirConsole games made with the Construct2 engine, check out Remon & Honey, Crystal Control and Zombie Annihilation.