Social game startup uCool is coming out of stealth today and describing its upcoming game, a social fantasy role-playing hybrid title called Tynon.
The Flash-based browser game is being made by members of the team behind Evony, a pioneering hardcore online game whose ads featuring busty women flooded the internet a couple of years ago. With Tynon, uCool hopes to create a unique blend of action, role-playing, social, strategy gameplay, and city building. The game will have a heavy emphasis on storytelling, and it is being created by a huge team of 170 people.
Boston-based uCool says that, “In Tynon, the King has come under the affliction of a dark wizard’s spell and it’s up to players to help the elite knight Rosaline and a band of heroes to rescue the king and save the thirteen kingdoms from the dark wizard’s magic. The lands continue to burn while wicked goblins roam free, serpent queens plague Verdant City, and the kingdom is threatened by disaster and slavery. Players must also help Rosaline rebuild the Imperial City to its former glory.”
The self-funded company’s executives include David Guo, chief product officer; Benjamin Gifford, business development director; Marco Mereu, legal counsel; and Tony Cerrato, marketing officer. All of them helped build and launch Evony. The CEO position hasn’t been filled yet.
“We wanted to create a separate independent studio and focus on a very complex, hybrid style of game that is very different from other hardcore titles out there,” said Gifford in an interview with GamesBeat. Guo added, “It is like there are three real games all working together as one game.”
Guo said the game would be very social. Players can enlist help from Facebook friends or friends on other social networks. Players can upgrade and customize their cities and gain resources by visiting neighboring towns. It will have hundreds of quests for players to earn more resources, gold, and gems. The game will be available on the web and on Facebook this summer. One key feature is that the game will be playable within 30 seconds of launch.
The game will have a single-player adventure story where you travel the realm, acquire unique heroes, and battle a variety of foes. You can create your own custom empire. The battle scenes will be animated, and players can upgrade their weapons, armor, and other features. Tynon will have 13 levels at the outset, and players can level up their characters to 100 levels. The game will also have daily or weekly competitions.
The company was founded in 2011 and competes with other hardcore social game companies such as Kabam and Kixeye. To a lesser extent, it competes with Zynga. uCool hopes to offer a faster game experience. The company is privately funded.