Frogmind’s 2013 mobile hit Badland was downloaded more than 30 million times. And today, the Finnish company is launching Badland 2 on iOS as a bigger and badder action-adventure experience.
The new side-scrolling game builds on the original gameplay by making use of Apple’s 3D Touch feature and allowing players to maneuver in all directions. It has the same haunting yet beautiful art style and more variety of characters. And, at $5, it’s also a rare premium game in a land of free-to-play mobile games.
The original game won Apple’s iPad Game of the Year. Badland was the creation of just two developers, Johannes Vuorinen and Juhana Myllys. It’s a side-scrolling action-adventure game where you play a little black, sponge-like creature. You move through a mysterious forest where something has gone wrong. As the cute character, you bounce around and solve physics-based puzzles. And you try to unravel a mystery.
“Some have said that the first Badland reinvented the one touch auto runner genre. Badland 2 is our attempt to reinvent the first Badland”, said Myllys, cofounder and lead artist/designer of Helsinki-based Frogmind, in a statement. “We wanted Badland 2 to be worthy of the word ‘sequel’. It’s not the old Badland just with new content. It is a whole new world to explore.”
Above: Flying around in Badland 2.
Earlier this year, Frogmind released its Game of the Year Edition of Badland on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U and Steam.
Now, with Badland 2, you can fly through new elements such as liquids, flamethrowers, frost, magma, water, and searing light. You can fall down deadly rifts, fly in any direction, and race or jump along the surfaces as an all-new rolling character. The audio design is immersive and high-quality, and the atmospheric visuals emphasize a world of beauty, wonder, and danger.
The title has a single-player campaign with physics-based challenges as well as online stages for competing against friends in seasonal, globally ranked, asynchronous multiplayer events. The multiplayer has tournaments, and the winners will be mentioned on a global leaderboard. The challenges include being able to survive the longest, save the most clones, and reach the end fastest.
More content is coming for both modes through free updates after launch. The previous Badland has been updated dozens of times.
Above: Scenes from Badland 2.