BOSTON (September 20, 2022) – Foster and Family Games proudly announced that its 2D arcade flight game, Loose Nozzles, launched today on the iOS and Google Play App Stores. A labor of love from designer and programmer Chris Foster (The Beatles Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band, The Lord of the Rings Online) and his son Ian starting at age 5, Loose Nozzles combines physics-based play and classic arcade mechanics with a hand-drawn art style and vocalized sound effects.
After more than twenty years in games on teams from 3 to 300 people, Chris decided to learn how to make a game alone, handling all disciplines from programming to level creation, art to audio. This plan happily changed after his then 5-year-old son saw Chris’ early Unity experiments, drew a picture of a “cannon-shooter” firing at a rocket, and described a game where the rocket’s flight would be affected by getting shot. This drawing became the heart of the game they started making together – Chris suddenly gaining an artist and (through muffled-under-bed-covers recording sessions) sound-effects artist.
The game formed over eight years of part-time, nights-and-weekends development, balanced with working full time at professional studios – Chris is currently game developer at Hidden Door, a new startup working at the intersection of machine learning and immersive storytelling – teaching game development at Northeastern University, and being a father. “I never wanted this to feel like work for Ian, and I already HAD work to feel like work, so we kept things light, and took our time.” Ian continued to contribute, adding his final pieces of more detailed, but still fun artwork at the age of 13.
When asked to comment on the game at the end of this long road, Ian was as direct as to be expected from a teenager: “It’s a game. And it’s fun.”
Loose Nozzles is out now on the iOS and Google Play app stores, as a free download with a one-time purchase to unlock additional features. A presskit can be found at www.loosenozzles.com/presskit. For additional information, contact Chris and Ian Foster at loosenozzles@gmail.com.