How I designed Jetpack Joyride

[@sdsdfdu4437]

Imagine you're a fresh hire, a total newbie, and your first role at your new job is to come up with the music for a mobile game. And your final draft, for your very first project, is the absolute banging Jetpack Joyride theme. What a fucking legend

[@chrisholladay]

Actually insane, made one of the top 10 best themes in gaming IMO

[@bolson42]

@@chrisholladay Maybe mobile gaming. Def not gaming overall lol

[@ichisenzy]

@@bolson42Nah, Halfbrick’d win.

[@tealover70]

@@chrisholladaynah

[@SovereignAi]

​@@chrisholladaySMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKING Crack

[@LoganMega]

This man is the GOAT of mobile games, no questions.

[@3kz]

And the goat of my childhood

[@LoganMega]

​@@3kzof ALL of our childhoods 💯

[@palmossi]

@@LoganMeganot me :(

[@maclenix]

next time he's gonna tell us he designed angry birds

[@Jaden_K]

@palmossi It's not too late to play them!

[@itsmattagain3874]

The fact that you made 2 of the most influential mobile games makes you a legend. Honestly fruit ninja got me into gaming, and jetpack joyride continued the story

[@Piddypng]

3, fish out of water was another amazing game. Can't believe I grew up playing all 3

[@GDMatt09]

I had jetpack joyride on my old fire kindle, it had purchases turned off but still let me buy the fake money without paying

[@BananaCatsnotanalysed]

the first game i actually like enjoyed was plants vs. zombies

[@bensay8442]

22:11 Imagine the first track on your resume being the Jetpack Joyride theme. Jobs for life. That track is an incredibly complex and beautiful banger of a backtrack. Massive props to Cedar Jones and everyone who contributed to putting it together. Edit: in fact, all of those attempts that Cedar made were bangers. Absolutely incredible. I would listen to any of those tracks on their own.

[@taekundonoob6027]

fr, he made bangers but the one that fitted the most was the one in the game, they did a great choice

[@RobRamirez456]

I love how a picture of the composer is him cooking. And boy did they let him cook for jetpack joyride

[@JetStream_Mann]

@@RobRamirez456just noticed that

[@verafeiyd]

one of the most underrated comments ive seen in the past 10 years@@RobRamirez456

[@aceissleeping3298]

​@@RobRamirez456he ain't just cooking, he's cooking a full-course, delicate meals of the gods.

[@jan_kulawa]

you guys were a very integral part of my childhood. I vividly remember the many times a friend of mine passed around her iPad to me and other classmates in the school bus to play Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja, Zombie Tsunami, Temple Run and so many other incredibly fun and addicting (in an actually healthy way) mobile games. I cannot thank you all enough for the love, care and dedication you've put into those games at such an early stage of mobile gaming

[@GamesForDays2]

PLEASE, I would literally kill to enjoy a 20 minute video of you and Cedar going through all the Music drafts! They were so interesting to learn about!

[@smorpd]

^^^^^

[@potato_the_chip]

The entire music section makes me want them to release every draft version of the main theme, if anything, just to see what they had planned out in full, listening to music in-development slowly evolve with each draft is such a fascinating experience.

[@GamesForDays2]

@@potato_the_chip Absolutely! It's always such a slow and steady process developing a track for a game that really compliments it well.

[@94knux]

Absolutely, love hearing the evolution of music designs

[@menuki95]

YES THIS PLEASE.

[@timbledon32]

You can easily tell this game has something most mobile games seem to lack nowadays: a soul, actual effort and care put into it

[@azerty1933]

The whole point of the game was to thank players rather than to take their money so it feels special

[@barrysteakfriessimp_real]

mhm, even the mobile games that have a considerably higher amount of polish and care put into them are loaded with microtransactions and annoying features, especially as they update over time. Jetpack Joyride feels a little more special because, even though it does have quite a few microtransactions now, it's never really in your face and the main game has always been the same as it always has. the core gameplay doesn't really suffer because of it and i like that :)

[@RobertDoornbosF1]

​@@barrysteakfriessimp_realMain thing that makes a game suck is SMASHING an ad after each death

[@QUBIQUBED]

play Stone Story, its a great mobile game

[@donthasselthehoff5753]

Capitalism destroys everything. A tale old as time

[@gosha305]

These iconic mobile games, to me sometimes just seem like something that was kinda always _there_ , so having an inside look at how they came to be is insanely interesting.

[@zaidlacksalastname4905]

Ig it's hard to imagine the landscape without them

[@MrE_]

I remember before I had my own smartphone, I told myself that all I needed was jetpack joyride, temple run, fruit ninja, and hill climb racer, and I'd never need anything else

[@leoquattrucci2346]

@@MrE_simpler times

[@Triple-Q]

8:05 and then many years later, the game actually did end up crossing over with Metal Slug. Full circle!

[@azioh5544]

first

[@imanuelbaca2468]

You can really see why he made such good games. He gives credit to the people working with them like they are equals and actually respects the hell out of him. This dude seems like the best boss ever and he probably brought out the best in everyone that worked with him because of it.

[@stardust-reverie]

man, after not having heard it for years, hearing the music drafts progress, my fucking JAW DROPPED when it got to the final. everything just came together PERFECTLY. it was like MAGIC. then when you started talking about how everyone reacted it felt like i was hearing the exact same things i was thinking repeated right back at me. i must’ve felt a FRACTION of the energy in the studio that day. you guys are legends, i would love to watch a video expanding more on that

[@awesam2399]

Would also love to jump on that boat!

[@Agent-ic1pe]

I kinda like Draft 7 even more, hope the full version gets released!

[@averyshaw2142]

I just started smiling and couldn't stop when I heard the jazz track come in and then the final draft, you could just imagine the team sitting their laughing to themselves, probably knowing that this game was turning into a potential hit

[@death2foolz182]

Wait you're not telling me you worked with someone who did the art for the GBA Avatar: The Last Airbender game?? God between the mobile games and GBA games y'all are literally the GOATs of my childhood

[@agonisgone]

He himself worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender as a game dev.

[@death2foolz182]

@@agonisgone Yeah realized that part later on when he went into more detail about it... Even the follow up games. ngl kinda want him to do another avatar game... Those were like the last good avatar games we ever got

[@_RK_800_]

my jaw dropped when he said that! GBA Avatar was my childhood

[@TheMarslMcFly]

@@death2foolz182 ATLA: The Burning Earth on X360 and PS3 was pretty decent

[@ayrtonpavot3096]

NO FUCKING WAY THEY ALSO DID THE GBA AVATAR GAME whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[@ghabrielF]

I'm designing an endless runner game that has a few things in common with Jetpack, and this video had a lot of answers to design problems I was struggling with. This was super helpful and now I have some ideas in mind to make my game better. I'm going for this nostalgic 2010 mobile games vibe, cause right now I feel like most mobile games are pure trash

[@noterenyega9158]

That sounds like a pretty cool idea buddy, good luck !!

[@TerminalVelocity04]

Good luck with it dude

[@Naretek]

Your last point really hit home. This video made me miss the old days of mobile games so much. Gems like Jetpack Joyride and so many others just don’t seem to get made any more. The top games are always crappy merge or match 3, or awful soulless “games” targeted at young kids. I hope designing your game goes well!

[@Axeeco]

if with "nostalgic 2010 mobile game vibe" you mean good, then go for it, you have literally every human on earth's support

[@thunderousavenger2382]

​​@@Naretek correction, targeted at brainless adults with little self control and big wallets. (You maybe will be surprised to find out just how brainless the modern generations have become) Thankfully there still is exceptions out there like league wild rift, crash dive 2, infinitode 2, terraria or mindustry, just to name a few. (Granted 2 of these are ported pc games tho lol) Truth be told the only quality games you will ever find are paid ones 90% of the time. At least they wont cuck you with predatory iap's.

[@r3ktfox146]

Just wanna say Cedar was an absolute mad lad for creating such a banging soundtrack as an inexperienced new hire, all the music he did for the game was absolutely amazing

[@Eggzy-b7f]

Mad lad? Creating music in a game?😂

[@r3ktfox146]

@@Eggzy-b7f yh is there a problem with what I said?

[@guffingtonreal]

Jetpack Joyride is on Halfbrick + now, which also includes Jetpack Joyride Test Labs which essentially turns the gadget system into a modular challenge system where you can freely enable and disable certain modifiers to make the game more difficult and that's really fun.

[@FatOlli]

Woody sounds like the ultimate partner to have at a game studio.

[@coreytaylor3633]

Woody was one of my mentors and this is absolutely bang on. He made everyone he worked with better through his skill, creativity and attitude. Absolute legend.

[@Jerios]

​@@coreytaylor3633Wait are you one of the other devs who worked at Half brick studio?

[@coreytaylor3633]

@@Jerios yeah, I started my games career there. And learning from talented people like Woody, Luke and Steve (certainly not an exhaustive list) was an incredible headstart in the industry. Halfbrick was full of talent. I actually work for 2 ex halfbrick guys now.

[@clovemao329]

how to be woody myself? i assure you i can print hello world. demn he is so cool😅

[@GioTrev_]

​@@coreytaylor3633I thought you were the lead singer of Slipknot, not a game dev

[@adamkampen]

Finally finding out what the meaning behind those cryptic "good work" achievements are feels like a mystery of my childhood finally being solved! Such a cool video you've put together for one of the best mobile games to ever do it

[@ThatMarisaPerson]

No way it’s oomfie

[@adamkampen]

@@ThatMarisaPerson woah it's MarisaPerson with an actual Marisa icon

[@SoostheMoosh]

Hearing the theme song iterate and approach completion was something else. I'd love to see Cedar supply his own version of the story!

[@KalebPeters99]

Seconded! As a musician (and OG JJ fan) it was so inspiring to hear it progressively come together. I'd love to hear Cedar's take on the story!

[@ladeveloper1655]

15:12 I just realized that the power-ups idea in 2016 came from your power-up concept sheet in 2011. Notably the Rocket Time power-up, boost power up, and most famously, the shield power-up, which makes it easier to achieve massive distances, were definitely inspired by such early ideas. I really liked the power-ups in the newer Jetpack Joyride as it gave me incentive to keep coming back to earn them through hours of playing the game. They were expensive, but like the prestige badges, they felt like great long term goals for the game that made its appeal last longer!

[@Chimows]

the way that you explain it, maaaaaan. sounds like you were born for this, sound like all your skills and formation lined up perfectly for making this games. Like all the little details that you thought to make the game more fun. As I was watching, I was remembering those years when I spent most of my free time playing jetpack joyride, and now analysing it from another angle, I can see that it was such an easy game to play, just keep tapping the screen at the right time and youll get that dopamine boost right away

[@kookyartist]

YOU ALSO DID FISH OUT OF WATER?? Okay we need a dev behind the scenes on that, because you just unlocked a memory that was tucked so far away. Wow, your works as a team have been amazing, and I will definitely support your Feed the Deep!

[@Eztli__Void]

My personal biggest flex is still having fish out of water downloaded on an old kindle from when i was a kid

[@juliantalkstravel]

That was my favorite game as a kid, definitely need a BTS!

[@highdefinition450]

i loved fish out of water lol

[@highdefinition450]

@@Eztli__Void they brought it back tho lol, you need a free halfbrick account and it doesn't have ads. dame thing for fruit ninja and jetpack joyride, they have a version without ads and microtransactions for free, it's great

[@garfieldfan925]

@@Eztli__Voidit’s back you just need an account

[@murrylancashire]

I'm the artist mentioned in the Monster Dash section! Luke putting this together is such a great view into everything that went on at the time. I'm also happy to answer any questions about the art bits I did in Age of Zombies and Monster Dash.

[@_jax]

Awesome work!

[@Speedster___]

👑 dropped this

[@Don-zo3ts]

Wow another legend 🎉

[@murrylancashire]

Actually if you are venturing in here. Here's a few extra tidbits. The burning zombies in age of zombies are just another type of zombie that we swapped out that died after some time, as it was the cheapest way to do a fire effect on PSP. I started working on age of zombies when I was 19 as an intern, and the entire first version of the game was made in 3 months. The original art style was rough partly because of my inexperience and also because the timeline was soooo short. But I think there was a lot of charm to it. Barry Steakfries name was based on a George Carlin joke. The font I chose for monster dash inspired the updated halfbrick logo that came after.

[@Don-zo3ts]

@@murrylancashire great 👌

[@thatguyrowan6685]

Back in school (year 6) they gave us iPad to play on at break and lunch on rainy days, so many memories playing jetpack joyride and Minecraft PE lite. Also Sierra's pixel art is insanely good I never appreciated it as a kid

[@Josuh]

goated school

[@ThePenguinMan]

WHAT? YOU HAD BREAKS IN YEAR 6? YOUR WHATATATATTA

[@booates]

trash school

[@TheAlienDude]

@@ThePenguinManWhat you didn’t?

[@matheuscabral9618]

@@ThePenguinManyou didn’t?

[@landonvincent9586]

I'm so unbelievably happy to finally know who you are you shaped my childhood and the absolute best games i could ask for as a kid

[@FreezinTea]

Same here

[@Garosmith]

Dude resurrecting memories I forgot I had! With the Slot machine it was possible (at least at one point) to get the powerup you wanted by clicking spin when the red arrow was lit at a specific spot. You are very comfortable in front of the camera, explain things very well, and give credit where credit is due! Legend.

[@Saladtray]

My dad found jetpack joyride back when it first came out and for years him, my brother, and I would play your game. He passed 5 years ago from cancer. I wanted to say thank you for all the great memories that my brother and I can reminisce about. I’m sure there’s many more people who remember your games and think of someone important to them too. Thank you

[@sitkinator]

The music progressively getting closer and closer to the final version has made me look at the music process from a different perspective. I imagine a lot of iconic songs (and not just in video games) probably went through a similar process. You just experiment with a bunch of stuff again and again, and eventually, you take the best attributes from some if not all versions of the song to get a beautiful and memorable track.

[@ed07722]

As a music producer, yes and no. Sometimes everything comes together in the first version and can be written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered in a couple hours. Some songs you keep going back and reiterate from the initial idea taking inspiration from the ideas before. The most reiterations I think I’ve seen is 26 between ver 1 and release.

[@mariocaballero461]

this is how you make an album basically

[@pixelatedaces7952]

​@@ed07722For real. I've had song ideas that come together in a total of like 1 or 2 hours, mixed and done. And others taking a full like.. 7 months before actually getting a good version

[@Brahvim]

I rather see them as, the attributes that "go together the best".

[@WeegeepieYT]

oh my god please upload draft 5 6 7 & 8 somewhere Im literally begging 😭😭

[@privatetrolldier5640]

Hello weegeepie how are you today? If you played tf2 and have that huntsman I know why the huntsman isn't used seriously, it is due to it being seen as a joke. It's not a comedy it's a tragedy as even when it outperforms the rifle it will always be seen as the lucksman.

[@Raderade1-pt3om]

Honestly all those draft alone sound banger for mobile games like these

[@davidcaceres9184]

​@@privatetrolldier5640 first of all, where the hell did the tf2 talk come from 2nd of all, in most situations, if you can quickscope, the stock rifle *USUALLY* does the same things as the huntsman but better

[@privatetrolldier5640]

@davidcaceres9184 nah Mann's guide to the huntsman by soundsmith is here.

[@beggar8414]

put it in the store as optional music for coins. profit.

[@ivurivurivur]

This SO interesting! I played Jetpack Joyride first, and Monster Dash later- and thought that Barry was created for JJ! The work you and team halfbrick put in for every single project is insane!

[@binbunYT]

Such amazing design. The explosion after changing from a powerup to normal. The coins giving guidance.

[@milesn64]

i have to admit it has been many years since I've played Jetpack Joyride but when you were showing all the versions of the songs and I was picking up each hint at the final draft my face absolutely lit up when I started to remember the song. another banger cant wait to try out your new game on steam!

[@dunar1005]

I remember over 10 years ago, when I finished studying game design. I used your game as an example for something I always wanted to achieve at that time. And seeing now, how much thought you have put into a lot of the mechanics, shows how skilled you are

[@Cats-TM]

Thank you to the entire team. I spent _so_ many hours on Jetpack Joyride when I was younger. Very fun game, the artwork continues to be really good. I always liked seeing how stuff got destroyed due to Barry doing stuff. Specifically the glass floor (and the panels but there were less of those) getting broken, that was always really cool to me. 21:06 Wow! That is very unlazy! 36:56 The fact that two of your games got in the top 5 at the same time is really impressive. Especially because they were released so far from each other. This video really made me respect mobile game devolopers a lot more. I just never really considered how much effort goes into making one even though they are still quite enjoyable games. This video makes me so happy, just watching the progression of events and all the neat things. Really makes me want to play Jetpack Joyride again. Also, that straight jazz is really nice. I would be interested in a video just talking about the music.

[@danielnewton2390]

“Feed the Deep” looks very cool, and I’ll definitely be checking it out! Has big “Motherload” vibes, which was a favorite of mine as a kid.

[@jhonacosta8450]

I played it as a teen, when I didn't knew what to do with my life. Now I'm 23 and I'm working as a software engineer working for an aussie company, and I'm glad that I found this video. Jetpack Jopyride was a lot of fun in school and taking a deep view about its development, and most importantly about the team of people that made it (with all the backstory of the economical crisis) feels like I'm exploring a part of the history that I didn't noticed I was part of somehow. The world feels smaller now. I wish you the best on your solo path as a game dev, and as a youtuber (and as a person ofc!) Cheers from Bogotá, Colombia.

[@necr0mancrr]

Another great video, you had a great story to tell but it wouldn't have worked without your knack for engaging storytelling, good pacing, and editing

[@alexdunk7959]

Videos like this are actual time capsules, really fun to watch and relive childhood, great videos as always

[@PadensPixels]

You have no idea how big of a smile I had on my face during the entire music segment. What a wonderfully presented breakdown on the development of my favorite mobile game of all time. And all of the actual development images you share are just incredible to see. Thank you so much for sharing this slice of gaming history with us!

[@RikiRijad]

I got GOOSEBUMPS when you said Fill jumped on the chair and screamed out that you just made out on number 1 in Austraila! I just cant imagine the happines and the joy you guys got. Truly deserve it! 36:48

[@cicadawilkinson6227]

THIS IS AWESOME !!!!! Jet pack joyride was one of my fav childhood games! You guys really nailed it- especially the death, I’d always try and squeeze out a few extra meters and there was so much thrill to it, the slot machine, everything. The art was incredible too! Thanks team!!!

[@cicadawilkinson6227]

Gotta redownload asap

[@LassiMarttala]

10:50 It is super enjoyable to work with a talented designer who can document what he wants. It is actually fairly fast to implement things, if someone can tell you _exactly_ what they want. Usually most of the time is spent experimenting and going on endless rounds of "is this what you mean? No, ok, I try something different"

[@stlkevin7]

Jetpack joyride is the one and only ever mobile game I’ve 100% and probably the only mobile game I ever will take the time to 100%. The music, the missions, the customization, and the incredibly addictive gameplay, kept me coming back over and over again. Thank you so much for making this behind the scenes video.

[@artalogue]

this video is absolutly amazing and i adored seeing the development proccess for one of my absolute favorite mobile games. my biggest question though is if the early dragts of the jetpack joyride theme were ever released in full, some of these genuinally sound great and i would love to hear fuller versions of them. overall i had a ton of fun watching this, your content is insanely fun >:3

[@lukemuscat]

Not sure if they were ever released, but most of the drafts are only about as long as they are in the video. There are actually a couple more that I didn't include here as well. Glad you liked it!

[@artalogue]

@@lukemuscat np, i love learning more about the development history of games i love :3

[@elleymeows]

what a heartwarming story honestly, its so beautiful to see all of you living your dream and doing things you love. Congrats on the success and I will absolutely be checking out your up and coming game!! Thank you so much for sharing this, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video.

[@keek1337]

I remember being 8 years old on a banged up ipad learning about Barry Steakfries and thinking he was the coolest dude around lol. Love it! Thanks for this vid

[@Dualtrek]

It was so satisfying to hear all the other versions of the Jetpack Joyride theme songs and how they all built up to the theme we all know and love. Such a cool video

[@Hobby_Technology]

The part where you analyzed the different intensity graphs when prototyping different features was fascinating, thanks!

[@MHE202]

You might really be the most awesome game designer I know. Thinking about the players' fun is something I have seen missing in so many game developers nowadays

[@gradience304]

watching this and seeing how you look at issues and resolve them so expertly is actually inspiring, some of the most genius and simplistic game design ever and it’s actually giving me a lot of inspiration for how i approach music

[@IdoBerg]

watching this video with a huge smile for some reason. this game was and still pure fun!

[@gosunov]

My little memory about jetpack joyride and its mission system. When I was in junior class, this game was very popular in my school for some time. But no one couldn't speak and read english except me (I could read very poorly, but I could!). And everyone was asking me to translate the missions, because some of them you couldn't complete on random. I was kind of a hero at that time

[@Nightcaat]

Jetpack Joyride was such a good game from the moment I picked it up in 2011. The level of detail was insane, and all the little secrets and flavor text and everything made it more than worth my time back then. Thank you and the team for helping inspire me to become a game developer. I’m gonna go reinstall it.

[@MrLlort.]

Absolutely loved this video, thank you Luke. As someone who is probably best known on the internet for collecting every single piece of Jetpack Joyride's music, I really liked a music section. Although I knew about the "Level Track 1" (which Halfbrick officially named "Serious Joyride"), I didn't knew 3rd and 5th drafts ("Hardcore Joyride" and "Jazzy Joyride") were also planned to be the main theme. They were just kinda released on Bandcamp as bonus tracks, and I thought they were just that - bonus tracks made for fun. I would absolutely love to hear other drafts in full, those weren't uploaded on the internet before (at least I don't think).

[@lukemuscat]

Oh wow, I didnt even realise those ones had been released on Bandcamp! I'll figure out something to do with those other tracks for sure :)

[@Piegar-ou9el]

You and your team are the heroes of my childhood. I played fruit ninja, monster dash, and jetpack joyride growing up, and still do to this day. I have so many fond memories with you and your team’s games- thank you

[@aamr7434]

Echoing the overall sentiment here, but just wanted to thank you and the whole team for all your work. Playing Jetpack Joyride with my older brother was one of my favorite childhood memories, and this video really brings me back to that

[@xeriancasidsid3297]

Im so amazed that you can clearly remember events in the past that much,It just make your commentary so easy to listen ESPECIALLY your voice so soothing

[@lukemuscat]

Thanks! I had to spend almost a full month researching everything to remember it all haha. I went back and re-watched old GDC talks, dug through documents, found old interviews, and also interviewed all of the old team! They helped me fill in a lot of gaps I had in my memory, or parts that I was remembering incorrectly.

[@bakicanaksoy4148]

Watching you telling the story of yours feels like dad lore Huge thanks to you and your companions for making our childhood a joyride

[@RuVerThil]

It's been YEARS since I've touched JetpackJoyrider and to hearing the music drafts change by change built a smile on my face out of pure remembrance of the past, as someone who doesn't even remember the music since it's been that long and to still get that nostalgic hit, it was amazing! My brain was tingled & I just felt happy XD

[@autumnson]

Really interesting video, and I love how you mention everyone on the team, and everything great they brought to the game!

[@underscorecascadian]

I’ve been playing Jetpack joyride since it came out and often wondered about the behind the scenes aspect, great video. Last summer my mother fell ill and died, and I spent many hours in the hospital waiting to hear back about tests or surgeries. It sounds strange but Jetpack joyride really really helped me during those long waits because it required enough focus to distract me while being easy enough for me to actually do. I’m very grateful to you and the whole halfbrick team for that

[@xXlizamaXx]

I love everything about this, the historical context, the joy of designing every aspect from the art to the music, the contagious excitement of the whole video. Very inspiring stuff, thank you for the video, and looking forward for Feed the Deep!

[@hroland]

this made me so happy. not only am i obsessed with behind the scenes / beta footage of things i love, but JJ was my absolute FAVORITE mobile game growing up. JJ felt like the perfect game, like nothing could ever be better than this. i couldnt stop grinning hearing all the iterations of the main theme. the attention to detail is just incredible. my sincere congrats for you and the team for crafting this timeless piece of art ❤

[@crenoxi4155]

This Video is amazing. You and your team did an amazing job and I hope all of you are in a good spot today cuz you deserve it. The Impact and joy your work had on other people is honestly unimaginable. You all deserve the best thank you

[@dqrooney]

I absolutely LOVED this peek behind the curtain! So much awesome history. Really impressed with the way Luke celebrates the work of his colleagues and gives constant praise to the amazing talent around him. Imagine it was an awesome place to work!

[@snekhuman]

The jetpack joyride theme is one of my favourite videogame OSTs ever. I will definitely stick around for that analysis video

[@tonybarnes2920]

Luke, for what it's worth, I put way more hours into Monster Dash and Jetpack Joyride than Fruit Ninja. I actually used to point at your success when trying to explain to my AAA peers what works, what doesn't, how there is no "overnight success" and not to get caught up in their AAA hubris when going "indie" (a lesson that still needs to be taught constantly). Good stuff.

[@stdm7964]

It's so incredible hearing all the inspiration you drew from such different places. Small parts really come together to make something big. Also, as a composer/producer, I would LOVE to see a video with Cedar!

[@cristianaguilar8686]

JetPack Joyride, is by far my favorite mobile game ever. I was obsessed with it

[@Blearky]

Jetpack Joyride just takes me so far back. The main tune is a banger and the DJ version is epic as well. One thing that I found especially neat was, and please correct me if I am wrong, that the placement of the coins was made "binary" (meaning there where files that specified the placement where 1= coin 0=empty space) and could be changed when the iPod Touch was plugged into pc for custom layouts. Never used it for a higher score but to send my friends screenshots of messages made out of coins. Thanks to you and all of your team back than for giving me those memories and fun time. I wish you all the best on your way and your future games.

[@Juexis5]

it’s so fascinating to see the development behind one of my childhood favorites. I aspire to game dev some day and this video is so neat showing the thought process behind it. also Cedar Jones is absolutely amazing, even those drafts were headbop worthy.

[@ajx4]

I think it's cool how in missions section he mentions that having 1 mission you are stuck on being weird, and how he fixed in for JJ, but then eventually fish out of water ended up using that as the main progression system and doing it really well

[@1draigon]

Knowing the „unfair“ world generation was on purpose is actually very interesting! When I used to play the game a TON it really infuriated me because I couldn’t blame my own skill… but it REALLY kept me playing! The game design standards this set SO early are amazing

[@CorruptPianist]

5:16 That split second of shop music was an excellent bit

[@jordansime6684]

I remember getting my friends hooked on this game in 7th grade!! We'd customize our characters, compete with each other, it was so much fun during indoor recesses (too cold to go outside, frostbite in minutes. -35°c in Canada). We weren't supposed to have our iPods but we all snuck them. It was a lot more fun than UNO or blockus lol. Just the theme brings back so much nostalgia :) this would have been about a decade ago now. Crazy to think.

[@barrysteakfriessimp_real]

as a huge fan of Jetpack Joyride and the Barry Steakfries Series as a whole, all of this was so cool to learn about! i love seeing all the concept sketches for Barry and all the weird little mechanics (the box is my personal favourite lol) and seeing just how much work goes into developing a simple game like this. it's definitely stood the test of time and i'm so happy that this game is still great to play for hours on end. all the development is super cool to see!! really cool stuff!! (also ps is there any way to listen to the drafts for the main theme in their entirety? for scientific purposes? they sound really cool!!) edit: didnt watch all the way through before typing this lol, a video on the early JJ theme drafts would be super interesting!!

[@Flamsleburger]

I wish there was somewhere to listen to the old music, each track sounded amazing! Besides that, thank you all for making my childhood. It's really cool to see how little game studios put everything together and work with each other to make something awesome.

[@DrStryde]

I remember playing Monster Dash as a kid on an IPad at the time. Age of Zombies was also one of my favorites as a kid, been dreaming of a sequel ever since. Such a core part of my childhood, thank you for that.

[@outlier9099]

This was an incredible video, and the fact that you gave everyone their own praise for their work on the game was very nice. Some peeps will talk about how they basically made a game themselves, but fail to bring attention that they had an entire team of people under their wing.

[@xanderridley-smith3613]

I clearly remember as a kid playing with my sisters for hours on end until we literally maxxed out the levelling system and were put back to level 1. I can't remember at what point it clicked over, but it felt like we'd completed the game haha

[@JackMason21]

Such a classic game! One of the first games I played on my iPod as a kid.

[@Malaphor2501]

I barely even played this game, but these videos are so good, I would love a deep dive into EVERY aspect of the game you think would be remotely interesting. From the music to the coding, to the sprites, hell to even the marketing, I'm down.

[@simonlegosson7082]

The useless “what’s in the box” feature was so stupid yet hilarious. I wish it would have made it into the final version of the game. (Also I want to see a long video discussing the music with Cedar)

[@Maxzis]

I played this game so much with my brother back in the day. Entire roadtrips would be playing this and Pokémon. I remember my brother unlocking the full king outfit and the piggybank jetpack, which to me was comparable to catching a legendary bird in Pokémon or getting a gold camo in call of duty. This game was a big part of my childhood. I can imagine it’s hard to realize for you (and your team) but you made a game that was as impactful and fun as probably mario, doom or even Pokemon was for you back in your day.

[@monki2945]

I'm not a game dev but I am a creative, and I love working with people and getting the creative side out, one thing I really appreciate you for, is recognizing your coworkers and their achievements, it's really admirable. Much love.

[@mrperson9877]

I am happy to say that jetpack joyride is my favorite mobile game, and this video just makes me appreciate it even more!

[@mrperson9877]

Also, it was so cool to see the breakdown of the main theme! One of my favorite parts of the game

[@Technboi]

I'd love to see a full HQ download for the theme demos! They were amazing

[@89__tirtharajpati69]

Playing jetpack joyride in my uncle's iPad was one of the fondest memories of my early teenage years

[@TheAdvertisement]

I love how everyone is just discovering now that there is in fact a guy who made our childhoods with these mobile games and he's more than eager to talk about it. xD

[@dylan173961]

Sierra is just an amazing guy. I always loved the way that these games look! There is so much detail in those few pixels, I have never seen anybody come close to his artstyle.

[@miachristensen5444]

Sierras work is really something that has stayed with me, it's genuinely incredible how well good pixelart can be at the highest level

[@averyshaw2142]

It scales up so good and shows why the game was so successful on iPad. Probably one of the first games that truly looked crisp and clean on iPad, so players were probably unconsciously driven to it

[@milob.805]

Devs of really well known game that otherwise don't have all that much public interaction talking about the development process of their games are one of my favorite subcategories of youtube videos

[@drjoriv]

Thank you so much to you and your team for making this game

[@carazy123_]

I still have Jetpack Joyride on my phone. Great work guys, and thanks for this awesome look inside!

[@killeranime3591]

This game was one of my favourites growing up so it was amazing to hear all the behind the scenes with the devolvement of the game

[@chipmccain.]

I probably sunk around 1000 hours into that game when i was younger, it just felt right to play. Seeing all the effort put into the tiniest little details is just great and also just brings back a shit ton of nostalgia. Thank you and also the rest of halfbrick for making such a good game! (also that indie game you are making looks pretty dece im kinda excited for it)

[@-N-L-]

15:30 the PC monitor in the background lmao "How hot can it be before I start sweating on camera"

[@lukemuscat]

Australian summer plus no air con for recording is brutal!

[@e242animator]

true

[@Green_Bean_Machine]

literally took 9 drafts, can you IMAGINE, only NINE DRAFTS, and its one of the greatest themes in gaming. instantly recognizable, insanely catchy, genuinely just a great song.

[@junyaiwase]

With music , it’s really hard to ever put your finger on it, it’s always just a feeling. Great video!!!!

[@dantemayes1814]

This is probably one of my most played games not this day the amount of devices and consoles jet pack joyride has seen me through is astounding thank you soooo much for all your hard work

[@zenkichihitoyoshi9513]

You basically created the childhood memories of an entire generation