Astrokings is a new sci-fi strategy RPG from AN Games that’s now in open beta in the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia, featuring a rich story inspired by a best-selling book series and some truly amazing intergalactic multiplayer battles.
In Astrokings, humanity has fled to the far reaches of the galaxy to escape Crux, an alien confederation that wants to see the human race destroyed. In the game, you’ll develop your civilization across a number of planets, building space fleets and enacting political policies while defending yourself from the encroaching alien threat.
We sat down with Sunny Choi, Project Director at ANGames, to discuss the development process behind Astrokings.
What do you think Astrokings offers that you can’t get from any other strategy game?
In Astrokings, you can not only amass powerful fleets but also manage planets and national policies and compete or cooperate with other players in a vast galaxy for dominance.
Tell us a little about the game story and what were the things that inspired you to create it?
The game’s story follows the saga of the original ASTRONEST universe, which was a loosely related predecessor of this title, ASTRONET: The Beginning (which is still serviced on both Google Play and App Store). As the next chapter in the series, ASTRONEST’s story was greatly enhanced thanks to collaboration with Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, who are world-class Sci-Fi authors. They helped us craft the games’ background and in-game storylines.
What were the biggest challenges faced during development and how did you overcome them?
Well, at first, we wanted to show off a grand, splendid galaxy with gorgeous-looking planets, so we ran into a problem where only the latest smart phones could handle the game. Thankfully this has been remedied greatly and optimized compared to the past, and we’re implementing Unity’s Live Tune technology to make the game accessible and run smoothly even on low-end phones. We expect this to be fully resolved with the upcoming one or two major updates.
Which part of the game are you personally the most proud of and why?
Instead of pointing out a single aspect of the game, I would say that our dev team is immensely proud of the fact that we were able to create a world that continues the spirits of a highly-respected strategy game that is ASTRONEST, where the players can have a blast experiencing everything we crafted for them. Our goal was to create an easy-to-learn game system that will nevertheless continue to surprise and delight the players with novel factors.
What do you feel is the most appealing aspect of the game?
Taking on the role of a leader of a planet and developing it, surviving and thriving in a hostile galaxy, crushing your rivals and mysterious aliens, and then finally conquering it all – who doesn’t love that?
This article is sponsored as part of Steel Media Preferred Partners.
