Mr. Traffic

Factsheet

Developer:
Dumpling
Sheffield (UK), Shanghai (China)

Release date:
04 April, 2022

Platforms:
App Store
Google Play - Coming Soon

Website:
playmrtraffic.com

Regular Price:
FREE, In-App Purchases

Description

Meet Mr. Traffic: a music conductor now conducting traffic thanks to an admin error… but he won’t let that stop him from making music!

Mr. Traffic is a brand new one-touch arcade game from the makers of Dashy Crashy (iOS) and Smash Tanks! (iOS). Inspired by Chinese traffic conductors, players tap cars to conduct traffic and avoid crashing them for a hi-score!

Addictive ‘one-more-go’ gameplay featuring endless crazy traffic packed with pop-culture references - ghosts? Time machines?? Giant chicken??? - and quirky events to ensure you see something new every play. Unlock ‘fashion’ to mix-&-match the perfect uniform for the job and showoff to friends. And all of this in a neat, glasses-free 3D to immerse you in the fun.

Features

• TAP to play - simple one-touch gameplay with lots to discover
• Unlock 1000s of FASHION combinations - Series 02 coming soon
• EVER-CHANGING gameplay - procedurally generated it's never the same game twice
• SHARE with friends - compete against them
• Make MUSIC (sort of) - discover classical tunes to get achievement stamps
• GLASSES-FREE 3D - tilt the device to adjust perspective
• FREE PLAY - play to collect COINS, top up with Ads and In-App Purchases
• Clear daily JOBS and beat Game Center RIVALS to earn extra coins

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History

After a break from game development to move life to Shanghai, China, Dumpling lead Travis Ryan had an idea to design a one-screen game in the style of Nintendo’s Game & Watch series. China’s intense roadways had already inspired a previous Dumpling game - Dashy Crashy - and now attention turned to the Chinese traffic officers who at the peak of rush hour, cool as anything, conduct the chaos... and thus, Mr. Traffic was born.

Mr. Traffic’s creation is a story of rapid-fire development, global collaboration, blown budgets and wrestling with what it means to be an indie dev making an 'arcade game' in a hyper casual world.

Fun Facts

• In China Mr. Traffic is known as ‘Super Mario’s Uncle’
• Mr. Traffic’s first name is Ted, after team favourite Ted Lasso
• The game’s musical element was originally implemented as feedback, but testers started making music
• The lanes in Mr. Traffic play the notes of the B Major scale - the key of ‘wild passions’!
• At launch there are 3,745 outfit combinations - can you find them all?
• Classically trained, Ted also has a huge soft spot for The King of Rock & Roll
• Achievements in the game are actual music tracks - and they are hard to perform
• Ted’s outfits tell his story and character, reflecting the fun of everyday. And a Series 02 is on the way!
• Travis - lover of toys - worked with local Shanghai toy designers ‘Fat and Cool’ to make Mr. Traffic as collectible as possible
• Gameplay rekindles the ‘playground tips’ of classic arcade games with minimal instruction and lots to figure out
• A one-day prototype (‘Finger Function’), developer Jake and friends were such fans they pestered Travis to make it into a full game
• The ‘glasses-free 3D’ was added to liven up the single screen. It will be hard to go back to 2D games after this

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Tips & Tricks

• You can also tap vehicles to make them stop
• Cars drive differently! Red cars fast, big vehicles slow - learn the rhythm of the road
• Tap everything! Many things have cheeky coin bonus drops
• UFOs are friendly!
• Chickens are an unpredictable menace - even they don’t know why they’re crossing
• Ghosts can’t crash… can they? What happens when they ‘ghost’ a vehicle?
• Wearing a ‘complete’ outfit will trigger a fun gameplay surprise - coming soon!

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Awards & Recognition

• “WINNER 1st Place” Big Indie Pitch - October, 2021
  

Selected Articles

• “A musically charged traffic management game… with more than enough to keep you conducting until your musical masterpiece is a reality”
  -Sophia Aubrey Drake, Pocket Gamer

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Credits

Travis Ryan
Director, Design, Art & Production

Jake Hanne
Engineer & Development

Jared Buckley (Dumpling), Jing Li, Bertil Butturini (Fat and Cool), Nick Dymond (Monomoon), Lee Schuneman, Kuo Xu, David Daniel, Jay Wong, Ray Tan, Carla Prada, Tim Ackroyd.
Key Contribution

Contact

Inquiries
travis@dumplingdesign.com
hello@dumplingdesign.com

Twitter
twitter.com/dumplingdesign

Facebook
facebook.com/dumplingdesign

Web
dumplingdesign.com