A few years ago JP and I were browsing video games at a toy store and at one point he said something like “Dad, let’s make a game. I got an idea.” He started writing ideas down and just like any great Product Manager he got all the core requirements for the game down in a flash and after a little brainstorming the name Furious Monkeys came up. JP nicknamed the game “F.M.” and although the game ideas kept changing until the very last minute prior to pushing the very first version of the game to the iTunes App Store, the overall arch stayed the same.

The first reason F.M. is awesome is because I got to see JP go crazy about everything he wanted for the game and I had to negotiate features with him. He’s a really demanding Product Manager for a teenager.

I really enjoyed writing the game. Apart from having an excuse to learn a bit more about iOS and the process of getting apps submitted to Apple. I also got to spend time crafting some custom audio effects and drawing a lot of original artwork for the game. For example, I couldn’t find a nice royalty-free sound for the whooshing sound of throwing a banana, and real bananas don’t make any sound when you throw them … so I had to invent the sound myself, just like those cool guys did when filming the original star wars movies.

And finally, how many indie games get to have their own celebration cake 😉

If you want to give Furious Monkeys a try, you can download the free version, which comes with the first 5 levels, and if you master the speed of those levels and like the game, you can get the full version as that allows you to throw as many bananas at the birds as your skills allow.

Cheers,
~ Andre Lessa (@lessaworld)