''Bomb Chicken'' is a 2D

puzzle-platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

developed and published by

Nitrome Nitrome Games Limited is a British independent video game developer based in London. The company formerly developed Adobe Flash, Flash and Unity (game engine), Unity games for Web browsers, but now publishes and develops games across multiple pla ...

. The game was first released in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

on July 12, 2018, for the

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game console through the

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download service, followed by versions for

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and

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in April 2019 and one for

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in April 2019. Ports for

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and

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were released in April 2020. Set in a

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n jungle, the player controls a

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

who can lay multiple bombs, which are used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in order to escape a processing plant run by BFC, a large fast-food chain. ''Bomb Chicken'' was well received by critics, who praised its gameplay and presentation, but criticized its short length.

Gameplay

''Bomb Chicken'' is a 2D

puzzle-platformer A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

where the player controls a chicken who can lay bombs instead of eggs. The chicken obtained this power after an accident involving the mysterious blue sauce that is being mined by BFC (parody to

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

), a large fast-food chain. Unlike in most platformers, the chicken cannot jump; instead, it ascends by laying bombs which it stands on top of. The chicken can lay multiple bombs in a stack in order to reach higher places. The bombs automatically explode a few seconds after laying them, so the chicken must move quickly after laying them. Bombs can be pushed by the chicken so that they fly into enemies and obstacles. The chicken uses these abilities to try to escape BFC's mining operation, with settings including a factory and overgrown

Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

ruins. The chicken faces several foes, ranging from BFC workers to aggressive natives, most of which can be defeated by using a bomb or landing on top of them. Obstacles include blocks which can be blown up, flying arrows, platforms that fall when the chicken steps on them, and fireballs that hop out of lava. Switches are a common puzzle element and can be pressed to open mechanical doors. Some of them are on a timer, while others only stay active if something stays on top of them. Certain doors are also opened by taking keycards to them. The game has a total of 29

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (optical instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights * Spirit level or bubble level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *C ...

s spread across three worlds. The chicken dies after taking one hit, after which it loses a

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

, which only replenishes after clearing a level or getting a

game over "Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in ga ...

, which happens when the chicken loses all its lives. Within the levels are blue gems that the chicken can collect, as well as hidden rooms which house even more gems. Between each level is an opportunity to trade a certain number gems to increase the player's maximum extra lives. With each trade, the threshold for gems increases, so the player will have to collect more gems across multiple levels in order to meet this minimum requirement.

Development

''Bomb Chicken'' was developed by UK-based studio

, which had previously exclusively made

browser games A browser game is a video game that is played on the internet using a web browser. They are sometimes referred to more specifically by their format, such as Adobe Flash, Flash games or HTML5 games. They are generally free-to-play and can be eithe ...

and

mobile games A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

. The game was first announced on March 16, 2017, via a teaser on

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and was posted to

Steam Greenlight Steam is a digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide video game updates automatically for Valve's games and expanded to distributing third-party titles in l ...

the same day. The game was originally scheduled for release in 2017, but was later delayed to 2018. On March 20, 2018, Nitrome confirmed the game would launch first on Nintendo Switch, marking their first console game. A Japanese release was also announced, and the game released there on November 1, 2018. Nitrome has also said that they are open to

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

should the game sell well enough, as well as a physical release. A physical release for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was released on March 29, 2019, courtesy of

Limited Run Games Limited Run Games, Inc. is an American video game distributor based in Apex, North Carolina. The company produces and sells limited quantities of physical video game copies via its website and select retail stores. Josh Fairhurst and Douglas B ...

. The game was announced for download for

and

via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

alongside a

version on April 16, 2019. Ports for

and

were released on April 1, 2020.

Reception

''Bomb Chicken'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator,

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

References

External links

Official website''Bomb Chicken''
at

Mobygames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

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