Factsheet

Developers:
Zach Gage, Jack Schlesinger
Based in New York, New York

Founding date:
2008

Website:
stfj.net

Press / Business contact:
zach@gage.nyc

Social:
twitter.com/helvetica
twitter.com/games_by_jack

Previous Releases:

Description

The original best-selling mobile word game, reimagined!

Pick your words wisely! As you play, more tiles rise from the bottom of the screen! It'll take all of your lexicological wits, and tactical know-how to keep your columns down. If any letters make it to the top row, it's game over.

Classic modes Daily Tower, Tower, Puzzle, Rush and Zen are all back and packed with brand new BONUS TILES that double (or more!) word values.

Joining them is the brand new Search mode, plus ExPuzzle, Double Puzzle, Bubble Puzzle, and Blitz mode!

That’s eleven modes in all!

Plus iCloud Backup, Highscores reported for games even while in-progress, detailed statistics for every mode, Game Center leaderboards, and achievements.

History

SpellTower is my original best selling mobile word game. It has been downloaded over a million times, and more than a billion words have been made by players.

It’s pretty wild to be revisiting my first hit game, SpellTower. I can't believe it's almost 10 years since it released. The first iPhones it ran on had a 3.5 inch screen and 320 x 480 resolution! I literally did a double-take at that resolution when I looked it up.

A funny part about having a hit game is people talk to you about it. With SpellTower I heard about grandmas playing the game every morning to keep their minds sharp, parents playing it with their kids, expectant mothers playing it to get through morning sickness, and countless sitings of strangers playing it on subways, planes — even elevators.

I got into games because I wanted to connect with people in a positive way. I wanted to help people think critically and come away with more than they arrived with. Games felt like a way to do this on a huge scale, but the stories I heard from SpellTower players taught me that games do so much more for people than I ever expected.

I’m deeply grateful that SpellTower has been able to be something special for so many people, and I think that’s why so many people have shared it with friends, loved ones, and strangers on elevators.

Even though SpellTower is a game I made, it’s really barely mine anymore. The experiences and love I had for the game has been outstripped by its audiences a thousandfold. I thought a lot about all the experiences that people have had with the game when I was designing this new version. I hope it gives everyone who’s loved the game a reason to pick it back up again plus share it further amongst their friends, family, and audiences.

-zach

Zach Gage is a game designer, programmer, educator, and conceptual artist from New York City. His work often explores the power of systems, both those created by social interaction in digital spaces, and those that can be created for others, through the framing of games. An Eyebeam Alumni, Apple Design and Game of The Year Award Winner, and BAFTA Nominee, he has exhibited internationally at venues like the Venice Biennale, the New York MoMA, The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, XOXO Festival in Portland, FutureEverything in Manchester, The Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, and in Apple stores worldwide. His work has been featured in several online and printed publications, including The New York Times, Art In America, The New York Times Magazine, EDGE Magazine, Rhizome.org, Neural Magazine, New York Magazine, and Das Spiel und seine Grenzen (Springer Press). In games, he is best known for SpellTower, Ridiculous Fishing, and Lose/Lose.

Jack Schlesinger is a New York City based game developer, sound designer and writer. A MFA graduate of the NYU Game Center and alumni of the Game Center Incubator, his work has been featured at several events including MAGFest, Dreamhack, and BitBash. He has contributed to Card of Darkness, Neonimo, We Should Talk, and Galactix, and created the upcoming rhythm-strategy game One Hit Wonder. When not making games, he's a lyricist and playwright (Your Brand-New Incurable Disease, Sidelines, Your Wish is Granted) who’s work has been featured at the New Studio on Broadway and the Baltimore Rock Opera Society.

Team

Zach Gage
Design

Jack Schlesinger
Programming and Audio

Contact

Inquiries
zach@gage.nyc

Twitter
twitter.com/helvetica

Web
stfj.net