| Glitch | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Tiny Speck |
| Designer(s) | Stewart Butterfield |
| Engine | Flash-based |
| Version | 1.0 |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) |
| Release date(s) | September 27th, 2011 |
| Genre(s) | MMO |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| System requirements
Browser with Flash installed |
|
Glitch is a browser-based massively multiplayer online game released on September 27, 2011. Glitch centers on traveling through time in an effort to save the planet, and in order to accomplish this the player must enter into a creation myth through which they shape the future.[1]
Contents |
Glitch's graphics are 2D, with platform game movements. After the player chooses their avatar's appearance and clothing, early gameplay involves learning how to interact with various objects and animals, mostly in order to obtain some reward from them. (Source: the game itself)
One of the most unique aspects of Glitch is that players can work together to build out each new street by cooperating on the completion of projects offered by a "Street Spirit." A project is made up of stages and numerous small tasks, some of which involve collecting (and sometimes even creating) quantities of items from throughout the world and returning them to the Street Spirit. Other tasks on projects involve the skills or labor of players to complete. Involvement in projects thus far have been fairly equitable as to the players level, allowing newbies as well as higher level players to participate in the projects together. At each stage of a project's completion, participating players get to vote in the direction that the street project will take, ultimately choosing the completed streets' attributes. Upon completion of the project, participating players are rewarded with valuable benefits. Unlike other massively multiplayer online games, Glitch's gameplay isn't centered on leveling up, it's about working together to achieve goals.
Within the last few minutes of a short, 3-hour alpha testing session on 28 January 2011, the ban on taking screenshots of Glitch gameplay and artwork was lifted with a global, in-game announcement:
Based on the number of character profiles that had been created by the end of January, 2011, in excess of approximately 9,600 players had participated in the alpha testing of Glitch.
On 3 February 2011, with the blessing of Stewart Butterfield, an independent, alpha-tester created gameplay wiki for Glitch was unveiled.[2]
The afternoon of 18 April 2011 saw the URLs of all game links change from alpha.glitch.com to beta.glitch.com, followed by a short unannounced final alpha test session to make sure everything still worked.
On 27 September 2011, at 10:00 AM PST, Glitch transitioned from private beta to gold, and the site's URLs changed from beta.glitch.com to simply glitch.com. Overall, the transition went smoothly, save for the fact that many existing players could not re-enter the game for approximately 5 minutes prior to the transition, and missed a special song written especially for the occasion. At that time, there were approximately 27,000 beta testers.[3]
On 30 November 2011, it was announced that Glitch was "unlaunching" and returning to beta status so that significant changes to core game mechanics can be made.[4]