IDARB

Xbox console exclusive

Prepare to battle everything from Moustache Cops to Breakfast, in this game inspired by fast action, 8-bit sports and arcade classics! Built with the input of thousands of crazed internet gamers, #IDARB is a chaotic 8-player eSport jumping future arena ball game. Create characters, teams, team logos, tournaments, even your theme music, in this highly customizable experience complete with disruptive “hashbombs” which dynamically change the game itself via Twitch and Twitter! IDARB supports up to a whopping 8 simultaneous local players, and up to 4 vs.

Released: 30 January 2015
Platforms: Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Genres: Indie Platformer Sports
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Comedy
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

#IDARB ( EYE-darb; an abbreviation of "It Draws a Red Box") is a 2015 2D multiplayer sports video game developed and published by Other Ocean Interactive initially for Microsoft's Xbox One. In the game's main mode, up to eight players, a maximum of four on each team, attempt to run and jump across platforms to shoot a ball into the other team's goal. Extra points can be gained for scoring from a distance or bouncing the ball off platforms. Various visual and gameplay effects known as hashbombs could be triggered with Twitter posts or Twitch chat messages.

The game originated with a tweet made by lead developer Mike Mika in January 2014. Mika asked his followers where to take his new concept, a simple image of a red box standing among platforms. Ideas quickly flooded in, and Mika experimented with many of them, leading to the suggestions becoming unified under the hashtag #IDARB, which later became the game's title. A week after the initial tweet, fellow game designer Brandon Sheffield suggested Mika add a ball. Development progressed quickly afterwards, and the game was released exclusively by Microsoft for its Xbox One console under its ID@Xbox initiative in 2015.

Keywords

character customization
8-bit style
time limit
pixel art
cross-platform multiplayer
user generated content
digital distribution
countdown timer
qr codes
character creation
xbox live
games with gold

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

A 2D multiplayer sports platformer party game, #IDARB features teams of up to four box-shaped players that attempt to shoot a ball into the opponent's goal over the course of four rounds, with each game lasting approximately ten minutes. In online multiplayer, a player could only play against as many other players as they had on the same console. For example, a team of two could only play against another team of two. A single-player campaign is also available, and its end credits ask players to tweet positive opinions about the game.

During a match, a close-ranged shot is worth one point. Shots from further away are worth two, three, or five points, depending on their distance. Bonus points may also be earned for bouncing the ball off a platform; three bounces would grant the player a 3x-scoring multiplier. After a goal is scored, an announcer comments various comedic lines, referencing pieces of obscure pop culture, such as the 1985 film Fletch.

Development

Development of #IDARB began on January 3, 2014, when game developer Mike Mika of Other Ocean Interactive suggested in a tweet that he wanted to develop a game "entirely with friends" on Twitter or Facebook, which could be "fun or totally awful". Mika had always started the games he made with his friends by drawing a box, asking his friends what he should make with it and going from there. He decided to repeat this method, but this time he asked his Twitter followers for help. Later that day, Mika posted a tweet containing an image of a red box standing among white and gray platforms.

He asked his followers, "Where to go with this? I've started a new project, it draws a red box. Thinking platformer. #helpmedev".

Reception

During #IDARB's previews and releases, many reviewers struggled to describe the game. An official press release at an event to promote ID@Xbox in San Francisco in 2015 described it as "a chaotic 8-player eSport jumping jetpack future arena ball game that is as inspired by Bomberman and Smash Bros. as it is by cans of soda, paint-by-numbers books, and driving five miles faster than the speed limit". This carried over to reviews.

IGN's Mitch Dyer described it as "part combo-based arcade game, part hockey, part basketball, and part Super Smash Bros." , NES-era platforming, and Twitter hashtags into a curious pastiche ... an absolute farce". This chaos was frequently praised by reviewers.