New Cookie Run mobile game is for the whole family

BUSAN — Seoul-based game publisher Devsisters hopes to attract a wide user base with their upcoming mobile game, Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures, which emphasizes cooperative play.

Bae Hyung-ook, the head developer for the game publisher Devsisters' upcoming Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures, introduces the new game for the G-Star 2023 game festival held at Busan's Bexco convention center Friday. [DEVSISTERS]

BUSAN — Devsisters, a Seoul-based game publisher behind the iconic Cookie Run franchise, hopes to attract a wide user base of families and friends all around its upcoming 3-dimensional mobile game, Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures.

This time, cookies run and fight once again to climb to the top of the Pancake Tower full of monsters. Although one can play alone, what the company emphasizes is the Raid Mode, where players gather as a group of four to collaborate and defeat the ultimate boss. Each cookie character possesses different skill sets and players can gain rare items in this mode.

Devsisters presented the mobile game for visitors to try out for the first time at G-star 2023, a game festival that will run until Sunday in Busan.

“I created this game with a fond childhood memory — most of the gamers, including me, would visit the arcade with brothers, sisters, or friends, put their heads together to play the games,” said Bae Hyung-ook, the head developer for the mobile game and CEO of the Devsisters’ subsidiary Oven Games, at a press interview on Friday.

“Unlike prior franchises, Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures is a game for families and friends. It doesn’t matter if the players are on different levels since it’s a collaborative action game. Even if a character dies during a battle, it can be resurrected through the healing energy given by other characters.”

The mobile game is scheduled for release some time in the first half of next year. The game release comes at a critical period as Devsisters has been facing consecutive operating losses for the last six quarters including this year’s July-September period. The company announced a restructuring plan earlier this month to cut costs and accept voluntary retirements.

The main business model of the new game relies on the loot box system, which are in-game lucky draws where players may or may not obtain valuable items to upgrade their characters. Cookie characters and artifacts can randomly be attained within the game.

Artifacts are special items or objects within the game that can enhance unique powers of the cookie characters. Within this game, they come in the form of a magic wand, trumpet, screwdriver, candy cane and cherry bomb.

“However, we will not structure an excessive loot box system,” Bae emphasized. “As of now, we are thinking of grouping the cookie character with its artifact per draw, but there are gamers who want to draw them separately, so we are still deliberating on that.

Cookie emoticons, after distributing for free at designated events, will also become part of the in-game draws.

The head developer, however, drew the line at making the Cookie Run franchise a player versus player (PVP) game.

“Implementing the PVP structure makes gamers obsess about the characters’ abilities, and the problems related to the unevenness of the different characters’ skill sets becomes evident as well,” Bae said. “We have no plan to reinforce the game competitiveness.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]