9-year-old makes iOS game for PopCap

9-year-old makes Allied Star Police game for PopCap for iOS devices
9-year-old makes Allied Star Police game for PopCap for iOS devices

A creative 9-year-old game developer has released a new game for Apple's iOS devices, published by EA-owned PopCap studios.

9-year-old Owain Weinert, who suffers from Leukemia, submitted his idea for the game Allied Star Police, which has been created and published on the iTunes App Store by PopCap's 4th and Battery studio.

The youngster's game is a futuristic real-time strategy style game, which was developed as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation being involved in something called "PopCamp" – which is an internal project at PopCap that allows games designers to work on their own pet projects.

Allied Star Police

"Allied Star Police (A.S.P.) was conceived and designed by the incredibly talented and energetic nine-year-old game designer, Owain Weinert," reads the iTunes blurb.

"Owain came to PopCap by way of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Alaska and Washington and worked with a crack 4th & Battery team to create an actual game out of his fertile imagination. Owain pushed the team to their limits to make sure that A.S.P. delivered on his game dreams and we certainly hope that you enjoy it."

The 9-year-old presented a PowerPoint presentation at PopCamp, outlining the storyline, unit types and other details such as the different types of firepower, shields, and respawn times.

"The minute he walked in the door he handed us a fully realised game design, figured out to the last detail," 4th and Battery producer Matthew Lee Johnston said in a statement.

"He stuck with that vision, and directed the team through the development process like a pro. When he first sat down to play it, he naturally knew what to do and won his first round easily, which felt to us like we did a good job executing on his plan.

If you have an iPad or iPhone then Owain's game is genuinely worth checking out (and it's free). If you are into your mobile RTS or sci-fi kind of stuff, that is…

Adam Hartley