''Bang! Howdy'' is an online

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

, hybrid

turn based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

and

real time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...

game created by American company

Three Rings Design Three Rings Design, Inc. was an online game developer that was founded on March 30, 2001, by Daniel James and Michael Bayne. The company was named in honor of the Three Rings of the Elven-kings in Tolkien mythology. The company's first product ...

. It was originally released on December 1, 2006 after public

beta testing Software testing is the act of examining the artifacts and the behavior of the software under test by validation and verification. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to apprecia ...

by Grey Havens, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded by several former employees of Three Rings. In 2008, the game reached a milestone of 500,000 players as reported on Three Rings' website. The game mixes different elements from a variety of related genres, namely

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian ...

, and

Native American mythology The indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies. Some are quite distinct, but certain themes are shared across the cultural boundaries. Northern America There is no single mythology o ...

. This is evident in the game's different locales and various gameplay elements. At the 2006

Game Developer's Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...

, Three Rings described Bang! Howdy's gameplay formula as "

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

+ ''

Mario Kart is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the ''Mario'' series as well as other gaming franchises such as ...

'' + Real Time/

Turn-Based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian ...

s + Secret Sauce".Slashdot coverage of ''Bang! Howdy''
at the 2006

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...

Setting

Bang! Howdy incorporates many elements from the

and

genres, as well as

. This is evident in the game's different "towns", player lobbies which also act as the different main settings of the game, outside of in-game instances. Frontier Town is the game's starting town. It is modelled after the archetypal "Western" town found in most depictions of the genre, complete with a saloon, general store, and

sheriff's office A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transl ...

. Indian Trading Post, the second town, is host to a variety of Native American-themed locales, shops, and non-player characters. In addition to these, there are also the planned but still-unreleased towns of Boom Town, Ghost Town, and City of Gold. Aside from taking inspiration from and expanding on all the aforementioned genres, these last three towns would have also incorporated elements of Latin American folklore The game also features a host of controllable units which are in-line with the game's established unique setting. For example, several of the players' available units are entirely mechanical, including autonomous

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

units, steam powered dirigibles, and a "steam gunman"

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

. These can be played alongside the more conventional units such as

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

and gunslingers. A third assortment of Native American-themed units can also be unlocked as players progress past the starting town, such as mystics with supernatural abilities and a unit inspired by the

Thunderbird Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to: * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture * Ford Thunderbird, a car Birds * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...

, a legendary creature in Native American mythology.

Development

Initially conceived as an insect-themed game, the primary mechanic of ''Bang! Howdy'' is designed to get around the problems of both real-time and turn-based strategy. Michael Bayne, project leader of ''Bang! Howdy'', described RTS as "overly complex and too fast-paced", and described turn-based strategy as "no fun when it's not your turn." Bayne described the development approach as episodic, with the plan of getting the core game released quickly and working on new towns in turn. The

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

version, which was released in July 2017, is maintained by Affliction Networks.

Reception

''Bang! Howdy'' won the Technical Excellence award from the 2007

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

, and was a finalist for the

Seumas McNally Grand Prize The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is na ...

. The editors of ''

Computer Games Magazine ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 19 ...

'' presented ''Bang! Howdy'' with their 2006 "Best MMO Debut" award. In game websites reviews it was received positively.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Video games Java platform games MacOS games Linux games Windows games Western (genre) video games Turn-based tactics video games Real-time strategy video games Multiplayer online games Browser-based multiplayer online games Science fiction Westerns Three Rings Design 2006 video games Steampunk video games Independent Games Festival winners Free-to-play video games Video games developed in the United States