My name is Bashi Alé and I'm the co-founder of Sunstone Games. Our debut project is an original Hopi-themed puzzle game titled 'Sun Stones'. 

This game has been a true labor of love for not only myself but the entire Sunstone Games team. I invite you to take a few minutes and read about our game, our team and why we need your help.

What is it?

Sun Stones is a puzzle game in which players manipulate and arrange a set of stones - using as few steps as possible. When every stone is in the proper location, they transform into a magical glyph.  Each glyph is part of a group which, when viewed together, tell a story.

Players have three types of stones at their disposal: common black stones, white stones, and magical "Sun Stones." White and black stones may be moved around the board freely, using the touch screen. Sun Stones are (slightly) more complex - the player is given a "well" of (usually) three to five Sun Stones. If discarded or destroyed, these stones return to the well. So players actually have an infinite number of Sun Stones, but may only have a few on the board at a time.

Transformations

The magic of the game is in the way the Sun Stones change the game.  A line of three or more Sun Stones will transform into common Black Stones. A group of Black Stones surrounded by Sun Stone will transform into White Stones.  A few other recipes are discovered over the course of the full game.

This type of transformation really expands the potential for interesting solutions. Most puzzle games provide you with limited material, and have only one solution. Sun Stones, on the other hand, is a game where you can literally remove every starting piece, and then build the entire puzzle up from scratch using only 3 Sun Stones. (In fact, we've been considering making that an alternate game mode...) Of course, finding an efficient solution to each puzzle is another matter entirely!

Hopi Theme

In parallel with our mechanics, we felt it was important to really give a sense of thematic space to the project. Our original inspiration was a traditional Native American game called "pebble patterns" - which was essentially a memory game. As it changed into a game about creating glyphs, I thought of the book Arrow to the Sun - which I quite enjoyed as a child. We looked into applying Hopi / Pueblo People aesthetics to the game, and it seemed like a very good fit. Our color scheme, soundscape, and artistic choices for the game have all been influenced by this Hopi aesthetic. Along the way we've taken pains to educate ourselves, which has been a rewarding process on its own merits.

Why do we need KickStarter?

This game has been entirely self funded by myself and my business partner Simon Strange. We both have used our personal savings in an effort to launch our Company and make a game we can be proud of. The game is 85% finished and many start-up costs have already been payed out of pocket.  We originally planned to release the game in September, but we've pushed that date back in order to improve the quality of our first game.  We as the owners are willing to go without pay, but we would really like to pay all our talented contractors ASAP.

How will we use the money?

A complete breakdown of how we will use the funding:

• Existing Contract Labor obligations - $1250
  
• Corona SDK - One year subscription $349
• iOS Developer Program - One year subscription $99
• KickStarter & Transaction Fees - $136

Any additional funds, over our goal, will go directly into developing our next project.

Rewards

The great thing about KickStarter is you can help fund a start-up and get some great rewards at the same time. We have many different funding tiers with a slew of exciting rewards. You'll notice that at the $100, $250 and $500 tier we are offering hand-blown glass artwork. I've been a professional glass artist for more than a decade and my work can be found in museums, galleries and boutiques worldwide. I'm excited to offer up my artwork as rewards to generous KickStarter funders. If you want to see some of my glass art and learn a little about myself visit: www.glassworksboutique.com

Thank you for your support! From the entire Sunstone Games Team we would like to express our sincere apreciation and gratitude.