Blue Wizard Digital
{{Short description|Canadian video game developer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Blue Wizard Digital
| founded = 2014
| founder = Jason Kapalka
| hq_location = Comox Valley, British Columbia
| website = {{URL|https://bluewizard.com/}}
}}
Blue Wizard Digital is a Canadian video game development studio and game publisher founded in 2014 by Jason Kapalka, one of the founders of PopCap Games and an early pioneer in the mobile casual gaming space. It is based in the Comox Valley, British Columbia, and is the only video game studio currently headquartered in Comox,{{Cite web|url=https://cvcollective.ca/creating-fun-games-jason-kapalka/|title=Creating Fun & Games: Jason Kapalka|date=2017-10-20|website=CVC|access-date=2019-10-22}} as The Long Dark studio Hinterland is now based in Vancouver.
The studio specializes in campy horror puzzle games, humorous first-person shooters and other innovative variations on existing models of gaming.
Popular games
= ''Shell Shockers'' =
{{Main|Shell Shockers}}
Blue Wizard's most popular game as of August 2024 is Shell Shockers (https://shellshock.io), a browser-based first-person shooter in which players take the form of weaponized eggs and attempt to kill each other. Players can drop in and play anonymously in public lobbies or create persistent accounts and private maps to play with friends. The game features a variety of pop culture-influenced, punnishly-named features, including 4 gamemodes: Free For All, Teams, Captula the Spatula, and King of the Coop (based on King of the Hill). The game also holds 7 guns: the EggK-47 (based on the AK-47), the Scrambler (based on a break action shotgun), the Free Ranger (based on the SVD), the RPEGG (based on the RPG-7), the Whipper (based on the FN P90), the Crackshot (based on the M24), and the Tri-Hard (based on the Steyr Aug). There are thousands of player and item skins, most of which can be bought with Eggs, the in-game currency.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailygame.net/gaming/ever-wanted-to-blast-an-egg-to-smithereens-heres-your-chance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022212202/https://www.dailygame.net/gaming/ever-wanted-to-blast-an-egg-to-smithereens-heres-your-chance|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 22, 2019|title=Ever Wanted to Blast an Egg to Smithereens? Here's Your Chance!|date=2018-03-31|website=Daily Game|accessdate=2019-10-22}}
As of mid-2019, the game had almost 40 million players worldwide, and is one of the most popular .io games available online.{{Cite web|url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/my-odyssey-from-indie-to-billion-dollar-games-and-back-again/|title=My Odyssey from Indie to Billion Dollar Games and Back Again|date=2018-11-27|website=Escapist Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-22|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022210654/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/my-odyssey-from-indie-to-billion-dollar-games-and-back-again/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-death-of-flash-and-birth-of-io-games|title=The death of flash and birth of IO games|website=www.gamasutra.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-22}}
Shell Shockers has been the target of some controversy, as it is commonly played by school students on Chromebooks provided by schools for educational purposes. However, Blue Wizard has also created many proxy domains, such as freegames.io, meaning that blocking it would not always help.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thechurchillobserver.com/opinions/2018/06/13/shell-shockers-video-game-cracks-into-classrooms/|title=Shell Shockers video game cracks into classrooms|last=Chung|first=Miranda|date=2018-06-13|website=The Observer|access-date=2019-10-22|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022210653/http://www.thechurchillobserver.com/opinions/2018/06/13/shell-shockers-video-game-cracks-into-classrooms/|url-status=live}} Many other gaming platforms also offer the browser-based game, such as CrazyGames,{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=George |date=2021-08-20 |title=Shell Shockers passes 35 million game plays on CrazyGames’ web portals |url=https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2021/08/20/98169/shell-shockers-passes-35-million-game-plays-on-crazygames-web-portals/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=European Gaming Industry News |language=en-US |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108002212/https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2021/08/20/98169/shell-shockers-passes-35-million-game-plays-on-crazygames-web-portals/ |url-status=live }} have therefore been blocked by American schools.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=The 2018 Benchmark Report: An Analysis of Emerging Trends In Student Chromebook Usage |url=http://learn.goguardian.com/rs/794-MYI-652/images/The%202018%20Benchmark%20Report.pdf |website=GoGuardian |access-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-date=December 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215022044/http://learn.goguardian.com/rs/794-MYI-652/images/The%202018%20Benchmark%20Report.pdf |url-status=dead }}
= ''Slayaway Camp'' =
{{main|Slayaway Camp}}
"A puzzle game for people who hate puzzle games,"{{Cite web|url=https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/09/29/slayaway-camp-butchers-cut-is-a-puzzle-game-made-for-people-who-hate-puzzle-games/|title=Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut Is A Puzzle Game Made For People Who Hate Puzzle Games|date=2017-09-29|website=PlayStation.Blog|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-22|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022210655/https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/09/29/slayaway-camp-butchers-cut-is-a-puzzle-game-made-for-people-who-hate-puzzle-games/|url-status=live}} Slayaway Camp is set at a summer camp that's been set upon by a serial killer. Its blocky chibi-like style of character art makes it "adorably gruesome" and perhaps more palatable for those who would otherwise shy away from a horror game. Originally released in 2016 for PC, its success led to a console port of the game in 2017, with releases for Xbox One and PS4.
Kapalka has stated that one of his intentions in running Blue Wizard is to "find a way to make... puzzle games less boring, more viscerally exciting,"{{Cite web|url=https://www.pophorror.com/interview-blue-wizard-digitals-jason-kapalka-creator-of-f13-killer-puzzle/|title=Interview: Blue Wizard Digital's Jason Kapalka, Creator of 'F13: Killer Puzzle'|last=Crowley|first=D.D.|date=|website=Pop Horror|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505195300/https://www.pophorror.com/interview-blue-wizard-digitals-jason-kapalka-creator-of-f13-killer-puzzle/ |archive-date=2019-05-05 |access-date=October 22, 2019}} and both Slayaway Camp and Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle, another popular Blue Wizard camp-horror game, serve this goal.
Slayaway Camp II: Netflix and Kill is in development and will be released on Steam at a currently unknown date.{{Cite web |title=Slayaway Camp 2 on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2737140/Slayaway_Camp_2/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=store.steampowered.com |language=en |archive-date=April 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250428122950/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2737140/Slayaway_Camp_2/ |url-status=live }}
= ''Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle'' =
{{main|Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle}}
Blue Wizard's only license-based game thus far, F13 is based on the popular Friday the 13th franchise and, similar to Slayaway Camp, has been called "adorable and violent";{{Cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3529125/review-friday-the-13th-killer-puzzle/|title=[Review] 'Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle' is a Fine Sequel to 'Slayaway Camp'|last=Bolt|first=Neil|date=2018-10-25|website=Bloody Disgusting!|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-22|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022210659/https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3529125/review-friday-the-13th-killer-puzzle/|url-status=live}} its gameplay is also based largely on the sliding-block puzzle genre of game that founder Jason Kapalka helped to invent with Bejeweled.
References
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