GDN writes: "Petanque, Boules, Bocce, lawn bowling, whatever you want to call it, this is the video game version of this family of outdoor sports. Petank Party is an Xbox LIVE Arcade Community Game as well as on the PC (I played the XBLA version) The game is far more popular here in Europe than much of the rest of the world. The game is quite simple to learn, hard to master in both reality and video game form. The goal is to throw balls as close as possible to the jack, which is another, smaller ball that's thrown first to determine the playing field. When all the balls (3 per side) are thrown the score is determined. Whoever has one or more balls closer to the jack gets one or more points."
Last week Petank Party was one of the top 10 XNA Community Games played. Today we've got an interview with a couple of the developers from UFO Games.
I thought xna was nothing more then a flash game but I guess I was wrong. What's going to be interesting is if and when a smaller team of say 10 or 20 with experience sit down and make a killer app using this tool.
Out of Eight writes: "If I know another thing, it is pétanque. Just kidding (again). I had never even heard of the thing until I noticed the demo on FileFront. I'm all for weird sports games that can expand my horizons, and Petank Party certainly fills that bill. Taking a more "Americanized" name, Petank Party features pétanque fun for two teams of up to three players each, trying to hurtle a metal ball closest to a smaller ball. It's kind of like curling (or curling is kind of like bocce ball) except on dirt. Plus it's French, so you know it's going to be good."
The Good:
+Intuitive aiming method increases shot uncertainty
+Easy to join online games
+Helpful in-game control summary
+Solid physics
The Not So Good:
-Beginner AI opponents are too skilled
-Magic balls are overly powerful
-Very difficult for new players to win
