Everything You Want To Know About Pumped BMX 2, The Most Addicting Phone Game Yet 1

Vital BMX recently caught up with Adam Hunt, the creator of the hugely popular iPhone and Android game Pumped BMX, to find out about himself and the sequel.

Adam, tell us a little bit about your background in riding?

I've been riding for 15 years now, I started when I was 16 and I've just hit the grand old age of 31. I used to mostly ride trails here in Oxford (UK), then moved around for university / work and started riding a lot more street in London and Brighton. I'm back in Oxford now and ride a bit of everything. I'm definitely forgetting tricks faster than I'm learning them though - these days I'm more than happy to roll around and do a few manuals and barspins, haha.

You've created what can only be described as the most popular BMX app on the iPhone. What made you decide to make the game and how has its success changed your life?

I'd had the idea for Pumped in my head for years, but it wasn't until the Apple App Store made it really easy to publish games that I started thinking about it seriously. I think it was when Tiny Wings, this simple 2D sidescrolling game, came out that I decided to just go for it. A hell of a lot of learning how to program later, and out popped Pumped: BMX.

Over the years I've toyed around with both photography and filming / editing - it was always a dream to have a job to do with BMX, and I'm happy leaving the 'going pro' to more talented people than myself! Unfortunately I wasn't the best at photography or filming either so they were also out of the picture, haha. It's amazing to have eventually found this weird niche where I get to make proper BMX games for BMXers.

I actually recently quit my 'real' job and I'm now working on BMX games full time - it's insane. I love it!

You dropped us an email telling us about your next release, Pumped BMX 2. Care to drop any information about the game?

I'm really stoked on how Pumped BMX 2 is shaping up - I've been listening to feedback from the users and figuring out how to squeeze in all the features that didn't make it in to Pumped: BMX, and Pumped BMX 2 is the result.

There's a huge amount still to do, but fingers crossed I'll get it out in Summer 2014 for iPhone and iPad, and soon after that for Android - sorry Android people!

What are the main differences between the old and new versions?

Pumped BMX 2 is a brand new game, I've completely rebuilt the game from scratch in 3D. When I go back to do some work on Pumped: BMX I'm constantly shocked by how different they look. I'm really stoked on the new 3D look, hopefully everyone else will be too.

As for gameplay, there are tons of new features! First off, the game now has double the air tricks, so that's 16 tricks. And spinning tricks can keep spinning now too, so now you can do (for example) a double tailwhip rather than a tailwhip to tailwhip.

Secondly the move to 3D means you can now combine tricks and spins, so truckdrivers, 360 flip whips, etc. are all in. Thirdly a lot of people got really into doing manuals and nose manuals in Pumped BMX, so I've added them as a proper trick in Pumped BMX 2. Last, but definitely not least, I've added grinds in too! Nothing too fancy, but icepicks, toothpicks and 50-50s are all locked in.

I tried to do some maths (and failed), but when you start linking tricks together with grinds and manuals and spins the number of possible combinations is somewhere way up in the millions! You won't be running out of tricks to do any time soon, haha.

There are a fair few other features to be announced, but that should keep you going for now!

Will you be sticking to the same control system?

As much as possible, yes. Having 'virtual' buttons on mobile phones is actually why I'm keeping the number of grinds to three - once you start adding too many buttons it becomes a real pain to use. Basically the 'flip' button has been switched for a 'spin' button, and there's an added button to toggle the type of trick you want to do.

With many apps being modelled on the in-app purchase features, why have you opted to bring out an entirely new game rather than an update?

That was driven by what features I wanted really - I couldn't do truckdrivers in the current game, it had to be in 3D. Now that I'm saying that it sounds a bit mental, rebuilding the game from scratch for truckdrivers, haha!

It's worked out well: the bike handles better, the crashes are a lot more fun, and the number of potential tricks you can do is mind boggling.

How much will the app be this time around?

I haven't decided on a price yet, but it'll probably be around the same as the first one - a man's got to eat!

As the game was such a hit, have you had any brands contact you in regards to product placement in the game?

Haha, no comment.

Finally, would you like to drop anything that we haven’t covered and give any thanks?

Yeah don't forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date with development and ask any questions - now that I've announced the game I'll be a lot more talkative.

Cheers to everyone involved with the game, you know who you are. Oh and cheers for the interview!