Pyrogon, Inc. is a relatively new game developer on the scene, and the company is supporting the Mac with its first endeavor, a shareware puzzle game called Candy Cruncher. Already released for Windows, the game is now out for Mac OS X.
Pyrogon, Inc. was founded by Brian Hook, whose credits include the architecture of 3dfx’s “Glide” API and work on id Software’s seminal first person shooters Quake 2 and Quake 3 Arena. The company’s co-founder is Rosie Cosgrove, whose resume includes a stint with Sony and Verant Interactive working on Everquest.
Although it’s not the only game on Pyrogon’s roster, Candy Cruncher is the first title out of the gate. In this game you must move candy around a six by six grid, creating rows and columns of identical candies to score points and work towards getting to the next level. It sounds simple but it’s quite challenging — you only have one space to move each candy around in, and you’re on a timer.
Candy Cruncher runs on Mac OS X 10.1 or higher.
A downloadable demo is available; the full version costs US$14.95. It adds a high-score list, full-screen graphics, in-game pause, auto-pause when the game is minimized or moved to the background, and removes startup delays and registration reminders.
Candy Cruncher isn’t just a one-off for Mac OS X, either. Pyrogon’s forthcoming on-line role-playing adventure game Stellar Deep is also planned for Mac.
“We don’t have to make a cost justification for porting to the Macintosh or Linux or PocketPC, we can just do it because it’s cool,” noted Hook in a recent developer’s diary entry. Check out the site and have a look at some of their projects — even if Candy Cruncher might not be your cup of tea, Pyrogon is definitely a company for Mac gamers to keep an eye on.