Season 7 of “Black Mirror” premiered on Thursday, showing off a new mobile game connected to one of the episodes.
The game, titled “Thronglets” from Netflix's Night School Studio, serves as a companion for an episode called “Plaything.”
Players interact with virtual yellow pets and strive to keep them alive. If a player succeeds in caring for a pet, the creature will replicate and become more difficult to meet its needs. Creatures can also collect resources, develop technology, explore new areas, unlock tools and buildings for faster progress.
At first it may resemble an innocent game like Taishi, but the presence of the herd clearly has a twist. They are perceptive and communicate directly with the players. For example, if a player uses x to cut down a tree, the creature may notice that the bones are more effective than x and that there is less time. As a result, players will have to decide whether to sacrifice some creatures for the bones to speed up the process.
Although Netflix's previous gaming strategy has not been focused on, he recently said he will focus his energy on four future games. These include story games tied to Netflix shows, kids, party games, and game titles for potential mainstream hits. The latter can include licensed tie-ins to the show or original.
The new “Black Mirror” themed game is currently available to Netflix subscribers on both iOS and Android devices.
Netflix has released games inspired by IP from time to time, but this is the first time I've seen a game that is directly linked to a story from a particular episode.
Thronglets was launched among companies revamping their gaming strategy, and previously scattered about titles to be released. Netflix has released a mix of IP-based indie games, popular existing titles, and games.
However, not all titles have been successful, leading to the recent cancellation of Netflix Stories, a story-driven game featuring shows like “Love Is Blind.”
Speaking at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Vice President of Game Technology and Portfolio Development, Jeet Shroff said the company is currently focusing on four key areas: narrative games, multiplayer party games, kids' games and mainstream titles.
Thronglets falls into the mainstream category, with streaming giants cleverly deciding to create games based on one of the most popular shows. Another example of a mainstream release is Squid Game: Unleashed, which reportedly reached 20 million downloads, according to the Market Intelligence Firm Sensor Tower.