A Maltese mobile game has made its way to the number one spot on the App Store’s charts only days after its release.

Storm Scout, a time-trial, action-puzzle game set in a sci-fi future, was developed by Twofold Games, co-founded by brothers Mark and Joseph Bonnici.

Apple calculates their app rankings based on a secret algorithm that uses several factors but online consensus indicates that the number of downloads and positive ratings form part of the process.

Days after its release on iOS and Android, Storm Scout climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store charts in the action game genre.

“I was not expecting it to be number one,” Mark Bonnici told Times of Malta.

“It kind of makes it feel worth it,” the game designer said, admitting that the app took about two years to make which, from a development perspective, marks it as a failure.

“But from an emotional point of view, it was definitely a success,” he said.

In the game, ‘scouts’ have to explore dystopian mazes as quickly as possible. Players explore the game’s world through pixelated levels that time them on how quickly they can find all of the area’s keys and make it back to the teleporter.

Mark’s journey in game development and design began in 2014 when he and Joseph decided to create a studio – Twofold Games – with Mark handling design and Joseph the programming.

From an emotional point of view, it was definitely a success

They thought up ideas and experimented while doing their regular jobs. Five years later, in 2019, the Bonnicis released their first game: Move Bak.

The game put players into the front seat of a classic Maltese bus as they navigate winding streets, picking up passengers at lightning speeds to make it to the finish line.

“I wanted to make something a little easier to play than Move Bak,” Mark Said. That first game received some complaints about clunky controls with very little room for players to progressively get better.

For the next few years and still developing in their free time, Twofold Games searched for prospective projects until, sometime in 2021, they had a functioning prototype that featured a few basic levels.

To test the game out, they handed it to some students, which instantly let them know they were on the right track, Mark explained.

“The kids really enjoyed the competitive part of it so we introduced a leaderboard.”

When a player finishes a level, they can compare their time against the Bonnicis’ fastest times and, if they break the timecode barriers, they earn in-game points that can get them more resources.

To add to the competitive element, the game uses streamlined controls as players swipe in the cardinal directions to control their ‘scout’ while a perfectly timed swipe makes them go faster, giving players the room to get better over time.

On the future of the game, Mark said they would be adding a leaderboard that would allow players to compare times against each other.

Asked whether new levels would be added, he said that the likeliest option is for the game’s 100-level count to remain as it is but was not shy to admit that they are open to whatever the future holds.

“A hundred is a good round number... but if people want more levels, then you never know."