Chinese New Year Maze Game: The Year of the Dragon Now Available For iOS

Ruby Red Games is proud to announce the launch of its second iOS game, Chinese New Year Maze Game - The Year of the Dragon. This maze game takes many elements and traditions from Chinese New Year celebrations and incorporates them into a fun, single player and multiplayer maze race.

The objective is to collect all the items in the maze before time runs out. The final item to collect is a large firecracker which ends each level and sets off a round of fireworks. Players can choose from different characters to play, including the most powerful - the dragon. In multiplayer mode, the player must decide how many collectibles they are going to collect while still reaching the end of the maze before their opponent to win the game. The number of items collected by the winner determines how high their score is.

Features:

Multiplayer and Single player
Universal, works on iPhone and iPad
Retina Ready
Stunning 3D graphics

For this game, many elements of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration are included. In Chinese mythology, the New Year always started with a fight against Nian, a mythical beast. One time, Nian was scared away by a child wearing red. The villagers learned that Nian was afraid of the color red, so they started hanging red scrolls and red lanterns to scare away Nian. Firecrackers were also used to frighten the Nian.

Red is an auspicious color with an auspicious sound. The word red in Chinese is hong, which also means prosperous. Red also symbolizes virtue, truth and sincerity, and is used liberally throughout the game.

Characters:
The characters each have meaning in this game. The boy and girl characters represent the child that scared away the Nian. They are clad in red because red is thought to scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. They also have on new clothes which symbolizes the new beginning of the year.

The second day of the New Year celebration is believed to be the birthday of all dogs. They are given special treats on this day. The dog character can be played in this game to celebrate the dogs� birthday.

Finally, the most powerful character in the game is the dragon. The dragon is one of the luckiest signs of the Chinese zodiac. Dragons are generally blessed with good fortune and are also passionate, brave and self-assured. To play the dragon will give the player the most good fortune as it is the most powerful character in the game.

Levels:
The levels are based on three of the important days during the holiday, New Year�s Eve, day one of the New Year, and the Lantern Festival on the last day.

New Year�s Eve is a day where Chinese families gather together for a reunion dinner. So, the first level is set as a large reunion dinner and traditional foods are placed on the tables. One of the foods found on the tables are mandarin oranges because Mandarin orange is a homophone of luck or fortune, so are used prominently in New Year celebrations. Many households will have fish on display for the New Year�s Eve dinner. Fish are important because the word fish sounds the same as surpluses or bounty. This tradition is translated into the game by having fish as the items to be collected on the first level.

The first day of the New Year welcomes the deities of the heavens and earth. It is a day spent honoring one�s elders and visiting extended family relatives. So, level two is set in a village. This day�s tradition is for married members of the family to give red envelopes to the children and teenagers of the family. These red envelopes almost always have money in them. These symbolize good luck and wealth. This tradition appears in level two as red envelopes that are the collectible items.

By the fourth day of the new year holiday, business generally returns to normal. So, the game skips to the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration, the Lantern Festival. Candles are lit to guide wayward spirits home. Level three�s setting is the Lantern Festival with the houses decorated with lanterns. Dumplings symbolize wealth because the dumpling shape resembles a Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency. People eat the most dumplings on the day of the Lantern Festival, so it is the item to collect in the third level of this game.

Firecrackers are lit to scare away evil spirits, so every level ends with fireworks.

Numerology:
To round out the Chinese traditions in this game, even the scoring was taken into account. Numbers contribute to happiness and good luck of a person�s life. The number 8 is a lucky number meaning prosperity, and as it is an infinite shape, it brings unending money and good luck. The number 6 is also a lucky number meaning fluidity and blessings. These numbers are used prominently in the game.

In general, even numbers are more auspicious than odd numbers. However, the number four means death and is an unlucky number. The scores in the game reflect this. All scores are even numbers, but never end in the number four.

Device Requirements:

iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Requires iOS 4.0 or later
Universal Application
24.5 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Chinese New Year Maze Game - The Year of the Dragon 1.0 is Free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Ruby Red Games: http://www.rubyredgames.com
Chinese New Year Maze Game 1.0: http://www.rubyredgames.com/ruby-red-games/chinese-new-year-maze-dragon

Download From iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/chinese-new-year-maze-game/id490205150