Bumble.bz, an independent game developer, today announces an international (Poly-Nation!) gaming contest to kick off the release of Bumble.bz’s Bored Meeting to the Xbox Live community. Groups and individuals in the US, Canada, and UK can enter Bored Meeting themed videos posted to YouTube, MSN Video, and GameTrailers.com into a Bumble.bz contest with prizes including official commemorative Bumble.bz bees, Xbox 360 accessories, and inclusion in the in-game Bored Meeting credits. Judging will take place on April 15, 2009 (income tax due date in the US - let gaming relieve some tax stress!). Prizes, rules, and details on the official contest website: http://www.bumble.bz/hive/contest

About Bored Meeting:
"I wanted to play something simple, smart, and addictive when friends came over, but couldn’t find anything that fit the bill," recounts developer Steven Jones. "With inspiration from great casual games like Chu Chu Rocket, I believed gamers would welcome a change of pace. After months of development Bored Meeting was born, and I’m happy to say the playtesters aren’t bored of it yet!"

Why "Bored Meeting?"
It’s something many of us are familiar with: white boards, dry erase markers, harsh lighting, and conference tables. Even if we’re not, movies and shows like Office Space and The Office give us a certain comic view of the oft-boring business meeting. Bored Meeting picks up on those themes, arms players with pens, and puts them in the shoes of project managers fighting for control of funds that flow around a white board. Here, dreams are realized (and shattered) over the heady fumes of dry erase markers.

What’s unique about Bored Meeting?
Bored Meeting is both simple to pick up and easy to play, and yet has interesting intelligence at work behind the scenes. The map generator can be customized for many types of gaming (from action to strategy), and is "smart" enough to keep random maps fun. Players can even alter maps during play by calling swarms of bees (simulating "market buzz") to remove ink on the white board. As well, Bored Meeting runs a market simulator in the background, both to ensure that no two games are exactly alike, and to trend game intensity upwards over time. Intensity is further amplified through music tempo, which speeds up when the market goes up, and slows down when the market wanes.

What does Bored Meeting offer?
"Bored Meeting is a casual pick-up-and-go strategy game designed to keep friends entertained for hours," comments Jones. As part of this design, Bored Meeting pays attention to replay value, with loads of options to vary game rules, and some that can even turn play from fast paced party games into longer and more cerebral real-time strategy (RTS) games. With a clean, sharp, and friendly audio/visual experience, Bored Meeting is easy to start and hard to let go.

What genre does Bored Meeting fit in?
Bored Meeting is a strategy game, though it blends strategy, party, and simulation.

Were there any roadblocks to overcome?
"Of course! To keep Bored Meeting’s graphics flowing smoothly," says developer Steven Jones, "we had to take full advantage of the Xbox 360’s vertex and pixel shader capabilities. The result is a constant and silky 60 fps at 1080p, even while thousands of Dollars travel the white board and dozens of angry (and motion blurred) bees swarm."

Anything else?
Adds Steven: "my hope is that after a night of Bored Meeting, players agree that it was the best five bucks they ever spent. I think the value is tough to beat."

What’s next?
"We’re now working on an online team game that is more suited for hardcore gamers and tournament play. What I can say for now is that there will be bees, and some of them will be angry," hints Jones.

Bored Meeting availability:
Bored Meeting is available as a free trial and as a 400 Microsoft Point full version on Xbox Community Games.