‣ Company: BitSmudge
‣ Founder: Ben Lambert
‣ Mission: To make throwing stuff fun
‣ App launched: 2021
‣ Team size: 1
‣ Go-to emoji: 🙄

Flarts is not what it might sound like. A play on the phrase “flying darts,” this arcade-style game has you maneuvering a rocket-powered dart through increasingly complex obstacle courses, all while popping a few piñatas along the way.

Ben Lambert was an illustrator at a company that made interactive animations when he had the idea for Flarts a decade ago. After teaching himself how to code, Lambert managed to juggle his full-time job, family life, and the game’s development, often working before the sun rose.

Flarts ended up being a bigger undertaking than he first thought. “You get a nice prototype going and you’re like, ‘Oh man, this is gonna be done really quick,’” he says. “You don’t realize how much effort the last 20 percent of the game takes.”

Lambert chatted with us from his home in Michigan, where he works as a mobile developer.

What was it like getting Flarts off the ground?
This was a hobby project for years. I had a pretty close version after a year or so, but then I had to make the levels. There were a lot of rewrites as I learned more about programming. And the artwork! That took a lot of time.

What inspired that art style?
It was just a lot of trial and error, trying to come up with something not too detailed for a small screen. I had a tendency to add a lot of detail; then I’d see it and be like, “Whoa, I can’t even tell what’s going on there.” So I would simplify and simplify. Now I think it’s got enough detail that it’s not too plain and also isn’t complicated, where I’m spending hours adding details nobody would ever never notice.

What gameplay features are you most proud of?
I wanted people to have something to try for if they played again, so when you hit the target you get a score that shows how close you got to the center. You have to be really close to dead center to get 100 percent. I wanted a really fine-grain percentage—it goes down to the hundredth of a decimal. So when you play with others, it’s not just that you get 100 percent and your friend gets 100 percent.

What was the toughest part of creating Flarts?
Designing the levels. When you’re close to the game and testing it yourself, you start to get good at it. So I made some levels that are really difficult, and people got a little overwhelmed at times. It’s definitely challenging thinking up all the different mechanics, trying to keep it fresh but not too difficult.

What was biggest thing you learned?
All the stuff that comes into play when making a game: I got more familiar with Affinity Designer to make the artwork and with GarageBand for making music. I learned how to set up a business, how to edit video for making the trailers, website design…making games involves so much.

BitSmudge is a part of the App Store Small Business Program. If you are a developer and would like to learn more about the program, follow the link below.