6th Mega has announced their very first iPhone/iPod touch game, Puff Puff. Puff Puff is an arcade style game where players have to navigate the little puffer fish, diodon holocanthus, through coral reefs to escape the evil tiger sharks that are trying to make dinner out of the fish.

Players need to master the controls to help the fish escape. Players will have to get the fish to safety using physics and precision. Make the wrong move and the little fish may be the tiger sharks dinner. If you want to get a feel for the game, check out the video below. Once you have decided it is a good game, head over to the Apple App store and get yourself a copy.

6th Mega will be donating 10% of the proceeds to help save the coral reef. The coral reef contributes to the over all eco system and the company feels the reef should be protected.

Press Release Follows:

August 2, 2010 – Los Angeles – Puff Puff, the first iPhone game released by independent developer 6th Mega, is now available for $0.99 on the Apple App Store. Players use the awesome superpower of diodon holocanthus, the spiny puffer, to navigate a deadly coral reef and escape the jaws of tiger sharks, requiring skill and precision to master the art of buoyancy control and stay alive! 10% of proceeds will go towards ecosystem restoration and remixes of the game are encouraged, with the hope that other developers will follow in the footsteps of 6th Mega and incorporate a social mission with their releases.

Proceeds from Puff Puff will help support organizations that protect coral reefs. “Coral reefs provide important ecosystem services that support human life, and they are disappearing right before our eyes,” says 6th Mega. “If the present rate of destruction continues, 70% of the world’s coral reefs will be destroyed by the year 2050. Puff Puff offers gamers a chance to experience fun and innovative gameplay while also helping support organizations working to protecting our planet’s marine habitats and species. Imagine what the world would look like if every action we took had a positive and restorative reaction – that’s our vision.”

The official trailer is now available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wURLFmMGSvg, and offers viewers a look at gameplay footage and unique multi-touch and accelerometer control.

Puff Puff features:

• Unique pinch and stretch multi-touch control
• Challenging physics-based gameplay
• Addictive sudden death game mode
• Speed and invincibility power-ups
• 3D animation, detailed underwater landscape
• Synthy 8-bit sound effects and music
• Sunken ships and pirate treasure
• Arcade style online worldwide leaderboards via OpenFeint, the largest social gaming network on the iPhone!

Rather than seeking traditional financing, independent developer 6th Mega tapped into peer-to-peer lender Prosper.com to secure start-up money. In less than 24 hours, 95 people pooled together small increments of money that together provided funding for the iPhone game development.

“Like the philosophy that drives 6th Mega, Prosper.com sees tremendous power in micro transactions to create value. We’ve experienced a terrific response to our peer-to-peer lending and Puff Puff is an exciting example of how this type of marketplace enables forward-thinking leaders to achieve their visions,” said Chris Larsen CEO of Prosper.com.

Puff Puff is being released as “goodware”. The source code is being distributed freely to other developers via the company’s website http:6thmega.com. 6th Mega encourages remixes of Puff Puff and suggests that other developers allocate some proceeds of their games to help address social and environmental problems.

“6th Mega is driven by a burning desire to make the world a better place. Our experiment: can technology increase human well-being while addressing the sixth mega extinction?” asks the team at 6th Mega. “When we add a power-up to the game, such as temporary invincibility, we challenge – will this help increase sales and consequentially help restore the ecosystem?”

Links:

• iTunes Link: http://itunes.com/apps/puffpuff
• Puff Puff Page: http://6thmega.com/puff-puff
• Flickr Asset Feed: http://bit.ly/cK8mpS
• Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/6thmega
• YouTube Page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgHjaZ2nLYE
• Manifesto: http://6thmega.com/manifesto

“According to scientists, the sixth mega extinction is happening today, right now – scientists estimate we lose an animal species every 20 minutes. This rate of extinction has not been seen since the dinosaurs went extinct. If we continue at this rate, 50% of all living species will be gone by the end of this century,” says the team at 6th Mega. “Our hope is that Puff Puff can help take mobile gaming to an entirely new level, making an everyday activity a source of nourishment for the planet and future generations.”