By John Walker on December 10th, 2008 at 10:22 pm.

Minotaur China Shop, from the mighty minds that brought us Jetpack Brontosaurus and Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, looks as though it will be with us tomorrow. Hints on the Blurst blog have been counting down to the release, along with the latest video (below).
At first glance watching footage of it your heart could possibly sink thinking, “What in the blue wave of hell, Flashbang are doing a Diner Dash clone?!” But fortunately first glances are not always very revealing. Because this is a game about smashing stuff up. Oh yes please. Words can’t do justice – watch the latest trailer.
More news tomorrow, I’d think.


It’d be enough for me had they just released that trailer. Playing the game is just a bonus now.
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Finally the time has come! Can’t wait to try it out.
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So you get points for smashing shit in a shop? Sounds cute, but seems really dull to play.
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I wish I could know whether games are dull or not before I play them. It would make my job a lot easier. Teach me your tricks, Ceremony!
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7X INSURANCE COMBO
There is no way a game that features a 7x insurance combo can be a bad game.
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You know, bulls don’t actually do any destruction if they enter a China Shop. Don’t these people watch Mythbusters?
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When I see this game, I’m always reminded of the Family Guy gag where a bull is harmlessly perusing a vase in a china shop when a stray bullet ricochets around breaking everything in sight, leaving the hapless bull standing amidst the destruction.
After I’m done being reminded, I think to myself “God I love Flashbang studios” and destroy vast chunks of my life playing Off-Road Velociraptor Safari again.
I also did a John Walker when playing Jetpack Brontosaurus and got teary-eyed; I don’t know why, it just seemed so very splendid.
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This game might be good. Of course for 30 mminutes…
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Why, of course they do. Which is precisely why there’s a fierce minotaur instead of a bull in the game.
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This could well be a late contender for my game of the year.
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Man, Flashbang comes up with some of the best game ideas ever.
And by “tomorrow” do they mean tomorrow there or tomorrow here?
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Well, for 2/3 of the day it’s the same thing. Thursday.
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Ceremony: As far as I can gather from previews and this video, you get points for selling stuff from your shop to customers. However, every mistake you make seems to make your character angrier and harder to control. Enough mistakes, and you snap.
But fortunately you’ve got Minotaur Rage Insurance! Unfortunately, to fully claim on this policy, you need to completely trash your store before the rage wears off.
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Nice to see how they’ve turned the destruction penalty around and (I’ve no idea what triggers the change here) turned it into an opportunity the moment you hit that rage point and your suddenly getting points for smashing the stuff instead of avoiding it. Two challenges for the price of one it seems.
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Pags – there’s certainly something weep-inducing about just letting the Bronto fall into the blackness of space with that music playing.
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SUPREMO!
Thanks for letting us know, RPS! I’ll be tuning into this straight away!
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Best game trailer ever?
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I’m really not very excited about this one. It looks frustrating in the server portion, and not satisfying/speedy enough in the smashing part. And don’t give me any lip about “oh well you haven’t played it”. Fair enough, but I’m basing my opinion on how satisfying the smashing looks, as that will be the biggest part to me.
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I think I prefer the last trailer. The disjointed whistling, the wobbly legs the eventual decline into a world class sulk.
Kind of like how TV says I should be behaving as a 20 year old male.
Also game of the year? Not likely. Soundtrack of the year? Possibly.
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I have to be honest, I have no idea what anyone is seeing in this game at all aside from the name…which is probably the coolest game name ever, admittedly. But the serving part looks tediously slow, and the rage part looks suprisingly slow as well.
Could play a lot better than the trailers, but color me completely unimpressed thus far.
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I still consider flashbang to be a one hit wonder with raptor safari. I can’t stand Jetpack, and this looks like something I’ll spend a day or two with. Honest to goodness, but random…. Jetpack made me quit playing raptor safari…
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I’m playing Overlord at the moment, and this really hits the same “smash everything while laughing madly” note.
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I love these guys. Bring on tomorrow!
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Holy crap, this is great news! I love computer vidjeo games!
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Is a risk to make a game about “bad controls”. But I suspect BCS is more about physics and good laughts in a crazy humour sense. Is a montypythoneske “Gag-game”. I don’t think the value will be in “replay value”. But this are too much words for a game I have never played. So ignore this post.
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