Costa Rica launches its first video game: a leap forward for the local industry

Gamers hoping to try out the new Costa Rican video game “Color Guardians” are in for cute smiling characters, vibrant colors and repeated death on many tricky levels.

Released on May 12 for PlayStation and on Steam, Color Guardians is the first video game developed in Costa Rica to come out for a console and only the second PlayStation game produced in Latin America.

The quirky platform game’s kid-friendly plot is basic. Someone evil stole the world’s color and it’s up to three spike alien creatures, the guardians, to get it back. To do this, the guardians must run through a series of levels collecting orbs and avoiding obstacles.

The game took two years to develop and involved more than 50 programers, graphic designers and musicians in its creation. Most reviewers are describing Color Guardians as both beautiful and incredibly challenging, though some have bemoaned its simplicity.

While not all the feedback has been glowing, the game represents a huge step forward for Latin America’s fledgling gaming industry.

“We are very proud that Sony has given us the opportunity to lead a new wave of super innovative games made in development studios in Latin America,” said Claudio Pinto, the general manager of Fair Play Labs, Color Guardian’s developer.

Fair Play Labs is just one of several pioneering game studios in Costa Rica. Last year, Costa Rica’s MOGA studio released an incredibly successful Pokémon knockoff for the Apple iOS platforms. Moravia-based Green Lava Studios also released a 2D platform PC game, “Fenix Rage,” which received rave reviews and will come out for PlayStation before the end of the year.

Color Guardians is available for PlayStation4, PlayStation Vita and can also be purchased for $14.99 online through Steam for PC and Mac.