Meet Saurabh Aggarwal of Octro, developer of Indian card-based games
Do you like the popular Indian games Teen Patti – Indian Poker and Indian Rummy by Octro? We talk to Saurabh Aggarwal, the brains behind these Indian games, about these and other games that you can play live on your Lumia Windows Phone.
The Windows Phone store offers you tons of exciting card-based games such as Texas Holdem Poker, Solitaire and AE Blackjack. My all-time favorite is poker and these card-based games are played globally in various forms and different names.
Did you know that you can play Teen Patti – Indian Poker and Indian Rummy by Octro live on your Lumia with real players from around the world? It’s just as if you were playing cards with your friends!
Let’s ask Saurabh Aggarwal, chief executive officer of Octro Inc. about these and other games.
The ‘Teen Patti’ and ‘Indian Rummy’ games are popular among mobile gamers. Please tell us why you chose these titles as opposed to other card games.
Saurabh: Both Teen Patti and Indian Rummy are the most popular Indian cards games. Teen Patti has more than 15 million downloads across platforms since launch, and Indian Rummy is the most downloaded rummy game on the planet even though there are international versions available.
Both these games have been played by generations and resonate sharply with the Indian gaming habits. Therefore, it made perfect sense for Octro to re-imagine them on a mobile platform and recreate them for the Indian audience.
What are the special features of the games developed by Octro, Inc.?
Saurabh: Octro makes live games that people can play with friends and other real players. We have many features like LIVE leaderboards, chats, etc. that make the consumer feel that he is playing against real people.
While playing our games, a player is not required to wait for a game/hand. The game starts as soon as the player logs in. We call this a game-changing feature of Indian Rummy, which is a widely played skills-based cards game. Moreover, we offer superior UX-UI in our games and offer players best in-class gaming experience.
Both ‘Teen Patti’ and ‘Indian Rummy’ allow players to play tournaments. Players can play multiple types of tournaments and win millions of chips. In addition, players can create private tables and invite their friends via Facebook to contest against them.
What’s your take on in-app purchases and buying more power or moves in mobile games in exchange of real money?
Saurabh: We love it. We use in-app purchases to sell currency, which lets the players play longer and progress faster. We offer deals and giveaways too to make the consumer experience more enjoyable.
Are ‘Teen Patti’ and ‘Indian Rummy’ played by mobile gamers outside of India as well? If yes, which markets?
Absolutely, Indians around the world love to play our games. Even some non-Indians play them. The Middle East, U.K., and U.S are some other countries where our games are played.
How was your experience developing these games for the Windows Phone platform?
Saurabh: It has been great developing on the Windows Phone platform. The tools and support that Microsoft provides are unparallel.
What is your advice to others developing games and apps on the Windows Phone platform?
Saurabh: More and more people are buying Windows Phones, so developers should work on making the best versions of their products for the Windows Platform.
In the future, all Windows devices will unite–Windows phones, tablets and PCs. Therefore, it’s a great opportunity for developers to multiply their business by developing for the Windows platform, allowing scalability.
Moreover, the Visual Studio IDE is very developer friendly and offers easy to use tools, which are easy to integrate APIs.
What are the next games your team is working on?
Saurabh: We are working on re-imagining existing offline games and bringing them to the platform. You can expect more hit games from us this year.
Here’s a sneak peek of the yet to be launched “Carrom Live” game by Octro.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUo7s9STQ6c[/youtube]
Thank you for talking to us.
So readers, tell us: Do you play these card-based games on your Lumia? Which is your favorite, and why?