Nitrome

Nitrome Limited, commonly known as Nitrome is an independent game development company based in London, England, United Kingdom. The company makes Flash-based games. Their games are recognizable by the pixel art design and cartoon-like appearance, along with a jingle to the start of every game and chiptune tunes. Nitrome was originally started by Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe, two graphic designers, intending to create games for mobile phones. Instead, the company began taking on commissions Internet-based flash games and have continued to do so since, making up to two games a month. Nitrome's games are published on their website and are often available to license on other websites such as Miniclip and MTV Arcade.

History
Nitrome's creation stemmed from a conversation between Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe, in which Mat suggested that they make a game for mobile phones. Heather was initially hesitant, but Mat persuaded her that it could be a successful idea. The temporary website for their upcoming project was first launched on April 3, 2005, with a preview video of Chick Flick, their intended first game. On May 20, 2005, Mat's brother Jon joined the Nitrome team to help with the pixel art.

Skins
Nitrome's website is primarily aimed at broadcasting and publicising the games the company has made, which is obvious in its design. There are various links to different games about the page and a slideshow on the front page demonstrating in-game videos from the sixteen most recent games.

The website lets the user select which skin to view the pages with, from a choice of winter, retro, horror, party, classic, snowman and the newest, factory. Users have the option to either save the skin they have selected or use the most recent skin. There are many skins, each of them includes many characters from the Nitrome games.

Nitrome Games
The games made by the company can be put into four main categories. "Hot games" are the most recently made games, and thus considered the most popular (hence, "hot"). "Main games" tend to have full storylines, varying gameplay and multiple levels though not necessarily recent enough to be considered "hot". "Mini games" are shorter, sometimes with only one level, whilst "Multiplayer games" are designed for more than one person to play at once.

Nitrome has made games for MTV Arcade, Candystand and Miniclip. The company has also made "advergames", which, unlike the aforementioned, are made to advertise a product or service. The company allows for webmasters to place certain games on their websites, for a predetermined fee.

Most of the games are divided into levels (usually between 10 and 100), and also give the player the option to replay any level they have completed, even if they have lost. Some games also feature the concept of bosses.

Some games (i.e. Mutiny, Twang, and Rustyard) have won awards in various areas.

The company also announced a game for iPhone scheduled to launch in 2012 called Super Feed Me. Super Feed Me is a remake on an older game called Feed Me. You can view the game trailer and view other announcements on the game at http://superfeedme.com

Shop
On August 28, 2010, Nitrome opened up their shop page. On it was a link-ad for their microtransactions for some games, a link-ad for their iPhone/iPod Touch games, and a link-ad for their music, available for iTunes, Amazon MP3, and Napster.

Crew
Nitrome started out with just two members, Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe, but now employs fifteen individuals. Most of their games are created in two member teams, one person creating art and another programming. The game's design and level creation is shared between the two team members. Finally, music is added by one out of two of Nitrome's house musicians. Each game takes about one month to create. All games are overseen by Mat Annal and Heather Stancliffe.