Seattle has a new social gaming startup. It’s called Playteau, and today its releasing its first title, Fortune Stones, on Facebook.
The new game looks a bit like Bejeweled, the blockbuster hit from Seattle’s PopCap Games. When players match three or more stones, they accumulate points and move up levels. Players can decide whether they want to play in “frenzy” or “strategy” modes.
The Bellevue company is led by Charles Merrin, who previously worked at RealNetworks and Smith & Tinker, and Anatoly Tikhman. The met while working at TikGames, which Tikhman founded in 2002.
“Being avid online gamers ourselves, it’s been our goal since day one to produce entertaining games with features never before seen in the social arena,” said Merrin, who co-founded the company last year. “Following this mindset, future Playteau games will be built around unique personalization elements, innovative game play, and original socially-oriented features.”
Playteau, which is angel financed, released Fortune Stones for Facebook and Hi5. A MySpace and iPhone/iPad version is slated for the coming weeks.
Others working on the project include game designer Ethan Pasternack, formerly of WizKids; chief software architect Jeff Willis, formerly of GlobalScholar and Smith & Tinker, and Tyler Champley, formerly of Smith & Tinker.
John Cook is co-founder of GeekWire, a technology news site based in Seattle. Follow on Twitter: @geekwirenews.
