Seattle's latest mobile app developer: Owain Weinert

Most nine-year-old boys dream of meeting sports stars like Ichiro, Matt Hasselbeck or Kasey Keller. Not Owain Weinert. Weinert simply wanted to learn from the masterminds behind Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies. As part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the fourth grader at Loyal Heights Elementary School got a unique opportunity to develop his very own Apple iOS game with help from the experts at PopCap Games.

Weinert — who is battling pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia — has spent the past several weeks working with PopCap developers to create a third-person shooter game called Allied Star Police.

Here’s a short description of the game, which is set to be released in the coming months with proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish Foundation:

Players assume the role of the base commander, rapidly deploying a variety of automated battle machines and targeted ballistic ordinance to thwart the invading alien “Flamion” forces.  The game name, theme, unit and faction names are all products of the incredibly talented and energetic Lead Designer, Owain. The game name, theme, unit and faction names are all products of the incredibly talented and energetic Lead Designer, Owain.  The gameplay and pacing are in turn specially crafted for him so that he can literally get lost in his very own world.

Weinert and the PopCap team celebrated the new game with a party this week, complete with pizza, T-shirts and cake.

The game itself will be released in the Apple app store in the coming months, with proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

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