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Threes creator halts work on PS4 RTS Close Castles

But has a new mobile game in the works.

Asher Vollmer, creator of hit puzzler Threes, has halted work on his next project Close Castles.

The real-time strategy title was announced for PlayStation 4 back in December 2014.

"Close Castles is currently on hold," Vollmer confirmed today in a series of messages via Twitter. "I am working on a new mobile game now."

Of the decision to postpone development, Vollmer simply stated that he had "designed himself into a corner" and would need to "take a step back for a while".

Close Castles was intended to shake up the RTS genre by drastically shortening the length of time that each game takes to complete.

Designed around the idea of a kingdom populated by rival castles built too close to their neighbours, the game was centred around players making a quick dash for supremacy rather than long, drawn out turns.

"Let's face it: RTSes are miserable pain engines designed to give players the worst possible experience," Vollmer previously told the US PlayStation blog.

"They're kind of fun (though deeply stressful) right up until the first interaction with another player and then it's all downhill for the next forty-or-so minutes. You play until someone gives up. They are lonely exercises in sadomasochism."

Vollmer rose to fame after developing iOS success Puzzlejuice, before releasing last year's smash-hit Threes - one of Eurogamer's Games of 2014.

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