For 23-year-olds Yilmaz Kiymaz and Alex Schwartz, creating Super Ramen Bros. on New Year's Day 2010 was a spur-of-the-moment project, a self-challenge to create something with the help of the collective creative mindset of an online community, in 24 hours or less. But aside from the good-humored nature, the duo's latest project, Smuggle Truck, couldn't be much different of a story in terms of development.

"Initially, Smuggle Truck was born in a similar manner," Kiymaz said via Google Chat interview. "We created a quick prototype in 48 hours. This was essential because it showed us that we could make something fun from this concept.

"Once we decided to make Smuggle Truck the first Owlchemy Labs title, we knew we had to plan out a detailed production schedule that would outline each and every aspect of development, from start to finish. Unlike SRB, where everything was made up as we went along, we put a lot of thought into a proper schedule and timeline of events for Smuggle Truck."

Olwchemy Labs is the first big change for the duo. Since the Super Ramen Bros. release on iTunes, Kiymaz and Schwartz launched a full-fledged game-development studio in Boston, near where the two went to school in Massachusetts.

"The idea of forming a company together was always something we had talked about, but it seemed out of reach," Kiymaz said. "One day we both decided that we were ready, so we both took the plunge to form this new venture together."

The two got to work on an early form of Smuggle Truck, the studio's upcoming first title for the iPlatforms that Owlchemy hopes to have on the market by March. The gameplay was described by its creators as a cross of Excitebike and Trials HD, with the twist being two-fold goals. There is a mix of speed and cautious driving, they explained.

But the thing that truly sets Smuggle Truck apart is its premise. As one may surmise from the title, it's a game all about smuggling. Gamers have a truckload of cargo - people - that they're trying to drive across the boarder, dealing with rocky terrain along the way. The goal is to make it from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, while trying not to lose the living cargo. It's a premise sure to turn a few heads in today's climate, but its creators insist they're not trying to make a statement one way or another; they're just using a current affair to spark conversation and offer zany plot.

"We prefer to work on games that don't take themselves too seriously," Schwartz said. "If the goal is to create a fun experience, then we feel like we should be having fun while making the game.

"The game itself came about because we were dealing with some tough immigration issues amongst ourselves, so we found it fitting to create a satirical game that would poke fun at the whole process."

"We're putting this game out there first and foremost as a fun racing game with real replay value and quality gameplay," Schwartz added. "The concept itself is bit of a political cartoon, in a way. We don't have a particular message, politically, we just want to stir things up and get people talking about a real issue."

Lending some credibility to the gameplay side of Smuggle Truck is famed LucasArts artist Bill Tiller (Curse of Monkey Island), who decided after seeing an early version of the game that he just had to get involved in an effort to see it sell well once it hits its iPlatforms. As the duo explains it, he thought it was hilarious and approached them about revamping the art.

"After we changed our pants, we agreed and began to overhaul the art direction to what you see today," Schwartz said. "Initially, it looked about as bad as if two programmers tried to make art for a game."

And in another effort to go against the grain of the short-term project that was Super Ramen Bros., Owlchemy is looking at Smuggle Truck as a long-haul kind of game. The focus on the iOS platform means gamers will likely see Smuggle Truck on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Owlchemy is also set to release a Mac App version of the game, so those without mobile devices will still have a chance to play it.

"Players that have both a mobile device and the Mac version will be in store for a treat, as we'll be building in functionality to use one device to control the other, wirelessly," Kiymaz said. "We're building in a special treat for our iPad and Mac App Store buyers -we're packaging and including the level editor that we used to create the game levels.

"This means players will have the ability to re-mix and build new levels in the first version of Smuggle Truck. We also have plans to build in a community lobby aspect [set to be released as an update shortly after launch] to the game where players will be able to share, rate, and play levels created by anyone in the world."

The team is still hard at work wrapping up the project, but Owlchemy Labs is already hopeful that the first project under its name will be a good one. Reactions the duo has receive from the collective Internet has already been primarily positive.

"Luckily, most of the initial feedback, both during in-person testing, and views on our trailers/videos have been great," Schwartz said. "Many players burst into laughter when they see a baby launched from the truck. The whole concept is so over the top, most people can't help but laugh at its silliness.

"A small percentage don't get it, but we realize we can never please everyone, as is the case with life in general."