Tag: indie game

Episode 8 – Conversation with Liz MacDonell @LizMacD22 of Clever Plays

Posted on | by Link S

In this episode I speak with Liz MacDonell, community manager at Clever Plays. An indie game studio based out of Montreal, developers of Leap of Fate, and Operation Tango (Which as of this time, now has a release date!)

In this conversation, I talk with Liz about the Clever Plays studio and having the company based in a city with a lot of other indie game dev studios and the kind of environment it creates (00:00 – 5:00)

We discuss Liz’s background and how she got into her role at Clever Plays by initially creating an “unofficial stream team” with a collection of other streamers and getting her feet wet being a community manager for the group Jabroni TV where she learned how to juggle such roles of managing social media, and schedules, and video editing which prepared her for the opportunity at Clever Plays. She also touches on how important it is to have a great support group that is going to help push you to succeed (5:00 -11:30)

Liz also shares some advice on what she feels has helped her prepare for her role and that to always be willing to learn and polish your skills. She makes an important point as well about the difficulties of getting into the role as it requires having the right voice and passion for the studio, and that when looking for a role like this, to keep your motivation up as being the right fit is incredibly important and you’ll eventually find one that is the right fit for you and the studio. (11:30 – 17:10)

We then talk about how Liz got into video games and what her fond memories of her first console and favorite PS2 game, Dark Cloud. Having to share the experience with her brother and the two getting to experience the game together. As well discussing her experience with Dark Cloud and potentially enjoying its sequel (17:10 – 28:00)

We move on to then talking about what she is playing and enjoying now, and Liz touches on the beauty of playing co-op games and how you can share and experience games together. One of the important things Liz brings up is the joy you can get from enjoying a game with friends and how it only enhances the experience, especially now during the pandemic when it’s harder and harder to actually spend time together with people. (28:00 – 35:10)

We briefly touch on a game she felt did not hold up well, in this case Harvest Moon Save The Homeland for the PS2, and while I can and will agree with Liz that it did a lot of things that paved the way for future Harvest Moon games, I will also agree with her that it really is not the best entry to start with in the series. (35:10 – 41:00) and quickly move on to discussing trends she has enjoyed seeing rise, and how she enjoys the rogue-like/lite genre and even enjoys watching other people play them more. We continue this discussion on rogue-likes, specifically Hades, and how even if you aren’t able to play at a high level, being able to enjoy it via another person, or playing it on its “easy” mode without having to struggle with some of the difficulties of the genre. This leads to the discussion of being able to enjoy watching video games on services like Twitch and being able to share their experience with them and the community (41:00 – 56:00)

I would have been remiss if I didn’t ask Liz, the community manager, her thoughts on the landscape for being able to communicate with fans easier thanks to the technology as well as the importance of trying to create a welcoming community and try and foster its growth. (56:00 – 1:07:00)

We wrap it up with Liz giving some more information on their asymmetrical game, Operation Tango, what it’s about and where you can find more information for it (Links can be found below in the link tree!)

To learn more about Clever Plays, check out their Link Tree below which includes their Twitter, Twitch, website, and everything else to stay up to date with them and to participate in their community!

Click here to view their linktree

To read more of what Liz has to, check her out on Twitter @LizMacD22

To learn more about the collective group she mentioned in the episode, check out their site at http://jabroni.tv/

Episode 7 – Conversation with Max Mraz @11Mraz

Posted on | by Link S

In this episode I speak with Max Mraz, developer of Ocean’s Heart. A 2D Zelda inspired game where you explore an archipelago as the game’s heroine Tilla.

In this conversation we discuss where some of his inspirations for the game came from and the feeling he was looking to instill in the game, and the satisfaction found while exploring forests.

We discuss some of his best advice being to start small with projects that are going to be easier to learn from and iterate on with experience. With this, it also allows to take what works best and better integrate it from the very beginning in gameplay mechanics.

We discuss that some of his favorite games as a child being Pokemon Crystal and Zelda Oracle of Seasons due to their emphasis on exploration. This leading to the Zelda series meaning the most to him due to their constant focus on exploration and discovery.

We briefly discuss older games having numerous platform releases, leading to the learning experience there was a Tom and Jerry cartoon movie in the early 90s and how it is, really not worth the time to chase down or watch (No really, you’re safe to ignore it and just move on).

We talk about some of his other favorite games, Wario Advance as well as the Bionicles series which was part of a sprawling series that had games, movies, comics, all interconnected across multiple different mediums… Including a flash game as a sequel to a Gameboy Advance game.

We also talk about how Max is able to get back to feeling the magic of his childhood with his Saturday morning ritual of being able to spend time relaxing, making cinnamon rolls and playing video games, finding the ability to be carefree even if for a few hours. As well, having a game with a set story and advancement creating his ideal gaming time.

We also talk about older games and their evolution of the narrative being expanded upon, and consistently becoming a primary focus of games with story being just as important as everything else. We also discuss the evolution of gameplay mechanics getting better, and in the case of older camera controls, just how far they’ve come over the last 20 years.

We also discuss how it is important to draw a line when engaging with your audience and fans can be fun, but it is still important to protect yourself against both ends of the extreme and avoid getting into a negative or positive feedback loop and not allow yourself to drown in what everyone is saying.

You can find out more about Max’s game Ocean’s Heart, as well as his smaller side project games at the links below, as well as follow him for more of his own updates via the Twitter link as well

Oceans Heart on Steam

Max’s Itch.IO Page

Max’s Twitter @11Mraz

Episode 6 – Conversation with Oscar Brittain @moomoomang

Posted on | by Link S

In this episode I speak with Oscar Brittain, one of the developers at Henry’s House, currently working on the storefront management game Kardboard King’s.

In this conversation, we discuss what kind of game Kardboard King’s is and what the intentions behind it were, and how they were trying to recapture the feeling of going to the card shop as a kid and getting to enjoy that feeling.

We discuss how a surgery lead to him discovering video games, and then how getting laid off from his job lead him down a path of going back to school and then inevitably to him deciding to just go for it and take the plunge to try and make a video game.

Oscar also had a unique approach to learning to make games by focusing more on learning good design principles before trying to make something.

We also talk about how Oscar enjoys games can be completely unique and deliver a new and surprising experience, and how games, such as Ubisoft games, can deliver exactly what you expect and how those can create a juxtaposition to entirely different games and help you appreciate new and different elements all the more. With Oscar also not playing a lot of games when he was younger, he shares how playing older games is always surprising to see what great ideas older games were able to deliver on, and what older game ideas are still present today.

You can find more information about Henrys House and their projects below:

Kardboard King’s on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1298480/Kardboard_Kings/

Nanomon Virtual Pet on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1498060/Nanomon_Virtual_Pet/

Henry’s House Twitter @HenrysHouseAU

Oscar Brittain’s Twitter @moomoomang