Right now Singapore is a hotbed for mobile game development, and thanks to some help from GSC Singapore Game Box, we were lucky enough to see some of these exciting developers and their projects at this year’s GDC Big Indie Pitch.
As such, in this series of features we’ll be taking a closer look at some of these rising stars of South East Asia.
Today, we’re talking to Qixen-P Design's founder, Ori Takemura.
PocketGamer.biz: How big is your studio, and how long have you been making games?
Ori Takemura: 3 people; we have been making games seriously for few years now.
I have to mention that the way we make games is more of a collaboration where I pitch design ideas to developers and when there is a match we join forces.
It is not like a studio with an office and people coming from 9 to 6.
What sort of games do you focus on?
Meaningful games with strong intrinsic value, puzzles, games that teach new ideas and communicate beyond gratification.
I really hate wasting my time playing games that reward with only visceral stimulation and I strongly wanted to produce experiences that would be different from that.
Introduce us to your game. How did it come about and what makes it stand out?
We have two games coming out: KoriKori is a collaboration with Sean-Li Murmann, and we like to think of it as of a rogue-like puzzle adventure game. It really is a mixture of genres with elements from dungeon crawlers and action adventure games.
Above we wanted to make a game that would feel like video games felt when we were kids, those Mario and Kirby's Dream Land games on Game Boy and yet have modern take on the medium, have a more intellectual reward though puzzles and discovery and hidden meaning for an adult audience.
I think that and the art style I am working hard on is what should make it stand out.
Our second title is a number puzzle Tallnum done in collaboration with Matthew Ostil - we are making this game because we want to bring the most beautiful, exciting, and strategy driven game about numbers.
It is really an experiment in system design, where the goal was to envision a very elegant and simple world that would yet give a profound freedom in choices, strategy and tactics and it was very important to me to make a very beautiful game with digits, an ode to shapes and typography and colors driven by mathematical changes.
Tell us about the Big Indie Pitch. How did you find it?
I have heard of the event before through the indie community, but never even visited USA until 2016 so being for the first time at GDC this was a must-go event.
What games and developers inspire you?
There is always one person whom I always name first and it is Jonathan Blow, his games and lectures are, without a doubt, at the foundation of my game design.
What are the long term goals for your studio?
We will keep making meaningful experiences for people of all ages, and hope to reach to a broader audience, we try to use very little language in our games so that anyone at any age can pick it up and play.
To read about other studios from Singapore that attended this year’s GDC Big Indie Pitch, head over here.
