The four founding members of US mobile developer Fun Machine have credits on console blockbusters such as Epic Mickey, Borderlands, and the Brothers In Arms series.

So what are they doing making mobile games?

We spoke to Fun Machine CEO Patrick Curry - who formerly served as Wideload Games' creative director, working on games such as Stubbs the Zombie - to find out how the team was handling the transition from triple-A console to iOS.

Pocket Gamer: How much have you had to relearn for your first foray into mobile?

Patrick Curry: There was an absolute ton to relearn coming to mobile from console. The device is so different - where are our beloved analogue sticks and D-pads and buttons and triggers?

Learning to embrace the fundamental differences of how players interact with your game was the first big challenge. Early on Neill Glancy, our creative director, set the high-level goals for how people should feel when playing our games, and we've used those pillars for everything we do on mobile.

It's helped us make games that can be explained to a two-year-old, but still have enough gameplay depth to keep our friends in the hardcore game scene challenges.

Do you see traditional consoles as sinking ships?

Consoles just aren't the place to innovate and experiment anymore.

They used to be the best way to get a new game into millions of players' hands, but now it's so much faster to create something on mobile. Then once you've proven that it works, scale it up to all the other platforms.

The experience I'm most excited about is having a great game with me in my pocket all the time, and then when I get home, being able to share that exact same game with my family on our TV.

Once that happens, this whole silly mobile vs. console debate will be settled once and for all.

Fun Machine is working on proprietary technology as well as games. Do you have any plans to license that tech out in the future?

Our primary goal is to create great innovative games, and it's impossible to deliver on that without technology that sets you apart. We may license some of it in the future, but we don't want to give away the secret sauce before it's cooked just right.

With that said, we're using our expertise with really large teams to solve some of the more frustrating challenges in mobile development.

So instead of having 100 people all working on one game, we plan to support 100 people working on 100 different games all in parallel.

Your first title, Awesome Eats, was the product of a partnership with the Whole Kids Foundation, and encourages healthy eating and school gardening. How did that partnership come about and what form did it take?

Fun Machine is based in Austin, Texas, as is the headquarters for Whole Foods.

Our friend Ian Steyaert coordinates Whole Foods' mobile apps, and we've been talking about creating educational games together for as long as I can remember. He and his team helped get the game off the ground, and then brought Fun Machine together with Whole Kids Foundation.

They're the experts in nutrition and inspiring kids to eat more healthily. And they let us be the game experts - creating the characters and world, inventing the game mechanics, and of course actually developing the game.

It's a great partnership and the end product is so much better for the collaboration.

What's next for Fun Machine?

Games, games and more games. Fun Machine will be around at E3 providing some behind-closed door looks at our new games.
Thanks to Patrick for his time.To find out more about Fun Machine and Awesome Eats, take a look at the studio's website.