Interview

Collaboration key to making indies stronger, says Kwalee's Joe Barron

Hard to get your voice heard

Collaboration key to making indies stronger, says Kwalee's Joe Barron
Kwalee may not have served up their own game at this month's Best of British 48 hour game hack, but the studio's contribution wasn't without major merit.

Indeed, Kwalee's input involved hosting a Micro Machines tournament, owing to the fact studio gameplay guru Andrew Graham – who took part and, ultimately, came out on top – created the game more than 20 years ago.

We caught up with Kwalee community evangelist Joe Barron for his take on how the competition went, and what Best of British can do for indies in the mobile industry.

Pocket Gamer: How did Kwalee get involved in the hack?

Joe Barron: Will Luton and I were chatting about Micro Machines because his company, Mobile Pie, play the game all the time on their lunch breaks and Andrew Graham, who designed the game, works at Kwalee.

Eventually this turned into a Micro Machines challenge being thrown down between our companies, with the Best of British Game Hack being the venue.

How did the afternoon go for you?

Everything ran very smoothly, right down to Andrew Graham winning the Micro Machines tournament!

It was great to meet up with lots of new faces and learn about sort of game that its possible to create in just two days.

Everyone taking part in the hack was doing phenomenal work.


The competition gets going...

Many see Best of British as a sort of anti-trade association, standing up for indies without charging fees. Do you think that's a role BoB can fill?

Absolutely.

For all indie game companies, especially those who are making mobile games, visibility is a massive problem. Its really difficult to get your voice heard on the App Store or in the media.

Collaborating together makes us much stronger and helps to get the 'indie spirit' noticed by a much larger audience.


Thanks to Joe for his time.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.