I’m new to interviewing people, though it’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, honestly. I’m one of those geeks who buys movies for the commentary tracks. I love watching the Vanity Fair videos where the actor watches clips of their career and talks about them. More recently, I’ve been gobbling up the “Famous person visits the Criterion Closet” videos.
Dark Cocooning asked if I wanted to do some interviews with people, even noting that’s not content I usually make, so I stared long at hard at my keyboard, fighting with imposter syndrome, and said yes, sure, sign me up. (My full response was actually something like SIGN ME UP AND DON’T LET ME CHANGE MY MIND, but I thought that might have come off a little too aggressive.)
Time differences and such made it so a written interview was easier, and this is the first of those. I spoke with CuriousQuestor, who is developing WanderersTip, a game about accidentally joining a cult. We touched on their journey so far, love of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and how WanderersTip is just like an onion.
Please enjoy, and make sure to follow along with CuriousQuestor and WanderersTip at the links in this article.
Hello there! How about we start off with a quick introduction to you and WanderersTip. I know you mentioned on Discord that you’re from Argentina, you’re currently in Uruguay, and you’re planning on moving to Brazil. Sounds like quite the adventure!
A: Hi there! First of all, thank you Amanda for this amazing opportunity.
Yes, I’m Argentinian, living in Uruguay. I’m married to a Brazilian and we are moving to Brazil next year. The cost of living there will allow me to work full time on my game. So yes, moving north, slowly but surely. We plan to reach your hometown (and crash at your house) by 2037.
Of course, I have to ask, since I do run The Indie Game Cafe, what’s your go-to order at your favorite cafe or coffee shop?
Ohhh, my friend. You’ve opened Pandora’s box. I’m gonna tell you:
First, I grind coffee at home. I think you should agree with me this makes me objectively a better indie dev. Or a hipster one.
I have a budget electric coffee grinder. But it wasn’t good enough. So I imported a Comandante on my last trip to Italy. (They don’t sell those in Uruguay.) I have 3 moka pots. I was a moka fan. Until I discovered Aeropress. For some reason, it took over, and I haven’t used the moka pots since.I love Aeropress.
I get my coffee from local roasters (medium roast, obviously). Because it’s way better. If it comes to your country after it’s roasted, it’s already too old. Am I your favourite indie dev already? Or should I keep going?
What brought you to game development? What’s something you’re still learning about being a game dev?
I’m 41. I started programming and making games when I was 11. I loved to make games and see my friends play them. But I spent most of my career in consultancy firms developing enterprise software… Until now.
I said, ok, that’s it. I need to try really hard to change my career and do what I really love. So this is my attempt.
I’m learning from players. I did 6 rounds of playtesting of my game and my demo is not yet out. On each round I learnt something different. Most things were obvious in retrospect, but I was blinded by my own biases.
For example, my game has a lot of humor. So I can see where people laugh and where they don’t. I keep those jokes, and I change the ones that don’t work. I think I accidentally became a standup comedian.
This question is about the screenshot below. What’s the origin story here? 🙂
Oh, not a chemistry fan hmm? Me neither.
So in the game, the HAPPY DUCKS (who are not happy, and definitely not ducks) are at odds with the MOLES. One guard’s dermatologist told him to get a MOLE removed. So that’s how he joined the ranks. An the one in the picture, well…
(Note from Amanda: Don’t be alarmed at the math reference! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant)
Getting serious for a moment. You mentioned on Tumblr that WanderersTip is AI free, that you enjoy coding and you’ve done all the coding and music for the game. What’s the collaboration process like between you and the artists that have helped you with the visuals of the game? Are they from South America like you are?
A: I LOVE CODING! I LOVE COFFEE. I LOVE CODING ON COFFEEEEE
One is from Venezuela. One is from Canada, and Fami is from the US I think?
Let me introduce them:
Let’s start with FamiFawx: He can make the most expressive characters ever. I have an idea, and I usually want to convey a feeling or personality. But I don’t have a strong opinion on what they should look like. Which Fami doesn’t particularly like. Fami wants me to say exactly what he should draw. And my descriptions are something like “BLANK is strong and he knows it but he doesn’t need to prove it. BLANK is too concerned with the current issues to worry whether you like him or not. people follow BLANK because he deeply cares about people.”
So yeah, I understand why he hates it.
Then Alejandro, from Venezuela. He is very talented. I post stuff made by him and I get wishlists. I have a hard time making him do what I want. He does what he wants. But, his pixel art is … top notch.
And Catherine. She is the one who actually listens to the lore and tries to incorporate it into her designs in subtle ways.
The almighty Steam algorithm thinks I’ll like WanderersTip because I’ve played Dave the Diver and South Park: The Stick of Truth. I like the idea of “accidentally joining a cult,” but to someone who’s just watched the trailer and seen some screenshots, how would you sell the game to them?
A: Thank for this question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. WanderersTip is like an onion: It has many layers. On the surface it’s a classic Zelda-like game that plays like a stealth game.
You are a kid stranded on an island, trying to get back home while you still don’t know (neither player nor the character) how you end up being part of this HAPPY DUCKS cult. But here you are, trying to get a boat or something, and return home. You quickly learn (the character AND the player) to say things that please the cult. You don’t want to be a rebel here. You want to complete the game. The character wants to escape the island. So you just agree. Follow the orders and everything should be fine. Right?
No moral conflict… At the beginning, the decisions are trivial. Say this, say that. But as the plot moves forward, decisions get harder.
In a deeper layer the game asks you: What are you willing to do to remain safe?
I won’t spoil it further. You should play the demo, and you’ll get the idea.
Weird Days has a lot of great stuff featured this time around, and it’s been a great atmosphere of devs supporting devs. What else would you suggest people check out from the festival?
A: The festival is FULL of amazing games. But there are two that blow my mind:
The Totemist, a game about creating totems and selling them. But with a very cool dark side. It’s cozy, and rewarding. You can take your time. The FROG has multiple HATS. I love that FROG. it’s hypnotic. Beware of it. And FRUITBEARER… it’s beautiful and addictive. I’ve spent hours TRYING to play it: each time I try, my kid takes over playing it and doesn’t let me play.
Finally, what’s next for you in your dev journey? You’ve mentioned on Steam that a public playtest is in the works, how can folks join in on that?
A: Yes I do.
I have a mailing list. And I send each new subscriber a unique picture of a vegetable. And that particular picture is only sent to them. So one day, if I become famous, they will be the holders of a one of a kind picture. And if I don’t, they can still say to their friends “an indie dev sent me an onion”.
Thanks for your time! Anything else you’d like to add?
The idea for the game (the cult leader asking you if you are a HAPPY DUCK) came from a dream I had while traveling on a long distance bus. So I can say this is a dream come true.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to help out around the Cafe, I’ve started a Ko-Fi that I’ve been reasonably ‘okay’ with updating. It’s simple. You can donate however much you feel once, or monthly. Head over to https://ko-fi.com/theindiegamecafe to check it out! (And hey, I’m always open to ideas of different ways to make it better -Amanda