GDC 2008: PixelJunk Series Postmortem

Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games did a postmortem on the first two games in the PixelJunk series.  He previously worked at Sony on the Ape Escape series out of the Japan studio.

There are a number of common themes that are consistent through the PixelJunk series of games.
1) Simplicity
2) Familiarity
3) Originality
4) High-definition (1080p @ 60Hz)

There are a series of PixelJunk games for a number of reasons.  It is important from a branding perspective.  Since the games have a familiar feel, players can expect what type of game that they are getting.  It also increases awareness of the other games in a series if a player enjoys one of the games.

The other main issue was about design.  There were a number of ideas that the developers had.  To keep each of the individual games simple, it was important to release each game separately.  Releasing one mega-game with a number of mini-games would have been possible for a larger studio.  Q-Games can spread the financial risk of development over a series of games.

One of the impressive accomplishments of Q-Games is that they self-published these titles in Japan.  This is possible because the digital distribution system in place on the PlayStation Network.  Self-publishing is really important for an independent.  It is one more step along the chain that an independent can own for themselves.  This means more money in the independent studio’s pocket.

There are a number of design and production constraints that Q-Games places on themselves.  They limited themselves to teams of 5 people or less for the development of a game and a production schedule of 6 months.  They also limit themselves to 2D games for at least this series of games.

From the players point of view, they get a game that is in Full HD and easy to pick up and play.

The production constraints that Q-Games puts on themselves and the design themes in the games that they create allow for a very sustainable business model.  With respect to funding, the entire series of games are being bootstrapped.  Each game in the series is also developed using a staggered schedule.  This allows them to shift resources to where they would be most effective.

The same engine is used for each game in the series.  Big chunks of logic for the game is pushed out to script.  Q-Games use GameMonkey as their scripting language.  This allows designers and artists to write code for the game too.

Q-Games uses a 3 phase development strategy.
1) Prototype
2) Discovery
3) Production

A prototype is a simple visual demo of the look and feel of a game.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a functional computer program.  It can be a pen and paper design or mockups.

Discovery entails actually figuring out what the game is.  At the end of this phase the game is fun to play for the developers.  All of the gameplay features are in place.

The production phase involves taking a game that is fun for the developers to play and making it into a product that users will purchase.  This involves fulfilling all of the platform standards and requirements.  There is also polishing of features that takes place.

This entire 3 phase development strategy is executed in 6 months.  Impressive!