Happy Snake Games are purveyors of happy times in video games, looking to promote and create games that will leave you smiling when you’re done with them.
How do you capture that sense of joy with a video game, though? What sorts of things do you need to do to bring a smile to someone’s face with your work? Indie Games Plus sat down with the developer and spoke to them about the work they do in cheering players up, and why that’s so important to do in today’s world.
IGP – Your games are relentlessly happy. How do you capture so much cheer in your design? What do you feel is important to put in your games to capture that emotion?
Happy Snake Games – Haha yeah my games are very happy! Design wise, I pour as many nice things as I possibly can into the mix. Whatever you’re working on, you have to get really into it then work fast and steady to finish. Also, cute faces · ◡ · really help things out. Cute faces are my favourite · ◡ ·
What are some of the challenges you face in making games?
Mmm… as a solo developer I find it hard to make a lot of content. I really like small games and love the idea of 10 really condensed minutes of gameplay, but I don’t want to disappoint anyone that feels differently!
ROGO takes a stressful genre and gives it a cheerful twist. How did you build on and change the roguelite genre to bring more happiness into it?
I really wanted to make something happy and not stressful or frustrating. I tried different things, but I think my favourite is having peaceful levels where there is no challenge at all – it’s fun to expect challenge but in fact end up just hanging out with some happy friends.
My intention when I started making ROGO was for it to be a serious, stress-free roguelite without any violence. The game ended up not being that serious (although the bosses are still really tough), but most of the fun didn’t come from the mechanics in the end, which is interesting. It’s fun to see where something goes once you start working on it.
How do visuals and music work towards conveying the emotions you want the player to feel?
Music is a huge part of my games, and I don’t think people would have played MORNING POST so much if Wob Wonkoz hadn’t made that amazingly cute song!
Since then, I’ve tried to keep that carefree feeling when making things, I asked Keith Burgun to just have fun making whatever he wanted for most of the ROGO soundtrack because it’s way more fun that way.
Me and bb_tombo (who did the LIBRARY song) have a cool new puzzle game called MARMOT coming soon where we have really played with audio in a fun way.
What makes a concept appealing to you? What drew you to make the games you’ve made?
The games that I release are usually a combination of a couple other good ideas I’ve had that sort of merge into one during development. To make something feel unified and engaging, though, I think it’s really good to have at least one thing you are specifically trying to achieve before you start coding 😀
I want to make happy and engaging games that people can really find relaxing. It’s fun to try something out when developing, too, as you often gotta solve problems you haven’t before.
Postal deliveries seem to factor into your work a lot. What do you feel is the appeal of bringing people their mail?
I am super glad you asked this question! I love mail! Everyone loves getting post and delivering post just seems like such a nice thing to do. It’s also super fun to throw stuff in video games.
I remembered recently too that when I started making MORNING POST, it was about giving everyone an invitation to a party. The post asset in the game is still called Invitation, so technically I guess that party is still on? 😀
What makes you continue to come back to happy games? Why do you feel they are important for players these days?
I honestly feel like there isn’t nearly enough just happy stuff! Humans make a whole bunch of media for enjoyment, but it often isn’t very happy.
There is also a whole bunch of bad stuff going on in the real world and I love the idea of someone getting home and being able to escape that for a bit, and hopefully recharge somewhat by playing 😀
Games are really cool and I’m going to make 10 million of them and no one can stop me · ◡ ·
Happy Snake Games’ various titles are available on Itch.io and Steam.
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