INDIE INTERVIEWS: SuperBiasedGary (it started with hairs, Com__et, Pen To Paper, Cuties in Kilkenny)
With INDIE INTERVIEWS, I talk to the game developers hanging here on Cohost to learn more about new games you might love.
How many forms can a "narrative game" take? And what's it like to use small side projects to convey different nebulous thoughts and feelings bouncing around your head? I chat with @SuperBiasedGary to answer those questions!
You can find Gary's games on itch.io
Introduce yourself for everyone here on Cohost! Who are you?
I'm @SuperBiasedGary, but you can just call me Gary. I'm from Ireland, where I work for an animation studio programming tools for artists to make their lives easier. I also make small independent games with a narrative focus, lately lots of visual novels. I like playing with the mechanics of how the story gets told and involves the player in telling the story.
Is there a project you're working on currently? Tell us about it!
Currently I'm "almost" finished a new visual novel called Com__et. It's about escaping from a fated romance to go for the one you really want. Like many of my ideas, it came from wanting to play with an existing game concept, the affection meter some dating sims use. And it also hides some text based on where your affection meter is at, which has been fun to write around. I "just" need to do final polish on it, so I'm hoping to have it released as soon as I do the 50 tiny tasks involved.
How did you find yourself first getting into game development?
Back in the early 2000's, I found Hypercard on my dad's Mac. I discovered I could make games that were just slides connected by buttons and was immediately hooked. I later learned programming and game engines in my teens, and have not stopped playing with them ever since. Finding online communities to share work, get feedback and advice has definitely helped me engage with it more actively recently.
Some of your games explore thoughts and feelings that come across as pretty personal. Do you generally find it easier to express things in games/fiction, or do you also enjoy sharing your feelings openly with others?
Oh I guess I would say it's easier to share in games/fiction than in person, but even then I wouldn't say it's very easy for me. Last year when writing my body horror visual novel (It Started With Hairs), I wasn't even sure I'd want to put it out at all. I was simultaneously worried that no-one would read it but even more worried someone would read it. But that personal investment makes a story satisfying to finish writing, and the personal feeling comes across in the end result. Some of the best comments I've gotten were responses to that game.
How do you know when to move on from a project? I find that I'm always stuck in the crossroads of "flesh out a narrative project I've started" or "start a fresh new one." How do you decide which ideas are worth bringing to the finish line?
My best trick for finishing anything is to do small things. It's so easy to inflate a project, but it's often worth thinking "Do I really need this to be longer than an hour? Or even 10 minutes? 5?"
When I have had to abandon a project early, it's a comfort to know the ideas and experimentation can still be carried forward. I worked on an idea for a tabletop inspired journalling game a few years back called Writing Desk. It was a fun concept, but the execution increasingly took more and more work for unsatisfying results.
I recently repurposed that idea for a game jam, making something much smaller and focused. My second attempt with it worked much better, and I now think I'll have an even better third try.
Any advice for aspiring indie devs out there?
Make small games and play small games.
Game jams are good motivation to start, but make sure to set actual end points for game projects and hit them. For a while I felt like I never finished anything, and it's because I didn't even set out an end point. I would make something until I got bored, realised there was no end in sight and just move on. The end goal can be simple and easy, frankly it should be. The more likely you are to hit it, the better. Learning how to finish some things is a skill that's important in and of itself.
And play other people's games. Go on itch.io to find things that are close to and very different to your own games. Play them, rate them, comment. Supporting other indies is good for fostering the community, and feedback is much rare than it should be. You'll find it gets paid forward when people respond to your games.
Lastly, are there any indie games out there you've been playing recently? Any favorites to shout-out?
You already shared the post I did about finishing Misericorde Volume 1, but I'm still riding the high of finishing that.
Besides that, I've been playing entries to the O2A2 game jam that ran last month. It's a jam where your scope is limited to 1 sprite, 1 background, 1 song, 1000 words etc. People get very creative within those constraints, and the games are all very short and easy to pick up and play. Highly recommend people check some of them out! https://itch.io/jam/o2a2-vn-2023-queer/entries
Thanks so much for chatting, Gary! For everyone else, you can check them out at @SuperBiasedGary on Cohost and over on their itch.io page! Lots of great short narrative games in their repertoire. I played Perfection and had a "I'm in this image and I don't like it" moment, haha. I'll be back soon with another developer interview! Thanks for reading.