With INDIE INTERVIEWS, I talk to the game developers hanging here on Cohost to learn more about new games you might love.
Games can take all sorts of forms, both in terms of art and interactivity. One of my favorite things about the "visual novel" genre, or other games similar to it, is that you'll often see the variety of styles on display. Recently, I took notice of @littlerat and his games, which pack a lot of feelings into a simple cartoon package. He's got a bunch of games on itch.io you can check out, several of which give us snippets into the lives of queer characters, and we had a chat about it.
You can find littlerat's games on his itch.io
Introduce yourself for everyone here on Cohost! Who are you?
Hi! I’m littlerat. I’m here to make games about people figuring themselves out!
Is there a project you're working on currently? Tell us about it!
I haven’t officially started work on it, but I’m planning to make a game during O2A2 Game Jam – Queer Edition this April. I’d like to call it “two men go on a date and don’t fall in love”. I want to tell a story about queer characters that isn’t a romance, and in fact is about characters for whom the concept of romance is fraught and uncomfortable. Still, for various reasons, they feel like they should go on a date...
I’m a bit nervous as it’s the first time I’ll be exploring aromanticism in a game, but I’m excited to have the opportunity!
(I am not personally affiliated with O2A2 but it’s very cool and I’d definitely suggest checking it out!)
How did you find yourself first getting into game development?
I actually wanted to be a novelist when I was little(r)! I just have a lot of stories I want to tell. To be frank, though, writing a whole novel is a ton of work and a lot to keep track of. I tended to overcomplicate things and lose the plot after a while. Novels don’t tend to come with fun pictures or sound effects either (though there are certainly exceptions – illustrated books and audiobooks are very cool!).
I’ve considered comics, too, but they tend to involve a lot more art than I personally want to draw. So it seems natural that I ended up becoming a visual novel dev, where I get to put words and sounds and pictures together in the way that I like. The fact I have to draw and code my own characters makes it easier for me to hold back on making a lot of them, meaning I end up with a story that’s easier for me to follow. I also really love exploring different paths and choices in a story, making the medium even better for my interests.
Actually, though, the first game I ever published on itch was a text-only Twine game. I made a second text-only Twine game after that, and then I tentatively decided to try adding pictures and sound to my work. I love making visual novels now, but in the end, the thing I’m most comfortable with and passionate about is writing stories – everything else in my games exists to support that!