Jan 27 2016

Interview with Forget the Brakes! Developer

We have a new interview for you from Forget the Brakes! developer! This is a game on both the Apple store and the Google play store, as well as on the web browser if you want to try it first! Check the description for the game out, read the interview, then go play the game!

Forget the Brakes! is a game about driving a train without brakes by multi-track drifting!

Through procedurally generated railway-puzzles, you will have to avoid crashing in order to unlock faster trains by driving both the front boogie and the rear boogie of your train!

There are no brakes, so you better choose wisely which rail to switch to!

Unlock google play achievements and compete in the global leaderboards!

You can try the game online at http://ForgetTheBrak.es

Itunes | Play Store

Tell me a bit about yourself, and how you started developing games?

Before starting Computer Science in University, I was never sure on what I wanted to study, I even had Physics in mind. Once I decided on CS, it was because I wanted to make video games. I had always been a great fan of video games since I can remember. I started getting involved in video game development through a student association in my university called VGAFIB. This exists to connect new CS students to older students who have been messing around with video game development, so it is a great place to start learning and asking questions.

Where did you get the idea for Multi Track Drifting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWQMOUmb3Ng

Haha, that’s a fun way to start making a game. Can you walk me through the process you have gone through since seeing that video, until publishing the game?

I started the game when I was in Stockholm in February/March last year. [I] developed a prototype and showed it to some friends.

I repeated this several times. The game went from driving a train while collecting coal between the rails, to a game more about driving and not crashing more like super-hexagon.

I then decided to present it to the Swedish Game Awards 2014, so I worked hard on my free time to get the game to the point [shown] in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tU8f0KLB0o

After failing to be nominated to the SGA I decided to keep working on it and eventually release it properly for Android and IOS.

At that point my partner joined me, doing the graphics and music for the game so I could focus more on the gameplay and progress.

Eventually, we released it on the Web this (2015) June, on Android late June and on IOS in August.

We brought the game to Barcelona Gamelab 2015 (Late June, right as we released it on Android) and showed it to whoever wanted to play! We good really good feedback! We even got a: “This game is lovely!” from Rami from Vlambeer, and an article from Mark Brown at Pocket Gamer (http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Android/Forget+the+Brakes/news.asp?c=66150).

We got some sales! But just not enough.. though I want to believe it is because people do not know it exists! So that is the work I do in my spare time: send mails to indie videogame sites and press and try to make them play the game.

I’m working fulltime myself so it is going slowly. I hope I can go to some events soon in order to showcase it more this (2015) fall!

What has been the most challenging part about this process so far?

Get to the players. Showcase and try bring the game to people who may like it and may play it.

It is something I always have the feeling I could be trying harder [to do].

On the other side, what part has been the easiest?

Once I got a prototype, getting me motivated was easy, I could definitely see a game there.

Itunes | Play Store