The Downloadable Games Category [by Russell D. Carroll]

Interview with Jack Lyon about Chomp! Chomp! Safari
Feeding hungry animals IS all fun and games
By Russell D. Carroll [March 7, 2004]

Jack Lyon was nice enough to spend a few moments with us in regards to their International Games Festival (IGF) finalist game Chomp! Chomp! Safari.  "Our goal from the beginning was to make a game that felt familiar but added a unique twist that would leave players thinking that Chomp! Chomp! Safari represented the next level in action/puzzle gaming. We feel the most innovative feature is the mix of traditional “block-matching” gameplay with the food catalyst element," said Jack in regards to what is innovative about Chomp! Chomp! Safari.  The game is sort of a mesh between collapse and other matching games.  However, the big difference is that in this game, you must place the right kind of food next to the right blocks in order (feeding them) to make them disappear.  In order to really succeed at the game you need to maximize the amount of squares that you feed for each piece of food.  "Players really respond to the character illustrations and the surprisingly deep strategic elements."

As is the case with most good indie games, they are not typically the first game that the indie developer has created.  Astromaniac, the creators of Chomp! Chomp! Safari,  already had a large background in games before doing this game.  "We began by making advergames for clients, but found the end products to be too narrow as far as game play goes. Making full-scale games is far more challenging and satisfying."  Clients for the company include such giants as MGM studios, Stuff magazine, and shockwave.com.  MGM Studios is one that really sticks out of the list, as in the past Astromaniac had done a couple of games that used the Crocodile Hunter.  I think more than anything else they have done, their games with Croc Hunter have given them experience with the adventure theme that is such a big part of Chomp! Chomp! Safari.

Astromaniac focuses on smaller games, stating: "the best independent games strive to get the most enjoyment possible out of a “small” concept. Whereas corporate games often get by on big production value and flashy features, a great independent game feels more focused on the elements that truly make the game fun to play." 

Big production value, and especially big budgets are a big part of the difference between Independent games, and more mainstream games.  Jack saw that as one of the challenges confronting indie games, offering as well a possible roadmap to resolving the issue.  "Production values are going to skyrocket, while product budgets will likely stay the same. Indie games as a whole will start to have a lot more depth, more backstory, and more unique gameplay."

Beyond just not having a big budget, a probable lower return financially is a threat many indie developers are facing.  "Over the last couple years, there’s been an explosion of new downloadable game developers. The space has become so crowded, that it’s hard for any one game to really stand out anymore. Plus, bigger developers are starting to get into the downloadable space, leaving even less room for indie games. A good independent game will always have a core audience, but the chances of making a game that will be any kind of financial “hit” is becoming less and less likely for the independent developer. "

While all that could spell out disaster, companies such as Astromaniac continue to try and fight it out with great games that do stand out of the pack because of their quality and innovative features.  Those looking for a puzzle game that provides both should give Chomp! Chomp! Safari a try.