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Reventure
Pixelatto tells us how to make a game about nothing mean everything at Gamelab Nexus
During our time in Malaga, we caught up with CEO and design director Javier Cepa to learn more about the studio's projects and how it continues to innovate and surprise.
Audio transcription
"All right, we are in Malaga at the Polo Digital. This is Gamelab Nexus and I'm here standing by Javi Cepa, Pixelatto.
You've been talking about a bunch of things and about nothing as well, so that's interesting.
First and foremost, thank you so much for joining us and I wanted to ask you about Nothing."
"What is the concept behind making a game which is basically about doing nothing?
Well, the thing is I've been doing meditation and relaxed stuff, let's say, for the past months and I came to realize that there is a saturation of doing stuff.
We are looking for interaction every minute we have, just picking up the phone every second, thinking, constantly thinking about stuff and I decided to bundle my learnings into a little game so I could share with a lot of people the benefits I learned through meditation, through doing nothing."
"And it was a pretty successful game. It was released earlier this year, if I'm correct, and it was downloaded by more than half a million people.
That's right, that's right.
What do you think is the key behind its success?
Well, the thing is I think I hit with the hunger for doing nothing."
"It's that simple. People are thirsty for some relaxation.
Even if they don't realize it, it's a subconscious thing.
They need to stop at some point and most people think that they click on the game for the joke or the fun but part of them is thirsty for some peace."
"Some peace of mind. How does it work? Do you use just a keyboard and mouse or also are you trying to use cameras and microphone to see if the player is actually completely still?
I don't want to really verify if the user is doing nothing.
I could implement that kind of stuff but the point is you can't stop, you have to breathe at least."
"So it's up to the player to decide what doing Nothing means.
Maybe you are thinking but you are not moving and you consider that doing nothing.
The game just hints you like if you move the mouse or hit the keyboard you are doing something.
But it has a very philosophical layer. It's up to you to decide what nothing means."
"You mentioned that it also has to do with relaxation.
Have you thought about perhaps converting this into a more therapeutic sort of mindfulness activity in which you just don't do nothing but also you sort of let your mind focus on the moment.
You let other thoughts go by. Do you sort of add some professional help or aid to this?
Not really. For me that's the project. I wanted to share that idea and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible."
"That's pretty much it. It's part of the philosophy I was talking about.
Keeping it simple, less is more. It's out there, it's working.
It doesn't need anything else to be added.
Speaking about that, about your philosophy and about using very small ideas and starting from there."
"You are also into game jams as well.
You share some pieces of advice for people who are starting in that they should start simple and with little ideas.
What can you share here now about that philosophy?
That's pretty much it. Keep it simple. It's much easier said than done."
"You always can make things simpler. Maybe start designing by subtraction.
Think about what could you remove from your game instead of what you could add.
Adding stuff is easy. Removing stuff without the building collapsing is the tricky part.
If you remove too much then you get nothing, of course."
"You are well known for Reventure, which is a previous game.
Its main selling point was that you could find up to 100 endings.
What can you tell us about the development of that game and the idea behind those many endings?
The idea behind Reventure was to explore freedom. Freedom as choice."
"Many games force you to a very defined path.
Right with the sensation that your choices matter.
You feel like you are the spectator of a story, which is okay.
But it's more adequate for a movie or a book. That's the thing."
"In Reventure I wanted to break that freedom.
You have no invisible walls. You should feel like you can do anything.
It's not that much about having 100 different endings.
Especially at the beginning of the game you feel like you can do anything."
"Kill any character or fall in love with any character or do whatever stuff you want.
That's interesting. Anything, nothing and something.
What's next for you? What can we expect in terms of new games?
I'm working on something, but it's still in the open."
"Not something the game. It's something else.
It's too early to say something. I'll say nothing for now.
Looking forward to whatever you come up with next.
Thank you so much for your time, Javi."
Gamelab
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