DevilishGames

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The next edition of my Indie Corner Spotlight Interviews features DevilishGames.  The team, based in Spain, have just released their latest game, Path to Mnemosyne, on Steam.  The title will also soon be coming to consoles.

How long have you been a developer?

20 years.

How many years has your team been developing games?

20 years.

Who, or what, inspired you to become a games developer?

From a young age, I always loved drawing.  One day, a Master System II was brought home, and I started playing video games.  Classics such as Alex Kidd or Sonic inspired me to investigate how to develop video games and this way I started creating small projects for MS-DOS.

What was the inspiration for your team’s name?

When we started in 1998 we were very young; we barely were 16 years old.  We wanted a name that sounded great in English (we are Spanish), and Devilish sounded cool for us.  Our name doesn’t have a big story behind it.

Describe a usual day in the life of an indie development team.

Our business has two separate lines of business.  On the first one, we develop indie games under the DevilishGames brand, while on the second one we develop advergaming and serious games with our interactive advertisement branch Spherical Pixel (this branch is the one which pays the bills and the salaries).  Our daily routine is primarily comprised of developing small games for advertisement agencies, but when we don’t have any commissions or need to clear our minds, we develop our experimental video games such as Path to Mnemosyne.

Can you describe the process/timeline of developing a game?

Generally, the first step is to search for an idea or a concept.  Once we have that cleared, we build a little prototype around it.  If the prototype seems enjoyable and gives the impression that it can be made into a bigger game, we start working on the game design document and start developing graphics, music and especially code.  When we have a functional beta, we test it with people and present it to festivals to gain feedback and testing before the final release.

How do you juggle all of the aspects of games development?

My speciality is game design and art.  The DevilishGames team is comprised of 6 people, and we have nearly all the profiles needed to build a game and then commercialise it.  We have been 20 years working together, so we have all the development processes well optimised.  In any case, every project is different, and although we have a great deal of experience, we still face lots of situations that force us to juggle tasks to keep going.

What is your ambition as an indie developer?

I would love to sell a lot of games and be able to develop more ambitious projects calmly.  My experience tells me that selling a lot of games is complicated, so right now I get along with developing new and original games that can offer different experiences to the players. Maybe one day while following this path we will find commercial success.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into the games industry?

I would tell them that it is a very fulfilling industry, but it also is very complicated and requires a lot of self-sacrifices.  You have to work a lot and be patient to obtain results.  We find economic stability due to the development of advergaming and serious games and thanks to that we can finance our indie projects.  Each developer needs to find its way and find the balance between creativity and financial stability.

Where do you see gaming heading in the next decade?

Over the course of 20 years, I have seen many changes in the video game industry.  Technology, the business models and the general public change constantly (phones, touch screens, augmented reality, digital downloads…), so it is impossible to predict what will happen over the next decade.  I can’t wait to see what the future will bring us… and hope that DevilishGames will have an important place in it.

I want to say a huge thanks to the team at DevilishGames for taking part in my Indie Corner Spotlight Interview series.

If you would like your Indie Dev team to be featured in my Indie Corner Spotlight, please get in touch. 

You can support the developer by purchasing their latest game, Path to Mnemosyne, on the link below.