It’s not Animal Crossing

Bug Game

Remember looking for bugs in the garden?

I’m making it into a mobile game.

Why are you doing this? Just go outside???

The first thing I ever wanted to be was a video game designer, but I never got much further than sketching out doodles for RPGs and telling all my teachers at school that one day I’d work for Nintendo. As often happens, life gets in the way, and we end up making safer decisions and putting off dreams.

As part of ✓ Project Bucket List, I decided that I’d finally make it happen. After sitting around for a while thinking about asymmetric kaiju war games, I turned my attention back to my original inspiration and looked at the design philosophy behind Shigeru Miyamoto’s work, and tripped over the idea of Box Gardens. Hakoniwa.

I decided to look back at my childhood and re-establish some of the wonder I felt while catching bugs out in the back garden, and thus the seed of Bug Game began to grow.

This looks like Animal Crossing??

No, it doesn’t, shut up. And don’t let Daddy Nintendo hear you say that; we all know how bloodthirsty their legal team is. Have you ever read the book Steal Like an Artist? If you did, great, you get it already. If you didn’t, there’s this idea that I came up with entirely by myself that nothing is ever original, and that you can connect influences from different media, remix them, and create something entirely meaningful, personal, and new. And I hope to bring things that are new.

This game is a love letter to Animal Crossing, Zelda, Pokémon, Stardew Valley, all of the cosy games that make you feel like you have no school tomorrow, and there’s pizza on the way. I have loved every one of these games, and I have so much admiration for the people behind them, that joining them in their craft is such an honor. Thank you to you all for my childhood.

So when is it out?

When I finish it. I’ve never made a game before, I’m learning as I go. I’m working on it whenever I get spare time, and I’m loving the process. As soon as there is a beta that feels like a real game, I’ll be sending it out for play testing.

I’m going to log development too, so you can have a nosy at what I’m up to. This will release on Android and iOS, and will be free to play.

If you’d like to test it when it’s ready, please get in touch with me and let me know.