[MUSIC PLAYING]
IVAN KOVALOV: You can make a great game.
But when you are an indie developer,
you're not just a developer.
You should promote your game, you
should think how to bring it to your players.
LUKE HOLLAND: When you work on your own ideas,
it's really easy to keep scaling up your ambition.
But the most important aspect is the end user.
What's their experience going to be?
LUCA REDWOOD: There are loads of big companies making
video games, and I can't compete with that on production values.
So as an indie, what you try and do
is you compete on innovation.
IVAN KOVALOV: I think most of my life,
I've dreamed how I can mix technology and art.
And then I discovered it's possible to mix
all of this stuff [INAUDIBLE] a game designer.
The initial idea of the game came to me
when I was looking through a frozen window in a tram,
and I thought about how these frozen shapes can sculpt
something new, and that it could be interesting to make
a game about memories.
So I finished this demo, just showed it,
and everybody said, it's amazing.
You should continue to work with this.
And then I understand that, yes, it's true, this is my real job.
LUKE HOLLAND: Creating games is not
something I really ever saw as a career option,
but I was playing around with from 12 years old.
So I just wanted something that when I showed it to people,
they'd be able to pick it up, start playing, and find
the fun in it very quickly.
And I took inspiration from arcade games.
I mean, it just had a joystick and a single button.
It's just an immediate thing.
Put a coin in your slot, and you're playing.
As a player, you're just doing one or two simple things.
If you want to get better, you've
got to re-rehearse the mechanics.
So "Ordia" is a one-finger platformer
set in this primordial world full of various hazards
and perils.
LUCA REDWOOD: One thing that games
can do that other mediums can't is interactivity.
And for "Photographs," we try and use that
in an interesting way.
You solve the puzzle, you get a little nugget of story.
So passively, you're watching characters
go through difficult decisions, then right at the end,
the game asks you to make a difficult decision.
It's a game about empathy and could maybe
talk to people in a deeper way.
These are all people who risked their lives
and lost their lives trying to save other people.
They all summed up a tragic tale in a small amount of words,
and that's something I was trying to do in "Photographs."
This one here risked poison for himself
rather than lessen any chance of saving a child's life and died.
I relate to this one because, obviously, I
would do that for my kids.
IVAN KOVALOV: It's pretty hard when
you do something on your own because you
should be good on every part.
When you code something, you should focus on the code.
When you design something, you should be an artist.
And that was really hard to switch this focus.
Hey guys.
So I just asked friends to help.
And after two months, it was obvious
that my friend Olga was part of the project.
We decided to add not only this telescopic text,
but we decided to add hidden story.
So you can tap on key works, and they
form completely another layer of storytelling.
LUKE HOLLAND: You have a vision in your mind about how
you want the game to be.
So early life forms--
bacteria, amoebas, things from the deep sea.
And when you see the team putting all the pieces in--
SPEAKER: Wide open.
LUKE HOLLAND: --it went from this rough prototype
to this really alive world.
It's a really amazing moment.
LUCA REDWOOD: Usually, I make nothing
like what I plan to make.
This game was kind of different because I, for the first time,
collaborated.
It had gone from my terrible sketches
to actually being something that really brought emotion.
I've got three pixels here.
I've got a white, a gray.
And yeah, you can really read the emotion in this guy's eyes.
IVAN KOVALOV: When called out to come together and start moving,
it's so magical.
There are so many great games.
So doing the showcase was an awesome surprise for us.
LUKE HOLLAND: Winning this year was an amazing feeling.
I think when you've been working well on something for so long,
to see it recognized like that is very special.
LUCA REDWOOD: Google Play Indie Showcase
features games that you wouldn't see otherwise.
It's like a [INAUDIBLE] say, well,
these guys think this game's worth something,
so I'mma check it out.
[MUSIC PLAYING]