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Tomorrow Corporation talks about tone Little Inferno
This comes from a NintendoWorldReport interview with Tomorrow Corporation's Kyle Gabler...
NintendoWorldReport: Video games like this are sometimes criticised as being more like toys than actual games. Is this a distinction you embrace? Or by its very nature, would you still classify Little Inferno as a game?
Kyle Gabler: Little Inferno makes no effort to be an ordinary game, and I expect there will be a wide range of opinions because of it. We enjoy the bewildered YouTube comments from folks like "What?! You throw things in a fire to get money to buy more things to throw in a fire? That's pointless and stupid!"
And of course it's pointless and stupid! The characters in the game muse about the very same thing in different ways. But why do we continue doing something that's warm and comfortable, maybe embarrassingly satisfying, even though it's clearly unproductive? It's a question the game is fascinated with.
NintendoWorldReport: Let's say, for example, that I'm the sort of gamer who likes to play games for the challenge and for the test of skill. How does Little Inferno evolve to keep me interested and challenged as I play more and more? Or are you going for something completely different with this game?
Kyle Gabler: Tests of skill can be fun, but games have so much more to offer more than rote, mechanical, time and dexterity trials.
Why do we enjoy roller coasters or traveling or music or exploring the sewer system under the neighborhood with flashlights? They aren't necessarily challenging, and you can't really get better at them, but they can be thrilling.
To the Moon and Dear Esther are two recent games that are beautiful and especially memorable to me for their distinct and intentional lack of challenge. Adventure games like Space Quest and the old LucasArts games also had very little challenge, yet the genre has managed to remain one of the most beloved class of games. There are whole worlds filled with characters inside of these games waiting to be explored and talked to and licked and exploded!
So, nope! Not only does Little Inferno very intentionally have almost no challenge, but the fact that that's the case is a really central plot detail - and it's not lost on the characters within the game either.
NintendoWorldReport: Video games like this are sometimes criticised as being more like toys than actual games. Is this a distinction you embrace? Or by its very nature, would you still classify Little Inferno as a game?
Kyle Gabler: Little Inferno makes no effort to be an ordinary game, and I expect there will be a wide range of opinions because of it. We enjoy the bewildered YouTube comments from folks like "What?! You throw things in a fire to get money to buy more things to throw in a fire? That's pointless and stupid!"
And of course it's pointless and stupid! The characters in the game muse about the very same thing in different ways. But why do we continue doing something that's warm and comfortable, maybe embarrassingly satisfying, even though it's clearly unproductive? It's a question the game is fascinated with.
NintendoWorldReport: Let's say, for example, that I'm the sort of gamer who likes to play games for the challenge and for the test of skill. How does Little Inferno evolve to keep me interested and challenged as I play more and more? Or are you going for something completely different with this game?
Kyle Gabler: Tests of skill can be fun, but games have so much more to offer more than rote, mechanical, time and dexterity trials.
Why do we enjoy roller coasters or traveling or music or exploring the sewer system under the neighborhood with flashlights? They aren't necessarily challenging, and you can't really get better at them, but they can be thrilling.
To the Moon and Dear Esther are two recent games that are beautiful and especially memorable to me for their distinct and intentional lack of challenge. Adventure games like Space Quest and the old LucasArts games also had very little challenge, yet the genre has managed to remain one of the most beloved class of games. There are whole worlds filled with characters inside of these games waiting to be explored and talked to and licked and exploded!
So, nope! Not only does Little Inferno very intentionally have almost no challenge, but the fact that that's the case is a really central plot detail - and it's not lost on the characters within the game either.