Time on Frog Island devs were influenced by Mario, Pan-Pan, and A Short Hike

To follow-up, because of how good the jumps and utilization of the environment and items feel, were there certain platformers that personally inspired members of the team to create that fluidity? Despite not really being one, Time on Frog Island seems to do platforming much better than most other actual platformers as of late!

Thank you so much! As you stated, ToFI isn’t a platformer as such. However, the game does have platforming elements and learning the limits of the movement system helps navigate the island faster and complete some of the time trial challenges hidden in the world. Those who have seen the game can probably guess that we are very inspired by Nintendo titles, and the 3D Mario games are no exception to that.

A big part of games like this and what makes them so attractive outside of their initial welcoming art direction is the ability to go at your own pace. With an increasing output of games in recent years that emphasize this on their respective islands, did you look to some of these as inspiration? Also, what did the team work on the hardest to ensure that Time on Frog Island aimed to achieve that feeling of not being pressured and taking the time to explore at your own leisure?

I have said in other interviews and on social media that the whole team has a deep love of A Short Hike, for us, it is the definition of that type of experience. The goal is simple enough, but most players get sucked into the world during the time it takes to collect those first few feathers. Pan-Pan is another game that is a bit more linear, but ultimately has this openness and lack of pressure to progress. Both of those titles had a large impact on ToFI.