Posted December 28, 2021
Nothing sounds more inviting than playing a relaxing building strategy and puzzle game! Good thing that Dorfromantik from Toukana Interactive is there to fill that (oddly specific) need. With the full release, we used the opportunity to learn more about the game.
GOG: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Before we dig further, could you please tell a bit more about your studio Toukana Interactive and Dorfromantik?
Our pleasure! We are an Indie Development Studio from Berlin, Germany. We originally founded the studio in early 2020 and were composed of four developers. We're all studying game design together at HTW Berlin. Since the Early Access Release of our first game Dorfromantik in March 2021, a community manager and a marketing freelancer joined our ranks.
Dorfromantik is a peaceful building, strategy, and puzzle game in which you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing hexagonal tiles. You can explore a variety of colorful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles and complete quests to fill your world with life.
What moved you to create your own game and studio, and were there any other titles or even places and landscapes that inspired you during the creation and development of Dorfromantik?
After finishing the game design bachelor's degree, the four of us felt like we were at a crossroads. We all worked in the industry for a short time, and had a little savings set aside. For a while now, we had all thought about going indie. Then a new master’s program at HTW started and we said to ourselves, let's enroll and start our own studio to develop a game, we're now at the right moment in our lives to take the risk and we might never have this chance again, when we've all moved on to different jobs or are at different places in our lives.
We knew early on that we wanted to create a peaceful and calm game. We were inspired by different videogames (Islanders, Townscaper, Tetris to name a few) but also classic european board games which we played when we were younger.
We all grew up in the countryside in different parts of Germany and Switzerland from the mountains to the seashore and this of course had a big impact on Dorfromantik, too.
The soundtrack gives off very wholesome vibes. Not only is it perfect to enhance the tranquil gameplay of Dorfromantik, but it works perfectly well as a relaxing music on its own. It was done externally by two artists, what were the original directions you gave them and how did the back and forth process go during its creation?
We are very happy with how well the soundtrack turned out! It was, indeed, done by two great artists, Laryssa Okada (Manifold Garden) and Pygoscelis. Our initial approach was to research and collect musical styles, genres and atmospheres which we deemed fitting to the intended mood on a collaborative board. We then had a few discussions in the team to define what exactly we liked about what musical style, which elements, rhythms or instruments. We wanted the game to feel wholesome, a little nostalgic and meditative. To us, it was very important that the music would not distract from the gameplay, so it had to be atmospheric and "laid back" without being boring. That's really not an easy task. We then talked to both artists about our wishes and they created the first track ideas. It was important for both artists to find a mutual musical language too, of course. With a little iteration, we had the first tracks which, in turn, defined the further direction for the soundtrack, and more tracks were added afterwards.
Your team is currently finishing their game design studies, yet you already have released your first award-winning game, albeit in development. How hard is it to balance both your studies and personal project and how does it feel to have such a great start in the video game world?
That is correct! In fact, we are currently writing our master's thesis. At times, balancing the development with other tasks was indeed a challenge, but good planning and the support here at the game design program helped us tremendously. As working on the game is also part of our studies, we were able to focus a lot on the development of our game. Additionally we are part of the incubator program for Start-Ups at DE:HIVE Insitute, located at HTW Berlin, which provides us with a studio-cubicle, hardware and more.
We are of course very happy to have had such a promising start and are very thankful for all the support we got from many different people - Our professors for example, and institutions like the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, without whom things would have been even more challenging.
You’ve chosen to do a deliberately peaceful and relaxing game. What is the feeling you would like gamers to leave their Dorfromantik sessions with and is there anything else you would like to anyone reading this interview?
We want Dorfromantik to be something to unwind with after a stressful day or to leave behind one’s sorrows for a little while. After realizing the meditative potential of the games' mechanics mainly because people playing the prototype told us that it helped them deal with the pandemic situation, we continued to focus a lot on the relaxing and calming aspect of the game.
We would like to thank all players and the fantastic welcoming community that has formed around the game. It makes us proud and humble at the same time to know that so many people enjoy something we've created with a lot of passion.
Also thank you for your creations in the game and for participating in our creative showcases.
If you want to know more about the game or participate too, join us on Discord or [url=https://twitter.com/_toukana ]on Twitter.[/url]
Did you already enjoy a few sessions of Dorfromantik?
GOG: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Before we dig further, could you please tell a bit more about your studio Toukana Interactive and Dorfromantik?
Our pleasure! We are an Indie Development Studio from Berlin, Germany. We originally founded the studio in early 2020 and were composed of four developers. We're all studying game design together at HTW Berlin. Since the Early Access Release of our first game Dorfromantik in March 2021, a community manager and a marketing freelancer joined our ranks.
Dorfromantik is a peaceful building, strategy, and puzzle game in which you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing hexagonal tiles. You can explore a variety of colorful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles and complete quests to fill your world with life.
What moved you to create your own game and studio, and were there any other titles or even places and landscapes that inspired you during the creation and development of Dorfromantik?
After finishing the game design bachelor's degree, the four of us felt like we were at a crossroads. We all worked in the industry for a short time, and had a little savings set aside. For a while now, we had all thought about going indie. Then a new master’s program at HTW started and we said to ourselves, let's enroll and start our own studio to develop a game, we're now at the right moment in our lives to take the risk and we might never have this chance again, when we've all moved on to different jobs or are at different places in our lives.
We knew early on that we wanted to create a peaceful and calm game. We were inspired by different videogames (Islanders, Townscaper, Tetris to name a few) but also classic european board games which we played when we were younger.
We all grew up in the countryside in different parts of Germany and Switzerland from the mountains to the seashore and this of course had a big impact on Dorfromantik, too.
The soundtrack gives off very wholesome vibes. Not only is it perfect to enhance the tranquil gameplay of Dorfromantik, but it works perfectly well as a relaxing music on its own. It was done externally by two artists, what were the original directions you gave them and how did the back and forth process go during its creation?
We are very happy with how well the soundtrack turned out! It was, indeed, done by two great artists, Laryssa Okada (Manifold Garden) and Pygoscelis. Our initial approach was to research and collect musical styles, genres and atmospheres which we deemed fitting to the intended mood on a collaborative board. We then had a few discussions in the team to define what exactly we liked about what musical style, which elements, rhythms or instruments. We wanted the game to feel wholesome, a little nostalgic and meditative. To us, it was very important that the music would not distract from the gameplay, so it had to be atmospheric and "laid back" without being boring. That's really not an easy task. We then talked to both artists about our wishes and they created the first track ideas. It was important for both artists to find a mutual musical language too, of course. With a little iteration, we had the first tracks which, in turn, defined the further direction for the soundtrack, and more tracks were added afterwards.
Your team is currently finishing their game design studies, yet you already have released your first award-winning game, albeit in development. How hard is it to balance both your studies and personal project and how does it feel to have such a great start in the video game world?
That is correct! In fact, we are currently writing our master's thesis. At times, balancing the development with other tasks was indeed a challenge, but good planning and the support here at the game design program helped us tremendously. As working on the game is also part of our studies, we were able to focus a lot on the development of our game. Additionally we are part of the incubator program for Start-Ups at DE:HIVE Insitute, located at HTW Berlin, which provides us with a studio-cubicle, hardware and more.
We are of course very happy to have had such a promising start and are very thankful for all the support we got from many different people - Our professors for example, and institutions like the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, without whom things would have been even more challenging.
You’ve chosen to do a deliberately peaceful and relaxing game. What is the feeling you would like gamers to leave their Dorfromantik sessions with and is there anything else you would like to anyone reading this interview?
We want Dorfromantik to be something to unwind with after a stressful day or to leave behind one’s sorrows for a little while. After realizing the meditative potential of the games' mechanics mainly because people playing the prototype told us that it helped them deal with the pandemic situation, we continued to focus a lot on the relaxing and calming aspect of the game.
We would like to thank all players and the fantastic welcoming community that has formed around the game. It makes us proud and humble at the same time to know that so many people enjoy something we've created with a lot of passion.
Also thank you for your creations in the game and for participating in our creative showcases.
If you want to know more about the game or participate too, join us on Discord or [url=https://twitter.com/_toukana ]on Twitter.[/url]
Did you already enjoy a few sessions of Dorfromantik?
