When we spotted Nom Nom: Cozy Forest Café while walking around at IndieDevDay in Barcelona, it seemed somehow familiar, and we soon realized why: the solodev is Anaïs Salla, who previously delivered Minabo: A Walk Through Life as a game designer for DevilishGames. However, cuteness is practically the only thing the two games have in common.
“[Nom Nom] is a rhythm and decoration game”, describes Salla. “It’s a little nod to the flash games from the early 2000s, when you used to go to the Barbie website and play dress up and decoration, and it’s not that much confrontation, so it’s not a confrontational game, it’s not a difficult game. It’s just a game where you can enjoy food and cooking and talk to the animals”.
“The animals teach you how to make them,” she adds of the various recipes, “and you have to make them with a rhythmic mini-game before you decorate them and then you can serve them. You’ll have a website for your own cafeteria, and you can share the photos you take there”.
“I think we’ve missed a lot of opportunities,” the game designer points out about the genre mix, “because there were a lot of ‘pink games,’ as they were called, games that were more aimed at girls, and I think all kids like them. So I think there’s a market that’s missing right now… it’s that they’re not filling that market, so I think we should try to give the kids and those who like creativity more than conflict”.
“We recently launched Minabo in April”, she finally says about the studio’s previous venture, which naturally sprung up in the spring. “And the game is experimental and about life, a bit of a life simulator with turnips. It’s a bit weird, but it’s a lot about life and death and interpersonal relationships, and it’s a bit of a special game, and people seem to like it very good. (…) Minabo was very deep in his message, so I think that here I try to be more uplifting, yes, because as I said, Minabo is a lot about death and relationships, so here you can establish relationships with the customers and become friends with them, but it’s not going to be that deep.”
Play the full interview to see how the cooking minigames actually work and much more about Nom Nom: Cozy Forest Café, which is expected to be served up on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC and mobile in early 2024. Before then, you’ll be able to taste the demo as part of the upcoming Steam Next Fest (October 9-16).
2023-09-29 16:32:46
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