14 DAY TRIAL // GameCritics has scored an interview with the genius minds behind one of the best, casual experiences ever seen on Mac – the physics-based puzzle game, World of Goo. In the interview, 2D Boy(s) Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel dish out on a few aspects about the company's unique game, but also weigh in on the struggles of indie game developers on the market.
World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle/construction game. The title has already made an appearance on Nintendo's Wii, and is now available to buy for Mac and PC. The demo version for Mac features a full chapter of the game, which has players advancing through multiple intricate stages. We gave it a spin and, we can tell you right now, it's a winner. Moreover, since it was considered a success by pretty much everyone who's tried it, an interview with the developers was definitely in order.
Ron revealed that “the transition into indieness was one of the most exciting and one of the most stressful things [he's] ever done. It took about a year and a half of living off savings before we saw a cent and it's kinda frightening to see your bank account balance going full Steam ahead towards zero,” he told interviewers. “We had some opportunities to do contract work but decided that we'd rather be working on our game. If we ran out of money, we could always get contract work later. Now that we've seen some sales numbers, I can say that while we're far from rich, we'll have enough money to fund our next game.”
Ron and Kyle's game is available on Nintendo's Wii, Mac and PC. While casual, it proposes an interesting plot. Rumor has it that the storyline of the game is a parable to the story of the developers themselves, and of the problems they've had to deal with while struggling to make a name for themselves. Kyle confirmed it as true saying, “Yep. The overarching story of World of Goo is a big metaphor for the development process - curious and naive little goo balls, encountering a large international corporation and it's global pipe distribution system.”
He added, “Meanwhile, we're a curious and naive new indie studio, eager to explore, encountering large international publishing corporations with their global distribution systems. Or, more generally - hope, ambition, curiosity, etc, collide with a cold bitter reality. World of Goo Corporation, in particular, is a giant metaphor for some of the absurd experiences we've had along the way with publishers so far. I just hope not too many Goo Balls get chopped up by rusty spikes, or fall into infinite death pits.”
You can read more about World of Goo right here, or download the demo using the link below. The full interview with the guys as 2D boy can be read here.