After only 3 years in the indie game scene, James Hutt is quickly making a name for himself. Recently working as a puzzle designer for veteran developer, Stu Denman, Mr. Hutt has now transitioned into being the lead developer of his own mobile title, Triangul8.
We asked Mr. Hutt a few questions about his strategically challenging new title as well as some of the difficulties and opportunities that arose during its development.
Here’s what this up and comer had to say.
Can you give us some background about yourself and your journey into the world of game development?
I’ve been in the game industry for 3 years now as an indie developer. I got my start working on board games and tabletop role playing games and then got the opportunity to work on an awesome {mobile} game called Tiny Bubbles and realized that making video games was also something that I enjoy a lot!
So, I gathered several awesome like minded individuals, including my {fellow} Co-founder and CTO, Eric Jorgensen, (and too many other teammates to mention by name) and here we are, ready to release our latest game, Triangul8!
You have a new game about to release on mobile devices called, Triangul8. Can you tell us about it & how it works?
Triangul8 is a game about capturing a red triangle in a triangle made of your favorite style of triangular pieces before your opponent beats you to it, with their favorite pieces. The game grows organically off of a lone, red triangle and forms beautiful tangram-like patterns before inevitably one player claims victory.
Games take about 5 minutes, but are full of simple yet complex strategy that anyone can enjoy.
What’s the inspiration behind the game?
I wanted to solve the problem of accessibility in classic strategy games like Chess and Go. I wanted to make a game that anyone can learn in under 5 minutes and play {almost} immediately.
Tell us about the 45 unique triangles that can be collected & how their design came about.
One of the coolest parts about Triangul8 on mobile is all of the awesome triangles you can collect and play within the game. Each of them has lots of animations that bring them to life and 2 color schemes (in case both you and your opponent have similar taste).
{In regards to design}, I was constantly amazed by the work of our artists. I can’t wait to see the public’s reaction to finding their favorite triangle.
Triangul8 originated as a board game. Can you tell us about the process you went through to translate it from a board game to a title for mobile devices?
I love playing board games on my phone, but it’s always been my view that, in order to have a board game be truly at home on mobile, it would have to be designed for it from the outset.
So, during the {creation} of the Triangul8 board game, designing the game to have a great mobile version was one of my {top} priorities. Because of this design priority, many versions that were less simple and elegant than a touch screen interface demands were trashed in favor of simpler ones. I think the restriction ultimately created a better game though, so I can’t complain!
Originally, I wanted to simultaneously release both the board game version and the mobile game version to really underscore this fact. But, that turned out to be very difficult. So, here we are.
You worked previously with Stu Denman as a puzzle designer on Tiny Bubbles. Now, you’re leading the charge on your own game. Can you tell us what it’s been like to make that transition? What challenges have you faced? What successes have you enjoyed?
Thankfully, I haven’t been making this transition alone. I’ve had the privilege of having great advisors at Triangul8.
Stu Denman has been a big help to me as a technical advisor and Bryan Copley has been a great business advisor (and investor).
Making the transition has helped me get a fresh perspective on what a big team effort game development is, and, how important communication is on that team. Working to solve these problems firsthand has been interesting. The greatest success I’ve enjoyed has been the opportunity to learn what kind of environment different types of people need, in order to be their most creative.
Why do you love working with mobile games?
Mobile games are the most accessible genre of game. This combined with the simplicity demanded by touch screens make it one of my favorite platforms to design for.
What makes a great mobile game?
A game with a full gameplay loop that takes under 10 minutes and is uniquely built for touch.
(Nothing with a transparent D-pad on screen for me, please.)
Triangul8 will be releasing free of charge, with microtransactions. Can you tell us what types of transactions those will include?
Our three types of microtransactions include:
a. Buying the physical board game from the app.
b. Removing the app’s interstitial ads forever, for $1.99.
c. Randomized packs of cosmetic triangles. (These are the exact same packs that the daily quest rewards you with).
None have an impact on gameplay.
Do you plan to release Triangul8 on any other platforms?
We’ll see how the launch goes and keep our options open.
Anything else you’d like us to know about you, your company, or Triangul8?
I’d like to mention to anyone in the game industry that might be reading this, that I have plenty of awesome talented young people, Technical Artists, Animators, Hard Surface Modelers, you name it, who have worked with me on Triangul8 that I would love to introduce you to if you are in need of a fresh face on your team. Hit me up on LinkedIn.
But ultimately, I hope everyone enjoys Triangul8, when it releases on December 15th! We’ve put a lot of love into it and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Thanks so much to Mr. Hutt for answering our questions. We wish he & his team the best of luck with the launch of Triangul8!
Triangul8 will be releasing for iOS & Android devices. A beta is currently available for all Android users on the Google Play store. The Triangul8 board game can be purchased for $29.99 on the developer’s website.
You can see a trailer for the game on the Triangul8 YouTube channel.
