This past week Media Molecule held their now annual Impy Awards, a show dedicated to showcasing the best that Dreams had to offer in the past year. It was a fantastic show and highlighted many games I had not had a chance to play myself. So I dove headfirst into the shortlist and discovered some real gems, but one took my interest more than the others.
The Snowgardens is a puzzle/adventure game with some fantastic art design and a mysterious world. But what made it stand out more than any other game I had played previously was the Ko-Fi and Paypal links in the credits of the game. Of course, using a Ko-Fi as a pseudo tip jar isn’t anything new. We use one, and Ko-Fi is excellent. However, I hadn’t seen anyone smart enough to include one in their Dreams project, and I had to know more. Thankfully Anthony Cristiano, aka HalfUp, the creator of The Snowgardens, was happy to talk to me about Ko-Fi and his experience in creating the Impy Award winner for Best Art Design, The Snowgardens.
In The Snowgardens you play as a lost traveller who must traverse several different islands, solving puzzles and attempting to find a way to escape the almost Bermuda triangle clutches of this patch of sea and land.
Or that’s how I would pitch it. After completing the game, I wasn’t too sure what The Snowgardens was about, not that it bothered me, but I was happy to hear Anthony isn’t sure what it’s about either.
“I’m not even so sure myself what it’s about. I guess at its most basic it’s about an ancient civilization that’s somehow fallen to ruin due to this ‘technology’ and how that happened […] It’s hard to say because it’s definitely not a story focused creation.”
Anthony says that Monument Valley, Little Nightmares, Journey, Hyper Light Drifter, Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey and FEZ were the main inspirations behind The Snowgardens. …
“I wanted to try adding a sense of history and lore so people could create some of their own theories, but for me personally, it was definitely always more about creating a visual/art/design project that looked cool, and seeing if I could expand a bit upon the world from The Watergardens.”
Expanding on that Anthony says that the short film An Island was also an inspiration and The South Channel Fort in Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia.
When I asked Anthony just how much planning went into creating The Snowgardens…
“I did a fair bit of planning lore-wise. That’s where the bulk of planning was for sure, just trying to work out what happened to this place, and what does this stuff do. I like to draw, so I roughly sketched out quite a few of the areas out on paper…”
Often I wonder just how many of the creators inside Dreams crafting these beautiful worlds and games are studying to be, or are game developers…
“I never really pursued it because I didn’t think I could do it and didn’t think I’d be able to find work if I went down that path… Once I get more free time, I’d love to try to wrap my heart around something like Unity and see what I can create.”
“Dreams just makes game development fun and inviting”
So how about that Ko-Fi and PayPal link? That’s some smart thinking.
“Yeah, I don’t think there’s many of us doing that donation stuff in Dreams… I think it’ll only become an issue if people somehow start locking content behind a donation, that would defeat the whole purpose of Dreams.”
In the year since Dreams released one of the hottest topics has been around the user-generated content module…
“The first dollar that someone sent immediately made it successful for me… It’s a nice thought.”
A handful of Dreams games including The Snowgardens have felt like complete enough experiences…
“Media Molecule seem pretty open to a lot of things and have been incredibly supportive of creators.”
But what are the plans for Anthony Cristiano now that he has an Impy Award under his belt?…
“Just the other day had an idea for some more lore… I’m planning to call it The Sandgardens and using it as a way to see if I can challenge myself a bit and push what I learned from The Snowgardens even further!”
Alongside the third Gardens game, Anthony is working with another Dreams creator, RuroniDan, on a classic 3D platformer…
Follow Anthony Cristiano/HalfUp on Twitter
Play The Snowgardens here & find Anthony’s other creations on his InDreams profile.
