After several showings at GameCom, Jhirard “The Completionist” Khalil’s IndieLand event, and a successful demo,Aka’s creator, Namra, released the game on December 14th. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen game-breaking bugs, the cozy farm and craft game had a rough reception. But Namra has big dreams for hisindie gameand its eponymous, red panda main protagonist; he is hard at work at polishing systems and fixing bugs for a triumphant re-launch ofAka.
Game Rant recently spoke with Namra about hisindie developmentexperience, inspirations, and everything thatAkahas to offer players. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Q: Please introduce yourself to readers and share a couple of your favorite cozy games.
A: My name is Namra on social media. It’s my game developer name, let’s say. I’ve been working in the animation field for a while. Over a decade actually, and after being an animator for feature films, I started developing games at gamejams. And a few years ago I started developingAka.
At first, it was a very different project, but it evolved to grow into something more cozy, like you said. In the first version, you were literally fighting your ghosts, and it slowly evolved into something cozier and more chill—ready to cheer you up. I think my favorite cozy game isA Short Hike. It’s been a big influence from the beginning. I also really likedHaven Parkmore recently. It has some similarities in terms of graphics, but the gameplay is clever, and I really like to chill in that environment.Potion Permitis also a good one!
Q: How would you summarizeAkafor players who are unfamiliar with the title?
A: You are playing a red panda who wasa warrior. And now the war has ended, and your character just wants to search for inner peace. It is a small open world where you try to help an ex-warrior find inner peace.
Q:Aka’s core mechanics revolve around farming and crafting. How does it approach these systems compared to other games in the same genre?
A: That’s an interesting question. At first, I didn’t really thinkAkawas afarming gameper se, because when you playAka, you realize you are going to farm as much as you are doing other stuff. There is a card game, a rhythm game… of course you can farm, but it’s not the main thing you have to do inAka. The main thing is to solve the ghost quest. And if you want take care of your island, that’s fine too.
If you want to compare it to other farming games, I would say the farming system uses permaculture. The plants will not grow the same way depending on the design of your garden. Planting carrots can help shoo flies away from onions, for example. Wild animals can also eat the snails that attack the plants. I’m not sure if I’ve played other farming games that have those specific mechanics.
Q: What can you tell us about the card game and the rhythm game?
A: The card game is a little like a miniSlay the Spire, which is the main influence. At some point we were solving all the quests, and we were thinking about rewards for quests. We thought “It’s cool you cured the wolf, but what if you got a card for it too?” So cards are one form of quest reward, but they can also be used to play a game that is a hobby on the island. you may use them to complete quests, and also to play with random villagers just for fun.
You can play taiko drums, and the flute. Again, the music game is included in the quests, but you can also play it just for fun. In the quests, both the card game andrhythm gameare pretty easy because we want them to be accessible to all players. If you want a little more challenge, you can play them for fun with random villagers, who will be slightly harder. I also think it was a good idea that we had to hide some cards. There are twenty cards to discover in the game, and with a complete deck, you’ll have a better chance against the island’s toughest opponents.
Q: Can you describe your participation in Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil’s IndieLand Event?
A: It’s always painful to watch people your game, because you hope people will play it the ‘right way.’ Because it was a demo, the game changed a little bit compared to the form that was shown. Also, it was a specifically stressful time, and I was clearly sleep-deprived [laughing]. The last three months have been very hard in terms of schedule. It was super nice. TheIndieLandgroup was super cool. But I would say, as a game developer, it’s always a little painful to see other people playing your game.
Q: Interacted with fellow Indie developers in other forums?
A: I got into game development during COVID, which of course, didn’t help with meeting new people. But eventually yes. Twitter helped a lot, for sure. When I posted some gifs on Twitter, other game developers reached out. I also have another friend, who did exactly the same as me; he was a former animator who turned to games. And I know there are a few game developers in Vancouver. But to be honest, it’s been a pretty lonely experience.
Q: What media, stories, and personal experiences inspired you to makeAka?
A: One movie that really inspires me isPom Poko, byIsao Takahata of Studio Ghibli. What I love is that they talk about super serious subjects like deforestation, the development of Tokyo killing tanuki, but it’s all done in a very humorous, bright way. Sometimes it’s really funny. Sometimes it’s sad. I really like how they talk about serious subjects in a cute way. This inspired me forAka. All Ghibli films had an influence onAka, as they all touch on serious subjects in a charming way.
Also, I feel concern for animal rights and ecology in general. I think it was a nice metaphor to use a panda, which is an endangered species, and to pair it with the symbolism of a war ending. We don’t know what war Aka fought in, but I want to leave it open to players’ interpretation.
Q:Akahas received a lot of praise for its visual style. How did you develop the game’s aesthetic?
A: At first I thought it would have more electric, low-poly graphics. When I draw, I really like geometric styles. At first, it was different, with fighting ghosts, but it became a very wholesome game, it felt a bit aggressive. At first the colors were very saturated.
If I have to choose a world I want to dive into, a world I spend time in, where I can take care of my flowers and meet my friends? Again, I would say a Ghibli universe. The words‘Ghibli Style’don’t mean anything because Studio Ghibli has so many different films with different styles. But again,Pom Poko,Totoro. You really want to dive into the worlds of these movies. And I thought, maybe there’s an answer there. I decided to do something more hand-painted. And I felt most comfortable with that graphical style.
Also, I recently purchased a really nice piece of software called Rebelle that allows you to simulate acrylic and oil painting. So most of the assets that you see on screen are actually 2D drawings. So that’s how I arrived at these graphics forAka.
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Q: Despite its cute and relaxing appearance,Akahas a somber underlying story involving guilt and PTSD. Can you share a bit about it?
A: So like I said, the intention withAkawasn’t to do a “pure” cozy game—I wouldn’t say a pure cozy game, because I hope people won’t be stressed—but there are some stressful moments. Ghosts are reminding you of what you’ve lost. Over all, you have this character; Aka, a red panda who used to be a warrior.
Eventually, you realize Aka lost his best friend, and that is his first quest. You must carry the ashes of Aka’s friend up to the top of the mountain. On the way to do it, he will meet other ghosts who remind him of things he regrets, and things he maybe wanted to forget. But the character will have to learn to accept what’s been done in the past, what he couldn’t do, his frustrations… and that way he will grow.
In the first prototype, you could meditate to gain points that would fill a bar and allow you to level up in a way. But I decided to strip down everything you can quantify, because in my head, I was like “How can you quantify happiness, or inner peace?” So I used the story, these quests, to show the path Aka has to take to evolve. There’s a lot of symbolism. And I tried not to tell too much. I like to let the imagination of the player fill the gap.
Q: As you mention it’s hard to quantify inner peace. How do you attempt to approach those themes through game mechanics?
A: It wasn’t easy. At first, you had a happiness bar, but things started to fall intosurvival gameterritory. After erasing all of that; of course, you have the ghosts that are there physically. The less you see them, the better you feel. You also have some clues that you are doing well. When you enter the temple, you see flames, and the more ghosts you free, the fewer flames there are. There is also a fortune-teller who will tell you what you achieved, so there is a sense of progression. But there is no proper ending. If the player wants to ignore the main quest, they are free to do so. There are no obligations. No time limits whatsoever. You also have a quest journal that shows you what you still have to resolve. But I didn’t want to put it in player’s faces. Like, “you have to do this, you have to do that.”
Q: Roughly how many characters are inAka’s non-linear story?
A: I think it’s thirty-something characters. Sorry, I know that’s not a super precise answer. You also have a couple characters you cannot talk to, but I’m not really counting them.
Q:Aka’s reception on Steam is currently “Mixed,” and many players say they are conflicted about their recommendations or lack thereof. How would you respond to players’ critiques so far?
A: So yeah, the release has been really painful. There’s always a fear you have as a game developer… You know, you do your maximum. You have a QA team. There was a demo. People played it atGamescom, and it was well-received, but you are always afraid that there will be a game-breaking bug. And that’s what happened toAka. So unfortunately, when the game was released, there were a couple of game breaking bugs, and of course, players spotted them right away.
It’s always different to have fiveplayers doing QAversus thousands of players all at once. When I saw the first reviews, at first I was confused, and then I realized that was true. Right away, we tried to communicate that we know the bugs are here and that we are going to fix them. It’s been almost two weeks now, that we have been bug fixing. I think I’ve never worked so much in my life. The last six months have been very hard, but the last two weeks have been a living nightmare. Because you have to receive all this feedback while you are working, and respond to the feedback, and fix people’s saving files. It’s really hard.
Additionally, I hired a company to help me with development that I depend on, but because it is the holidays, not everyone is working, so it’s difficult to find somebody to help me. It’s not super lucky. But I am doing my best to rectify the situation.
My plan for the future, once we consider the game to be in a stable state, I almost want to do a second launch. I even thought about changing the title, maybe adding a word to indicate it has changed. Right now, it’s bug fixing. It’s making sure the player has a good experience. We’d like to take one or two more weeks to make some nice little additions, refining some stuff here and there. Maybe adding a few new elements. And then we are going to communicate again, “Look, it’sAka 2.0! It’s stable. It’s the game you are waiting for. We are sorry it didn’t happen before.”
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Q: If you could instantly implement a major change or improvement inAka, what would it be?
A: Actually, it’s already done, but one of the game-breaking bugs was something in the setting system that could result in a corrupted file. Because the game is saving on a regular basis there is a high percentage chance that you could end up with a corrupted file. Solving it wasn’t easy, because we had to ensure it was retroactively compatible with old saves. But we have fixed it and will be releasing the patch soon.
We also had a difficult time with theUI system. We had some doubts, because we tried a few different things, but the feedback from the demo was very positive, so we thought it would be okay. But after release, the UI received a lot of criticism, so we have to go back and change things. And I would have changed it earlier if I could now. I wish we paid more attention to our instincts that something was wrong.
Of course, there are lots of little bugs we would also like to fix. There are some other little things that gravitate around these, but the UI and corrupted files are the most important things.
Q: How long wasAkain development, and what sorts of challenges did you face to create it?
A: I started in 2020, alone, thinking about it, opening Unity, doing some tests. I posted a few things onTwitterand some people reached out. After talking with publishers, we realized there was some more potential here than I expected.
From the start, I’m not a developer per se. I candevelop in Unity, but I have my limits. So my publisher, Neowiz put me in touch with a company called Mad Mimic to help me build the game. A company in Brazil. So I had two people helping me. There were a lot of things I didn’t know how to do, and they helped me with that.
In 2021, so one year and a half of full-time development, at first it was going to release in October. Of course, we had to postpone it. And then, the usual story: the game is still late, but there was no money to postpone it again. The biggest challenge was definitely the UI, without hesitation. There’s so much you can do inAka. My first idea was to give players total freedom. Let them craft and farm everywhere. But UI was much more difficult than we expected, and it was really hard to include all the features we wanted.
Q: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
A: Like I mentioned before, we will continue toimprove the game. I think this week it is in a good state. A lot more stable. And I am giving myself two more weeks to release the game it should have been. And I hope players give the game a second chance, and for players who haven’t discovered the title yet, I invite them to wait a little bit, and try the game when it is ready!
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Akais available now on PC and Switch.
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