Ten Questions With… John Davis (Q-Games) Ten Questions With...
Posted by in Ten Questions With...

Ten Questions With… John Davis (Q-Games)

Facebook
Like PixelJunk on Facebook

Twitter 
Follow Q-Games on Twitter

Website
Check out the official
Nom Nom Galaxy Website

Discussion
Give the developers feedback on the Steam Discussion Page

Purchase
Buy your Early Access copy on the Steam Store page

Q-Games have already released a few titles in the very popular PixelJunk series, but Nom Nom Galaxy marks the first time that they have done so via Early Access. We had a chance to check out the game recently and loved the wacky world of soup manufacturing that it throws you into. To find out more about the game we badgered John Davis from Q-Games for some answers, so check out what he had to share.

Can you give our readers a quick introduction of yourself and the studio?

Q-Games is an independent game developer located in Kyoto, Japan. We’re probably most known for our PixelJunk series, though some old school gamers may know about our connection to the StarFox series. Our president, Dylan Cuthbert, worked on the first two StarFox games on Super Nintendo, and we also did the StarFox games on DS and 3DS.

How did the idea for Nom Nom Galaxy come about?

Nom Nom Galaxy was born from our love of sandbox games, like Minecraft and Terraria. We wanted to make something similar to those games, but more PixelJunk-like. We wanted something like those games, but a little more goal-oriented and something anyone could pick-up and play.

What are the games that influenced you and how?

We had a “Top 5” games list on the Q-Games forum a couple years ago. I’m a bit indecisive, so it was pretty hard to narrow it down to just five. I think I get my love of platforming and exploring from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Final Fantasy Tactics fulfills my strategy needs. I love MMOs, and World of Warcraft is probably the one I’ve spent the most time with. I cut my teeth on multiplayer games with Descent during lanfests. Tie Fighter squeezes in my Top 5 thanks to my love of Star Wars.

What features of Nom Nom Galaxy are you the most proud of?

Nom Nom Galaxy isn’t quite done yet, but I’m really proud of the dynamic environment we’ve put together. Everything is connected, from the ground that you walk on to the plants and animals that populate each planet. If you destroy the ground under you, things are going to fall. And if you use up your natural resources, they’ll disappear. We want to continue to improve those systems so each planet has its own personality.

What was the biggest challenge while creating Nom Nom Galaxy?

The biggest challenge has been meeting the goals we’ve set out for ourselves. Namely, creating a 2D sandbox game that’s easy to pick-up and play. It’s difficult to walk the line between ease of play and depth for hardcore players. That’s what we’re working on now.

What aspect of the game was the most fun to create?

For me personally, I enjoy working with Yamatron, our artist, on creating new robots to help the Astroworkers. Robots perform many of the mundane duties in your base. But Yamatron has imbued them with so much personality. It’s a pleasure to help him create them.

How is your experience with Steam Early Access?

It’s been great, thus far. We’re getting lots of feedback and updating the game weekly to reflect a lot of it. It’s allowed us to continue the project and promote it while we’re working on it, also.

What are the future plans for Q-Games Ltd./Nom Nom Galaxy?

The NNG team is focused on finishing the game! I can’t talk about what the rest of Q-Games are up to, though.

What is the most unusual thing on your desk right now?

I try to keep my desk pretty utilitarian, so there isn’t anything too out of the ordinary. Next to my desk I’ve got a Char Aznabel Custom Gundam phone charger though!

Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks to GamerRamble for giving us the opportunity! You can check out Nom Nom Galaxy on Steam Early access now, and get more information about it and other Q-Games projects on Twitter (@PixelJunkNews) and on Facebook.

We want to thank John for telling us more about the game and sharing that awesome photo of the Gundam phone charger. We recommend that you follow his advice and check out Nom Nom Galaxy on Steam Early Access, but don’t blame us if you become hooked and can’t tear yourself away from your own little soup empire!

Also On The Site

Tags: Indie, Interview, Q-Games

About author

Related posts

Ten Questions With… Ken & KJ (PD Design Studio) Ten Questions With...

Ten Questions With... Ken & KJ (PD Design Studio)

We recently checked out the 2D brawler, Dusty Revenge: Co-op Edition by the talented folks from PD Design Studio. We were impressed by the cartoon style visuals, and satisfying combat that the game delivered. We contacted the studio founders, Ken and KJ, to tell us more about the game, and the inspiration behind it.

Ten Questions With… An Octopus (friendlyOctopus) Ten Questions With

Ten Questions With... An Octopus (friendlyOctopus)

If Cloudrift is anything to go by then octopuses (octopi?) aren’t just good for takoyaki and predicting football results, but also at making addictive games! Of course it could just be a human developer masquerading as a friendly octopus, but we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Check out our ten questions with friendlyOctopus below to find out more about his début title, Cloudrift.

Ten Questions With… Kim & Judit (Indigo Studios) Ten Questions With

Ten Questions With... Kim & Judit (Indigo Studios)

A short while ago we played an intriguing game by Indigo Studios called Seven Doors. The unique environments and interesting puzzles kept us entertained and the game scored a well deserved 8/10 in our review. We also reached out to Kim and Judit from Indigo Studios to answer some of our questions about Seven Doors as well as their other projects.

Ten Questions With… Taosym (Lupiesoft) Ten Questions With

Ten Questions With... Taosym (Lupiesoft)

The debut Steam release by Lupiesoft, The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 — Prelude, surprised us with its unique visual style, fascinating characters and interesting story. To find out more about the visual novel and the studio behind it, we reached out to Lupiesoft for some answers.

Ten Questions With… Ben Tester (Wales Interactive) Ten Questions With

Ten Questions With... Ben Tester (Wales Interactive)

One of the most promising titles that we checked out recently on Steam Early access is Soul Axiom from Wales Interactive. The developers already impressed us with their earlier title, Master Reboot, but with Soul Axiom they look set to raise the bar even further. To find out a little bit more about this intriguing title we got in touch with Ben Tester.

Ten Questions With… Celeritas Games Ten Questions With

Ten Questions With... Celeritas Games

Since its release last year Holy Purge by Celeritas Games has been terrifying players with its demonic adversaries. The goal is to play as priests and exorcise demons in various scenarios using holy crosses, silver, and other tools of the trade. With a brand new Bible Camp map just around the corner, we decided it was time to find out more about the game and its creators.

Leave a comment

seventeen + three =