Following her live playthrough of Flower in the Exchange, we had the chance to speak to producer Robin Hunicke, the latest addition to the indie dream team at thatgamecompany. Formerly involved with EA’s MySims and Boom Blox, Robin is also working on a PhD in Computer Science at Northwestern University and is well known in the world of indie games.
What’s your role at thatgamecompany?
Robin Hunicke: We don’t really have titles, but I’m the producer there. We are all part of a team. There [are] ten of us now. What I do is I produce the new game that we’re working on. Help run the team every day, make sure that we’re all on track and also just keep everybody on the same page about how the game is going and where we’re headed.
After working in the industry at EA and taking on research, what encouraged you to join a team like thatgamecompany?
RH: I’ve known Kellee [Santiago] and Jenova [Chen] for a long time. I’ve known them since they were just starting their company when they were students at USC. I always thought they had fantastic energy and capability to translate things that were very meaningful and emotional into the games’ format. And when they asked me to join the team it just felt like the right move to make. I think that games are moving in [the] direction where we’re going to be seeing more digital content. We’re going to be seeing more content created for non-typical gamers, or content for gamers that explores new areas and new themes, and TGC is at the forefront of that push. It’s just the best place to be. I couldn’t say no.
Some people tend to describe thatgamecompany’s games as ‘interactive experiences’, would that be fair to say?
RH: Yeah. We don’t try to say whether they’re games or not games. What we want is to create new feelings in our players and that’s the most important thing for us -reaching new people, expanding that audience, and giving them experiences they wouldn’t expect with a video game.
Do think audiences are hunger for more unique titles, such as Flower?
RH: Absolutely. Our fans have certainly said so. We’ve got some much positive press based on the fact that we’re offering this new thing, and we think it’s the future.
You spoke about teamwork earlier. What inspires you to see things through to completion on a project?
RH: The thing that inspires me is always the same and that’s reaching the player, and actually spreading those good feelings and getting them into the game. I think that a happy team makes a happy game, and a happy game makes happy people and happy players [laughs].
Moving away from games, let’s talk about student life. You seem quite supportive of Nottingham’s ‘lively’ nightlife. What do you like about it?
RH: Well, I absolutely love the idea of being a student because you can spend your time doing what you please. You can follow your whimsy and your curiosity, which is critical. You should enjoy the time that you have as a student and experiment as much as possible. I think, a lot of the time, people spend their time as a student worrying about being able to make something commercial and successful. But when you’re a student you can make whatever you like and you should use that time to investigate strange and new territory.
Flower is available now on the PlayStation Network, see more at thatgamecompany. And see more of Robin’s work on her blog.
Aaron Lee
Tags: flower, gamecity, robin hunicke, thatgamecompany
