around a smart touch interface. I thought too
many developers were approaching mobile
wrong, imitating games originally designed for
joypads,” he recalls. “With Drop Wizard, the idea
was to create a legitimate arcade game for
mobile – one that could stand on its own from
coin-op counterparts. I then pushed this further
with Super Cat Tales – a proper platform game
without auto-run/auto-jump ‘hacks’, but that
played naturally on mobile.”
The response from players to these controls
was mostly positive, but some griped about
the lack of traditional options, oblivious to
how the level choreography in these games
was designed around non-standard input.
Also, Pesaresi laments how mobile games en
masse didn’t grasp opportunities in the way
he did, instead preferring “virtual buttons or
hyper-casual designs that focus more on player
retention than quality.” He adds: “Back then, I
thought mobile would develop its own identity,
based on original games born on mobile, for
mobile players. But players still don’t consider
mobile as a platform to be taken seriously.”BE THE BUSINESS
Such issues present challenges, not least when
Neutronized hasn’t (yet) got an Apple Arcade
call-up. Fortunately, though, Pesaresi notes the
App Store editors “still care about quality indie
games,” thereby enabling discoverability. Yet he
sadly adds that things are today much harder
for small developers than they were even a few
years ago.
Such changes in the mobile gaming
landscape have altered Pesaresi’s approach,
from game content through to how the games
are marketed. This has been particularly
apparent during the development of Super Cat
Tales II, which with its wealth of content, feels
almost ludicrously ambitious and generous for a
‘freemium’ mobile title.
As Pesaresi outlines his thinking, you suspect
those early childhood RPG experiences had
more impact than was immediately apparent.
“When designing Super Cat Tales, I wanted to
come up with a quality platform game. But
with Super Cat Tales II, I especially focused on
the story, adding cutscenes and more detailed
dialogue within the game,” he says. “I thought
coming up with all this in-game content was
fundamental to let players bond with the
characters, and become fans of the game.”something we should all strive for, taking into
account new technology and trends, and the
platforms we’re working on.”CONTROL YOURSELF
Nowhere is such innovation more obvious
than in Neutronized game controls. Although
Pesaresi sometimes uses bog-standard virtual
on-screen buttons, many titles show imagination
and a determination to wrestle with the
perceived limitations of touchscreen devices.
In Drop Wizard, single-screen platforming akin
to Bubble Bobble and Snow Bros. is upended
with an auto-running protagonist who only
blasts magic when landing. The Super Cat Tales
titles rethink horizontally scrolling platformers
by reducing your input to two thumbs, and
yet afford plenty of nuance and control. Muscle
memory and assumptions are obliterated,
and mastery requires you learn each game’s
mechanics afresh – an echo of classic arcade
gaming, before inputs became almost codified.
For Pesaresi, such experimentation is bitter-
sweet. “When I stepped into mobile gaming, I
had high hopes, and wanted to tailor my workTRUST THE PROCESS
Neutronized games typically start out as anything – “a doodle, a random thought, or
even a sound,” according to Pesaresi. Often, they begin as sketches, but he notes the
“main mechanic must be easy to learn – and convincing enough for me to turn into a
real game.” Much of the time, jotted-down ideas don’t pan out, but those that do come
into being via a mix of Cocos2d-x and Starling. Pesaresi is currently checking out Unity.
Pixel art is worked on in GraphicsGale and Photoshop. GoldWave and Movie Studio,
respectively, are wheeled out for audio work and game trailer edits.RISKY
BUSINESS
Pesaresi has released
games solo and worked
with publishers. “There
are pros and cons to each
approach,” he says. “With
publishers, I learned a lot
about the industry in a
very short space of time.
But I also had to cope with
compromises, and adjust
my games according to
their feedback. Don’t get
me wrong: some of their
ideas were good. But as my
experience increased, I felt
I had enough skills to stand
on my own.”20 / wfmag.ccNeutronized: the one-man indie studio at tenInterface
Neutronized game concepts often
start out as sketches – but only
about ten percent go beyond paper.