06 / wfmag.cc

Interview

Attract Mode

Eighties caravan holidays make an unexpected,

welcome comeback in Knights and Bikes

Little Big

Island

Interview

Attract Mode

hey might be called

‘staycations’ now, but they’ll

always have a place in

our hearts: trips to some

previously unheard of place

in the UK, usually on the coast, to lay your

hat in your new home for a week. Which

was probably a caravan. Maybe a chalet

if those taking you on the trip had a few

more quid to spare. It’s a very particular

form of nostalgia, and it’s one we can see

recreated – and expanded on – in Knights

and Bikes.

More than just a British childhood

holiday simulator, K&B tells the story

of two young girls who meet and go on

adventures on a small, fictional Cornish

island. It sounds twee, but the game has

quite the team behind it: Rex Crowle, who

worked as creative lead on Tearaway and

worked on LittleBigPlanet, and Moo Yu,

whose credits also include LBP along with

the likes of Ratchet & Clank. Foam Sword

Games, as the twosome are known, sat

down with Wireframe to chat about its

forthcoming opus, inspired by Earthbound,

The Goonies, and Cornish caravan parks.

There’s a nostalgic feel to Knights and

Bikes – is that what you were aiming for?

Where’s that inspiration come from?

REX: Yes, it’s definitely built around

some nostalgic themes. After all, it’s a

coming-of-age story set in 1987 about

childhood friendships and having a grand

adventure together.

In many ways, it’s like simulating a

childhood holiday friendship. It starts with

our two characters, Demelza and Nessa,

meeting up on a caravan park; one is a

local, the other is more of an outsider.

But together they support each other,

to deal with the confusing adult world

around them, and also to go on a quest for

a long-lost, possibly-cursed, treasure.

When Moo and I first started thinking

about making the game, we actually

thought of it as a more direct lift of

The Goonies, but with some gaming

influences from my favourite 16-bit game

(Earthbound) and Moo’s favourite (Secret of

Mana). This version would have entailed

managing a larger gang of adventurous

kids, but as time went on we gradually

reduced the number of characters down

to our favourite two, Demelza and Nessa,

so we could make the most of them and

their unique abilities.

With our characters designed, we

needed an environment to support their

adventure. It needed to be both rugged

and beautiful, and give this feeling of

a childhood holiday adventure, so we

created a fictional island called Penfurzy,

“TheCornishinfluencehas

meant being able to draw

on memories of places I

explored as a child”

T

which is set just off the coast of Cornwall,

the area where I grew up in.

And the Cornish influence has meant

being able to really draw upon lots of

personal memories of places I explored

as a child, from local fishing villages and

Arthurian ruins to abandoned theme

parks and a scrapyard. So it’s quite

a touristy place, but with lots of wild

countryside, ancient history under the

surface, and plenty of jam scones to

munch on while you pedal around.

A pickled severed head makes a fair few

appearances – is there more grittiness

going on than we might have noticed

so far?

REX: Maybe not grittiness as such, but it’s

definitely a game with feelings. Demelza

is dealing with the recent death of her