Brainiversity is in the running for Best Trivia & Word Game of 2007 at the upcoming Zeeby Awards. We chatted with John Passfield of Red Sprite Studios who, with a little help from his wife Leigh, told us about what makes Brainiversity special and why it deserves to get your vote.
Brainiversity is in the running for Best Trivia & Word Game of 2007 at the upcoming Zeeby Awards. We chatted with John Passfield of Red Sprite Studios who, with a little help from his wife Leigh, told us about what makes Brainiversity special and why it deserves to get your vote.
Can you give us insights or fun facts about the development of this game?
[John’s wife Leigh elected to answer this:] Well Brainiversity has a great development story – It was made in John’s spare time on a budget of zero in the study at home – (ended up spending $250 on music as this was just out of his skill level). This means John did the design, programming (using the PopCap free engine), sound, and art (this is not his specialty). As John likes to say, "I made it while my wife watched TV" – I must say I was pregnant at the time and thus not capable of doing much else.
What makes Brainiversity special, and why should people vote for it?
Well, one of the great things about the game is that it really does challenge the brain – but another thing is that it does prove that anyone with the skill can have a go at making a game and not need big budgets to get a game that appeals to players. This is great encouragement to young developers and I have written articles and given talks on this to students and the like.
Besides your own game of course, what other games impressed you in 2007?
I really enjoyed Peggle (who hasn’t), Can You See What I See? and Puzzle Quest. Can You See What I See? was a really polished hidden object game and the photography was beautiful. Puzzle Quest did a great job in merging casual play with a more console type game play experience and genre. And Peggle was just incredibly addictive.
If you win a Zeeby, how do you plan to celebrate (aside for going to Disneyworld, of course)?
Besides being beside myself with glee, I would take the family to the Gold Coast for a break since we don’t have a Disneyworld (we live in Australia).
Any final words for your fans?
Thank you for downloading and supporting Brainiversity (an in many cases actually enjoying my artwork) and please vote – with such a small development team (one) we need heaps of votes from outside as we aspire to show that small is good. And even if we don’t win, I think Brainiversity is a great inspiration to anyone who aspires to make a computer game!
Voting for the Zeebys runs from now until July 5. Click here to vote for you favorite casual games of 2007.
