Sumoboy Interview – Details About the Anti-Bullying Game

IGM: So, Sumoboy has obviously come a hell of a way since the original Indiegogo.

Here’s our interview with the Sumoboy developers, featuring director Rob Salha, and lead designer Henry Walsh. For more on Sumoboy, check out our previewand the official Kickstarter page.

has obviously come a hell of a way since the original Indiegogo. Has the development been non-stop since then? And where are you with the game now in comparison?

Rob Salha : We learnt a lot from Indiegogo and we really went back to the drawing board. Our first goal was to build the right team to support our vision, so we spent a month or so seeking artists, narrative writers, animators, riggers etc. Development-wise, we have redesigned [the main character] Oji, the story is complete, all our level designs are done, and we have a demo level up and running—the core of the game is complete. Although it’s been a long road so far, this Kickstarter campaign has set the tone for the entire team and has injected so much life into us.

Original Sumoboy concept from October 2013

IGM: Looking at the project, I can tell right away that it’ll probably be very popular within the indie community, but the Kickstarter page (and a firm 100k goal) expresses interest in bringing the game to the mainstream. Besides ‘big names’ how do you hope to bring a game like this to a more general audience?

Salha : It’s always a delicate balance—we want everyone to play our game!—but sometimes big names are definitely not enough… From the beginning, we wanted to make a game that has a positive message in it. Bullying is something our entire team has experienced, and that theme alone is what has enabled us to attract such a great team. Also, we wanted to focus on story… there is a massive discussion in the gaming community around the importance of story in video games… games like The Last of Us, [and] Journey instill that people want a good story… When people put down the controller, we want them to think of our game—the values within our game.

Antony, this is Henry, our Lead Game designer and all around Team Lead!

IGM: Hi there, Henry.

Henry Walsh : Hello, sir.

IGM: I guess the next thing I was going to ask was about the Japanese aesthetic.

Walsh : When Chris Laurent, the person who originally envisioned SumoBoy , came up with the character and the general world, he really was enamored by Japanese history and culture. He wanted everything to feel realistic and actually historic. So, when he tasked us with the design document, we dove in head first. Everything in the game based on Japanese culture and mythology is drawn directly from the original sources, and we were careful to pay them the respect and dignity that they deserved. It serves a dual purpose as well; it helps to create a more realistic world setting and at the same time serves to be somewhat educational.

Salha : Also, we plan to localize in Japanese first.

Sneak peak at Sumoboy’s Japanese logo. Localization is part of stretch goal #4

IGM: That’s rad. It’s nice to know it isn’t all just for show.

Walsh : Everything from the use of a Haya as the game’s hub location, to the Kodama in Take Hayashino (the proper name of our Earth/Nature realm) are all drawing from Japanese history and mythology. We also are using a few Japanese elements that most people have never encountered before. For example… instead of traditional gold coins, we use the genko leaf as a form of currency. The game will also feature little snippets of information about these things on loading screens and the in-game journal.

Salha : And you’ll notice in our trailer, the female bully is wearing an orchid in her hair, and the ninjas you see in the game scene in the trailer, they have no heads for a reason; like a bully, they are faceless. We tried to put thought behind every aspect of our game, from culture, to [the theme of] bullying.

“One of the cutest enemies in the game are the Monkey Orchids, which are based on the real-life Monkey Orchid flower”

IGM: I think attention to details like that really matters and makes these kind of stylized games shine. Regarding the world’s regions, are you free to roam them in any order? Or is the story a bit more linear?

Walsh : The game is non-linear. Once the player enters Seishin (the Spirit World) they arrive in the Haya and may then explore the elemental realms in the order that they choose to do so. The elemental realms are large sprawling levels, each with a mini-boss, as well as a main level boss. In each level there is at least one optional quest as well. This [level design] I can talk really confidently about; I was the one who hand drew the original grid maps for the elemental levels before they were sent to our art teams.

The Seishin Realm

IGM: So you can tell us where all the secret areas are then.

Walsh : Let’s just say if you can find the lone hermit of the desert in the realm of fire then you have done some serious detective work and you know a little thing or two about your video game history.

IGM: How will a completion of a side quest affect play?

Walsh : Sometimes you get a prize of special items or a nice number of genko leaves. Sometimes you get an optional path to open for you. In a few cases you can get rewards that do things like lower the costs of certain things in the hub.

IGM: How do these [items] work in the game? Just combat related?

Walsh : Not all of them. There are interesting items, like ‘woodblock prints,’ which give the player bonus content, for example. Though many of the items are indeed combat related. There are also collectible items that serve to help with quests… There are a few other non-combat items, such as achievement collectibles and the like.

IGM: It seems like there’s some really cool stuff going on in this game. I wish you the best of luck with your launch.

Walsh : We hope they [players] will enjoy it. We hope you will as well.