Glitchskier - interview with Shelly Alon on Edamame Reviews

This took far longer than we were expecting… Have you ever imagined just how cool it would be to install Windows 95 on your brand new iPhone XS! …Ok, actually flashing your phone to Windows 95 may be a bad idea, but wouldn’t it look cool to have an old OS running on your brand new smartphone?

Glitchskier is a game that attempts to create this effect within a game “without” actually ruining your device. And today we would like to share our interview with the developer of this very unique game…😂

If you have yet to check out our review of Glitchskier, you can do so here!

Before we start we’d like to thank Shelly Alon for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thanks!

…and without further ado, our interview begins…

The Interview

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Glitchskier! Could you kick-start this interview by telling us a little about your studio, yourself, and what drew you into the gaming industry?

Hi. My name is Shelly and I’m an indie developer living and working in Hamburg, Germany. My background is in design, (I’m a freelance graphic designer), but very early in I knew that I wanted to make games. I taught myself to code and work with Unity and soon started making games on my own. I’m mostly a one-man-army. Only for the music and the sounds, I rely on other talented people.

Ok, let’s start talking about Glitchskier… What are the highlights of your latest release?

Glitchskier was released in February 2017, that’s a while ago. In technical terms, it’s a shoot’em’up, but really I think it stands out through its unique visual design.

Glitchskier is wrapped like an old operating system. There are different themes to unlock but think Windows 95. When you start the game the first thing you see is a computer booting, then you find yourself in a desktop – with text files and folders. Only inside a folder is the executable file to start the actual game – which is a visual highlight in and of itself.

What was the core idea or inspiration behind Glitchskier? And perhaps more importantly, where do you find inspiration for your games in general?

I take inspiration from graphic design and art in general. Most of my games start off as visual ideas. For Glitchskier I was very inspired by the glitchy graphics trend of the time. Especially the FITC Tokyo Titles shaped Glitchskier in the early days:

Gameplay-wise the game was inspired by Downwell, a really great mobile roguelike.

How long was Glitchskier in development for? And are there any interesting and/or exciting moments or experiences you would like to share with us from that time?

Glitchskier was in development for a year. It wasn’t a pleasant development as I was continuously unsatisfied with the game. I changed core mechanics over and over again. In the end, it became what it is today and I think it’s fine. If I’d start over I’d do many things differently.

EDAMAME – …Is this hinting at a sequel…? 😉

What software, developer-tools, or black-magic(?) did you use when making Glitchskier? Is there anything you would like to share with the developers who read Edamame Reviews?

I use, like many other developers, Unity. It’s a great and flexible engine. Other than that, just a little blood from demon-mice, ears of devil-bats and the black potion of void. That’s it! Ah, and coffee!

EDAMAME – Coffee! That’s the most powerful magic of all!!! 😂

Is there any secret “developer-advice” you can give our lucky players who read this interview?

Not really. Git gud I guess? Like in Downwell you have to get better as a player to beat the game 😃 Sorry.

What can we expect to see in Glitchskier or from your studio in the not so distant future? What do we have to look forward to next?

I am working on a new game! It’s called Sniks and will be a puzzle game. I’m very excited about it and can’t wait to show it to you. I plan to release it on iOS sometime in 2019.