Game jams are hard. Surviving a natural disaster is much harder. Last month, Gwen Katz, founder of Nightwell Games, somehow did both. Together we finished a game called Cocoanut Hotel for the public domain game jam, even after her house burned down. I wanted to know her story, so this is our interview.
This is part three of a three part series. Read parts one and two, if you missed them. Standard Disclaimer: I edited this interview for length and clarity.
(Geoffrey) A lot of my art, over the course of my career, was made for profit. To sell the art itself or help me sell more art in the future. Lately, I’ve been trying to make more art just because. For myself, you know? But it’s sort of a weird thing, because in bad times that can feel like a selfish act. “Why are you doing a public domain game jam in a time of extreme disaster?” One of the things I hadn’t considered is how the process of making art is healing. There’s a therapeutic element. Making a game because it’s good for your heart.
(Gwen) We did some co-working, you and I, a few weeks earlier. The day after the election. And it was kind of similar, right? You messaged me and said, “If you don’t want to co-work still, we don’t have to.” We both independently were thinking, like, maybe I just want to like stay in bed and eat snacks and cry. But then we agreed that hanging out with a friend and working on stuff would be better.
I think partly it’s just remembering that the good things in your life, or at least some of them, do still exist. Even when there’s a catastrophe, you want to celebrate the stuff that’s still there.
So, we keep going. The next time we meet in person, it’s a week later or something. My goal was to bring up your house as little as possible, unless you brought it up.
Yeah.
Because I felt like, if this project is a good distraction, then the worst thing would be for you to come over, only for me to press you on details about your burned down house. At the end of the night, I remember you saying how nice that meeting was specifically because of how normal it was.
Yeah, no, that was just what I needed. It was perfect. We made a lot of progress. Then watched a Marx Brothers movie and played some games. I felt like I could still be normal. I could still hang out with people and there’s a life after this. Also, it was kind of nice just being in somebody’s home, because we’re in an Airbnb, and an Airbnb is not a home, right?
There’s, like, a black and white photo of a woman on the beach on the wall, next to a black and white photo of two children holding hands.
This one has nothing. Just completely empty.
The owner didn’t even go to Bed Bath & Beyond. Ridiculous.
They didn’t even get the stock print from art.com.
What were your challenges working on this project, including the obvious?
I was very optimistically trying to get back on the horse, and I will say, the first week I was not being very productive. I wrote a lot of code that I look back on and go, “Wow, you wrote that, did you? You did what now?” So, it definitely took longer before I actually got back to a place where I could write stuff that actually functioned. That was really frustrating to me, because I knew in my head what we needed to build on the backend and intellectually, how much work that was and how long it should take. Then, of course, it just took wildly longer than it should have.
Things in game development always take longer than you expect. But I remember you kept saying, “Hey, things are taking a long time” and I was just, like, “Uh, yeah, that makes sense!” (laughing) Don’t worry about it. Don’t rush. Also, if this thing never comes together, that’s okay, too. I was trying to afford you a lot of grace.
I appreciate that a lot. That was something I ended up telling a lot of people I was working on stuff with. I told them I still want to do the thing. I can’t promise how good I will be at making it, or if I can make it on the timeframe, but if possible, I still want to do it, please. I just can’t guarantee I’m not going to spend tomorrow in bed crying all day.
Right.
But ideally I won’t.
Were there other challenges you faced?
Yeah, the actual AI system side of it. These sim-type games are really challenging to balance. You want to strike a middle road where things self-correct to keep you kind of in the middle of the difficulty range. That was definitely something I felt was happening over and over again. I’m making builds where you zip up to 100 occupants on day two and stay there, or ones where you just plummet down to zero no matter what you do.
I don’t think I did a perfect job. I think the version we have still tends towards too easy. I figured, especially in a jam, tending towards too easy is probably better. At least you get to play the full length of the game and see all the content.
That was the right call. The problem with doing a sim game for a jam is you have limited time. Every game should do extensive play testing, but I feel like these games especially need extensive play testing to figure out the balance issues you were talking about.
I don’t think it got it to 100% of where I wanted it, but it was a good learning experience about the difficulty of making systems work in a way that feels balanced and fun.
What did you think of our collaboration? The two of us working together?
I think we worked great together. I’ve had jams all across the spectrum of how well and poorly they can go. (laughs) I’m really glad we worked well as a team.
I thought it was a great collaboration.
You wrote some really, really fantastic Groucho dialogue. You wrote a tutorial that was so fun.
Thank you. As a comedy nerd, I was a little intimidated by the challenge of writing for the Marx Brothers, but I feel good about what I did. I feel like I captured his voice and made myself laugh, and that’s always a good sign.
The tutorial was an interesting learning experience, because I haven’t written a ton of them. It got me thinking a lot about what are the best practices in a tutorial. There is definitely polish I would have loved to have done. For example, there are certain lines of dialogue where Groucho references specific mechanics. I would have loved to have done the thing where we circled a button in the UI, then had the player click it to move forward. And Groucho could’ve made fun of the player for having to circle it for them.
So we’ve been talking about learning experiences. Is there anything else you’ll take away from the experience of making this game?
The game being a comedy is interesting. This made me realize that comedy writing is hard. I know that this is a difficult form of writing, but it was really bringing it home to me, how important that is for a game like this. Making it work is really like 10% systems and 90% the writing for sure.
I think the balance is different, but agree to disagree.
Hey, let me compliment you here.
Well, listen, I am happy to be complimented! But with all games, the heart is the mechanics. The game loop we made together – change the hotel budget, experience an effect on the hotel, return to the budget – is the catnip for the game. The dialogue you come across rewards you for engaging with that loop.
Here’s what I’m gonna take away from Cocoanut Hotel. I have a much better appreciation now than I did coming into this project for the therapeutic power of making art. I have read stories about treatment facilities where people paint. I understood the link intellectually, but I guess being up close and working with you in this moment… I wanted our project to be therapeutic. My main goal became: I want this project to be the thing that helps Gwen in a difficult time. This is the value of the jam now.
I think you are an incredible developer. Any publisher working with you – who might happen to be reading to this –would be very lucky to fund one of your games. Any contractors would be fortunate to work for you. And I hope it’s not the last time the two of us work together, because I enjoyed it.
Yeah, I had a wonderful time. I really appreciate you letting me make this project what I needed at that moment. I’m super, super grateful for that.
I’m super grateful that we still got to do it.
And hey, maybe the judges will like it.
Well, that’d be a lovely bonus. That’s a dice roll thing. To me, what’s most important is what the project became. That was the value. This was the game that took us through the fires.
That’s what art can do. It can transport us through some difficult times. Jams are always the ultimate, “it’s about the journey, not the destination” kind of project. They’re always a labor of love.
🎲 Your Turn: Have you ever turned to crafting or making art to help you through a difficult time? Reply to the email to tell me your story, or tell the whole world by hitting the orange comment button below.
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