David Shaver on Waffle Queen

After playing Waffle Queen, I managed to find David Shaver of Rabid Squirrel Games for an interview.  I asked him what inspired this wild games creation and how David himself, got into the industry.  Thankfully he was kind enough to agree to it and here it is:

What got you into making apps?

I've dabbled in iOS app development on and off for a few years but never released anything before Waffle Queen.

I've also worked on a lot of independent game projects that also never seem to get finished for all kinds of reasons.

My primary goal for this project was to actually finish and get it out the door.  As a game developer, I view
my work as entertainment.  If nobody ever sees my games, then I have failed as an entertainer!

I was lucky enough to convince my friend Whitney to do the great art so I could focus on game design, programming, sound design, and music composition.

A lot of my earlier indie games started out with grand visions of having code re-use, being extendible, etc.  I always spent more time building engines and frameworks than making a game itself.  This time, the goal was to get it finished regardless of code quality as long as it was fairly bug-free, ran OK on most devices, and was fun.  The code is horribly ugly, but at least people got to play it!

Waffle Queen is a wild concept.  What was your inspiration when making the game and how did it come about?

Honestly, I decided to have a private game design challenge: "OK. Design a game with the first word that comes to my mind...go...WAFFLES!"  So, I basically went from there and iterated through several game ideas based around waffles.  Some were platformers, some were adventure games, but I always kept coming back to an action-puzzler for some reason.  Perhaps it was because I was playing a lot of Henry Hatsworth at the time!

I looked into my designer's notebook and found the following entry from 6/11/2010:
"iPhone/iPad game where you fill a waffle with butter and berries, etc.  

When the waffle is full, it gets fed to a girl who gets bigger and bigger.  

Whack-A-Mole + Fat Princess?"

Out of all the game genres you could have chosen, what made you decide to work on a puzzle game?

I have mostly worked on online MMO's and action minigames, so I wanted to try and experiment with a puzzle game.  I also thought it might be easier to finish in our deadline for the Independent Game Festival.  We hit our deadline and got the game in on time (a grand total of eight weeks of full production after the initial prototype).  We didn't win or even get nominated, but the game got pretty good reviews from the judges, so we were pleased!

How does it feel knowing that Waffle Queen is out there, being played and appreciated by people potentially anywhere in the world?

This is the best part of game development for me.  Sure, I love making games for myself, but I am an entertainer at heart.  I want to make people happy.

Interestingly, the majority of the people who downloaded the game during our free sale live in China (followed by the USA and then Japan).  While the USA top charts didn't have much love for us, it was very cool to see that we were in the top charts for puzzle and action games in a variety of European and Asian countries.  It really makes me start to think about making games designed to be more worldly instead of having a USA market focus.

What do you have planned next?

I've got a lot of ideas for indie games in my designer's notebook and my head.

I'd really like to work on some darker themed games like LIMBO or Pyschonauts.

Unfortunately, I have to take a break from indie development, since I recently accepted a position at Zynga.

I think they will want my undivided attention! :-)

As an added bonus 
Here are some bonus bits of art through the development process, David showed me some stages in the development process, from its initial idea and what saw it through to it's final development.

"A horrible doodle I did so I wouldn't forget the mental image I had."

"This was the initial prototype.  You'll notice a few things missing from the game I would love to add some day.
Particularly, the queen has "cravings"  that she demands periodically.  Also, there is the concept of "Sugar Rush" where basically,

if you feed her enough in a short period of time, you are immune temporarily, the game speeds up, and points are doubled.  Of course, there would be crazy music and special effects everywhere. 

"Whitney finally came along and did a mockup that looks more familiar"

Waffle Queen can be bought at the app store here.