Blueberry Garden Creator: Simulating Worlds Difficult But Fruitful

"Constantly simulating all the physics in a big, freely explorable world is not a great idea, especially not if someone is going to use the computer to play a platforming game at the same time," admits Blueberry Garden developer Eric Svedang in a new Gamasutra feature about the game's design process -- but Svedang says that kind of design exploration is worthwhile and holds future potential. Blueberry Garden, a whimsical platformer that won the 2009 Independent Games Festival Grand Prize, was known for being particularly technically demanding, which seemed at odds with its sparse graphical style. Despite the game's small apparent scale, it maintains a great deal of environmental simulation. "In Blueberry Garden, the tree falls in the forest even if no one hears it," says Svedang. Svedang believes developers should be pursuing those avenues further, because of the potential for player expression and unique stories inherent to simulation. "In a way, I think it was worth it," he says of his game. "It really is an area of computer games that needs exploration." He thinks, in the long term, Blueberry Garden is more important in the context of its goals and experiments than its pure execution. "If this game will be remembered in the future it will not be for what it is, but rather for what it tried to do," says Svedang. "Looked at from afar, through the binoculars of today's game design practice, it does not make very much sense. Instead, I beg everyone to focus on the finer details, the subtle things that really try to make the player experience something profound." "Even if the results are both rough and vague, hidden behind code of dubious quality, I hope they will encourage more exploration," he concludes. "To all of us who are pursuing that path -- good luck!"