The developers behind the Minami Lane, Doot and Blibloop, are now in the midst of indie games development following the game's relatively positive reviews and surprising success on Steam.
Doot is currently in his second year of working as a self-employed indie developer, which is a role that he transitioned into after spending a few years making Game Jam projects. He also admitted that his journey has not been easy but noted that his love for Minami Lane and what he and Blibloop have created is special.
Minami Lane's Developers
(Photo : Doot, Blibloop / Screenshot taken from Steam)
He shared what getting started in indie game development has been like as well as his favorite and least favorite parts of the job, among others. The duo developers had participated in several Game Jam events in the past few years and have created tiny games over the course of just a few days.
Doot's Game Jam projects include cute letter-writing game Welcome Googoo, Flippy Fish, Stuck in a Soup Loop, and Poda Wants a Statue. Following the success of the latter, which came in 11th in a field of several hundred titles, the two developers wanted to make a larger game in which they spent more than just a few days to create the final product, according to GameRant.
In Doot's case, becoming a full-time indie game developer involved quitting his job and relying solely on the financial aid that was provided by the French government. He explained that realistically, he knew that he could run out of money as soon as two years into his endeavor.
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He explained that his plans involved the first years to include learning, completing trials, and doing a lot of different projects. His idea was that if he had the money, he could do whatever he wanted. And for the next two years since, he made video games and made a lot of small titles to learn fast.
With Doot's plan to create several smaller titles, he started out with the fast-paced roguelike action title Froggy's Battle that came out on Steam. He then moved on to Minami Lane, which was made in collaboration with Blibloop and a composer known as Zakky who was responsible for creating the game's music.
Working on a Beautiful Indie Game
Minami Lane has a beautiful and cozy pastel aesthetic that has warm, inviting colors and chibi-esque character design style. The game manages to stand out from other games in the genre primarily due to its unique sense of identity, said The Game Crater.
Despite its relatively simple style, Minami Lane's visuals have a wealth of complexity, as a striking amount of detail has been put into nearly every single aspect of the streets. The management sim game takes players into the shoes of someone who needs to take care of a street as well as its inhabitants.
The main goal of the game is to maximize the happiness of the villagers who live within the town and complete quests to fill the street with love. On top of the human NPCs, Minami Lane also features several adorable tanukis and cats, which can be petted, according to GamesRadar+.
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