These ideas of individuality and provoking thought are central to why I make games. That ideal is to create beautifully crafted games that express our individuality as creators, whilst also touching people’s lives in a thought-provoking and considered way. In terms of what we do, Nyamyam has a simple ideal that we strive for. But I think most of all we wanted a place where everyone is treated and rewarded equally according to the amount of work they contribute to the games. Parenthetically, I think the way modern companies are setup and run is anachronistic and an unfortunate hangover from the early days of industry, and I really think it needs to change, particularly in the creative space. It makes no sense to me to tie people into companies. For example, perhaps someone finds Tengami exciting, but what we do after that they don’t. We wanted Nyamyam to be more of a creative collective than a traditional company, a place where like-minded people can come together around projects that excite them, but without necessarily supplying a long-term commitment. And so in many respects, Nyamyam was born out of our response to this overbearing, stifling and exploitative environment.
You may as well substitute ‘game studio’ for ‘mill’. And in some respects from what I’ve experienced in my latter years of mainstream development it really feels like not all that much has changed.
Days when factory workers were coerced into working inhumanely long hours, all in the name of progress, when of course what they were really doing was making other people very wealthy. I think this is because the word ‘industry’ conjures up in my mind vivid images of William Blake’s dark satanic mills of the industrial revolution. Whenever I hear the word ‘industry’ applied to games I instinctively recoil. I think there’s two parts to answering this question: what we want Nyamyam to stand for as a company and what we want Nyamyam’s games to achieve. Please introduce Nyamyam’s philosophy what do you want to achieve in the industry and what do you think needs changing? Phil was kind enough to discuss some of the intricacies of the development process: It is a gift for the user to be alone with themselves to contemplate their surroundings, Nyamyam’s greatest talent so far is to capture benevolence and give it to the world. Tengami is not about clamouring for the most in-app purchases or cashing in on a 5 minute hook. I have had first hand experience with this through a private meeting at TGS and now with the amiable donation of exclusive concept art (which has not seen light outside of the company). If anything, Tengami is a reflection of Jennifer and Phil and their generosity towards their audience. There is a kindness to this work, fused with carefulness and restraint, Nyamyam want you to be affected by their sources of inspiration to get inside of the Japanese folklore, the trees and the water, for you to feel what they have felt. What perhaps isnt evident in the game is the subtleties of the creator’s dispositions. Esteemed recently as an indiecade finalist and as part of the official selection of Sense of wonder night, Tengami’s liquid sandpaper aesthetics are captivating all who touch them. The fastidious qualities of Japanese paper (washi) are felt with every opened fold and provoke the same carefulness needed for the tangible form. Tengami is a movable book inspired by Phil and Jennifer’s Japanese excursions, manifested through a shifting visual surface replete with pull-tabs and pop-outs. Tengami feels like the iPad equivalent of these gardens, the repulsion against the attention deficit apps we hysterically swipe our fingers through.Įnvisioned by Phil Tossell and Jennifer Schneidereit, their UK-based company Nyamyam was actualized on the virtues of quality and attention to detail, cultivated from time at the former Nintendo devotee Rare.įor their first foray as independents they have positioned themselves as paper engineers armed with delicate precision. These restorative Eden’s are to reflect and slow down, to ponder the relentless influx of sensorial information. They serve as the antithesis to the accelerated pace of the city. If you have not yet travelled to Tokyo and experienced the burgeoning metropolis, amidst the neon paradoxes and glass architecture are pockets of sobriety manicured gardens and shrines.
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