The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Arcade Jumper

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Mandy and Blake Lowry of Black Hive Media channel the charm of some classic arcade games stashed in their attic and give them a modern, portable twist with Arcade Jumper.

What's your game called and what's it about?

Arcade Jumper is about a boy, Eddy, and his beloved little brother, Jimmy, who he must save from the evil arcade labyrinth they were sucked into whilst playing an arcade. You play through levels with completely random platforms, dodging random baddies, collecting redemption tickets, fruits, and coins while also trying to collect warp coins to eventually get to the Megacade and fight Ghosty, who is holding you brother hostage.

What inspired you to make Arcade Jumper?

We've recently pulled all of our old game consoles and games out of the attic -- even a Virtual Boy (represent!) -- and then started playing them all regardless if they were good, bad or really really bad. We also have a cabaret arcade machine in the garage that we started playing really old-school arcade games on. Our passion for retro games hit an all-time-high and we decided to make a game... um... about games. There's a lot of references in our game to gaming culture too, whether it's from game-related movies, or just stories within old games.

What are the pros and cons of developing with your spouse?

We wouldn't have started this adventure if we thought for a second that it would hinder our lives and our relationship. We've been together since we were teenagers and our marriage to each other and gaming has only grown. There are many pros, such as being able to say whatever the hell you want. For example, if one of us has a horrible idea, then we will tell each other it's total crap, instead of beating around the bush out of professional courtesy.

Or another pro, like being able to work all day next to your spouse, eat lunch with them, and just live life with 'them! I guess the only true con is when you work all day with each other, it's hard to just "turn off." If we've just spent the last 10 hours in a day working on a few ideas and integrating them, it becomes very tough to not continue discussions through dinner and our evening relaxation.

Arcade Jumper's chiptunage is pretty rad -- aside from developing games, is music another passion of Blake's?

Blake's been a musician since he was a little kid, banging on pots and pans. His chiptunes are on Bandcamp. Some of his biggest video-game music inspirations are from Lightning Force, Mega Man, and (deep breath) MarioSonicContraDoubleDragonCastlevaniaMetroidBionicCommandoDonkeyKongCountryKillerInstinctGoldeneyeHaloTigerHeliTetrisAHHHHH (gasp for air).

How do the minigames in Arcade Jumper supplement the whole experience?

We really wanted to give players the experience of walking in to an arcade room. But more specifically, players can earn coins in the real game to use to play the mini-games which in turn will spit out tickets to redeem in-game helpers, extras, or unlockable modes and characters.

What's the coolest aspect of your game?

I'd say the coolest thing about our game is that it reminds most people of things they haven't thought about since they were young whipper-snappers, sitting in front of their tube TVs playing Nintendo or going to the arcade -- when they actually still existed. The art style, the chiptunes and the all-around theme of our game is just one big homage to the games and culture the both of us grew up with and we think a lot of people feel the same way.

Why develop independently, rather than work for an established company?

An established company doesn't let you work at your own pace, but really now! I only started programming a few years ago, and I still have much to learn. Blake, however, does and has worked for established companies in the game industry for the past eight years. He loves it and hates it at times, but he's always been passionate about making and playing games. His passion is what helped jump-start our company, as well as gained my interest in developing games with him.

Do you see yourself as part of a larger indie movement?

We'd love to think that we are part of a new generation of indie developers, partly because of the true passion without the corporate or financial pressures, but we also would like to see more female developers coming on board. There aren't many female programmers in the game industry for several reasons, and we'd like to help break this trend, because this is something the industry can really benefit from.

Sell your game in one sentence:

What would Billy Mitchell do?

What's next?

We've both learned new things during the process of making Arcade Jumper, so we want to use this experience to build on Arcade Jumper and continue this fun adventure to make other awesome games!

Arcade Jumper is available now on iOS devices for free! Mandy and Blake are spreading the love -- don't fight it. Don't. Fight. It.

If you'd like to have your own shot at converting our readers into fans, email jess [at] joystiq [dawt] com, subject line "The Joystiq Indie Pitch." Still haven't had enough? Check out the Pitch archives.