Ambroise Catherine

Interactive storytelling is mind-blowing. I used to hop from project to project because I love to work on illustration, animation, and storytelling. With game development, I can do all three all the time.

Solo Dev - My main focus is art, but I do it all: art, animation, writing, game designing, sound design, music creation, etc… To be a good game artist you need to both produce art that fits a need and create art that is original/exciting. A good artist should often try new techniques and styles to enrich his/her own.

I am a Solo Dev working on what I want. I own 100% of the creative vision.

A great game will surprise you with unexpected excellence in at least one domain. God of war was a directorial slap in the face. Zelda Breath of the Wild was a freedom slap in the face. Ghost of Tsushima was an atmospheric slap in the face.

I am a solo dev who focuses on visually exquisite hand-drawn 2D games.

My brain has an augmented reality gaming mode. When I switch it on, I superimpose my game vision on top of the world. For example, one of the levels in my game is mainly based on me staring at my window blinds, imagining the main character platforming through the gaps. Some platforming mechanics came about because I was seeing my character jump/climb through a series of frames on a wall. The most mundane places and objects can inspire great game mechanics, visuals, story points, etc…

As a first-time solo dev award winner, it is an amazing confidence boost to win an international award. It puts the work I do alone at my desk hours on end into perspective. I feel I am part of the gaming industry now.

My project went from a random solo project like 100 000 others, to an award-winning game.

As a solo dev, the marketing and business sides of a game project are always a challenge because they are time consuming and we want to spend as much time as possible actually making the game.

None - I am in the USA and my game is inspired from Japanese mythology.

Open worlds with less hand holding. Big Game Studios are starting to trust the players to play “right” on their own without 20 minutes of boring tutorials. Zelda Breath of the wild just launches you into the world. Ghost of Tsushima has a very minimal UI and guides you with the wind.

My Three favorites things are all under one umbrella: Indie Games growth. +Development tools have now been for a while affordable and increasingly easy to use allowing solo dev and indie teams to make quality games. +Online marketplaces provide places for Indie Games to be sold and promoted really easily. +More Indie Studio/Solo Dev gaming allows for more experiments and innovation in gaming concepts/mechanics.

The best game concepts and ideas come from non-gaming sources (ask Shigeru Miyamoto). Watch movies, cartoons, go outside and try new things. Develop non-gaming skills like drawing or crochet or whatever.

I see a big chunk of the market going to VR and AR. I hope for big game companies to get back to simpler concepts and finish their games before release. I also hope for more space for indies.

I am an artist before anything else and several years back, I was stuck in a job I didn’t like and I was making almost no art due to the lack of spare time and depression. Out of nowhere, I discovered the Youtube art channel of Jazza and for some reason, it clicked. He inspired me to get back to my art more seriously, and finish bigger projects instead of hopping from one to the next.

I am a man of faith. I believe the vast majority of people in the world get weighed down by reasonable ambitions. It took me many years to realize that it is possible to achieve greatness in something you love to do without pursuing a traditional curricular path. I have taught myself to draw, digitally paint, and develop games. I mainly do it because I love it but my faith drives me to keep working and finishing projects. Dream big and truly believe.