Interview
Łukasz Pleśniarowicz
Nano Games, Poland
Łukasz Pleśniarowicz is the lead designer and management board member in Nano Games that created a unique racing game like no other, Heavy Duty Challenge!
1 Please provide us with a brief bio of yourself and your background.
I'm Łukasz Pleśniarowicz, lead designer and management board member at Nano Games. I've been working in the games industry since 2010. I've also designed professional XR training simualtors. Some of my creadits are: Reef Shot, ZAMB! series and Cityconomy. Now I'm working on Heavy Duty Challenge.
2 What led you to become a Game Developer / Marketer?
A passion for designing games, I guess. As a kid, I reworked mechanics of board games for fun. Then, I homebrewed RPGs to play with friends. I ended up joining Nano Games as a designer.
3 What is your role in the company, and what traits should a game developer / marketing professional possess to be successful in their role?
I'm the lead game designer and management board member. I think that for a game designer, one of important skills is "professional empathy", the ability to understand the players, even if their preferences for games are different from yours.
4 Tell us more about your studio / company.
Nano Games has been creating games since 2009. The HQ is in Krakow, Poland, but the team are talented developers from all around the world. We specialize in simulation games for PC and consoles.
5 Describe the genres of the game(s) your studio / company specializes in, as well as its main characteristics.
We create simulation games, which draw inspiration from reality. In case of Heavy Duty Challenge, this was the truck trial sport.
6 Tell us more about your ideation process.
We take a chunk of reality as an inspiration, come up with gameplay ideas, create a prototype, and build a game around that. We test the WIP game on players to get feedback as early as possible.
7 Congratulations! As the winner of the NYX Game Awards, what does it mean for you and your team to receive this distinction?
Heavy Duty Challenge is still in development, and we're already getting rewards. We're happy, proud and looking forward to what happens after the release.
8 How has winning an international award help promote your company and game?
We hope this will be seen as proof that we're reaching our goal - to create a challenging, engaging, high quality sport simulation game.
9 What are the challenges of developing / marketing your winning entry(ies)?
There's abundance of challenges both in developing and marketing a game. One is reaching your audience in a world where hundreds or even thousands of games are published daily.
10 How has the country, you are based in, helped during your ideation process?
We currrently work mostly from home, with a great team from all over the world, so the location of the HQ is not as crucial a factor as it used to be.
11 What are the current trends in the game industry that you are most excited about?
I'm pretty excited by how modding has become a part of how we interact with games. I hope Heavy Duty Challenge community will creatively build on our game.
12 What are the top THREE (3) favorite things about the gaming industry?
It's a global industry, so what we create is played all over the world, and that's quite exciting. It's the largest entertainment industry, which is impressive. It's innovative and all about creating something unique.
13 What resources would you recommend to someone who is searching to improve their game designs and development ideas / skills?
There are many resources, including game engines, that will help practice creating games. And that's the best way to learn, I think.
14 Where do you see the evolution of the gaming industry in the next 5-10 years?
It's hard to risk a prediction in a timeframe like this. I'm sure we will all be surprised.
