1. Tell us briefly about your game

In a nutshell, Reachin’Pichin is an action game where the player experiments, upgrades, improves – and has tons of fun! Playing in the role of the adorable Pichin – players fly as high as they can. To make the flight experience more enjoyable, there are lovely eye candies along the way – not the mention rewarding collectibles and achievements! With such many things to experience, one would expect complicated controls. However, the only control is the mouse!

2. Can you introduce your team for the benefit of our readers?
At the moment, our team – kurechii – consists of:

• Yi Wei – our project manager cum programmer and game designer talent!
• Zyen – the lovely girl who churns out the awesome and amazingly lovable visuals!
• Lydia – ever wondered where all the quirky in-game text come from? From her!

3. Are you doing game development full-time?

At the time being, no. All three of us have full time jobs – and we are very happy to have been able to work together in creating Reachin’Pichin! We do have plans to dive into full-time game development, but we shall leave that story for another day ;D

4. Tell us about your preparations in entering IPCC last year?

It was mad awesome crazy! Yi Wei and Lydia were already working full-time, and Zyen was working on some freelance projects – it was really hard to meet up for proper discussions! Every weekend was spent staying over at someone’s place and trying to finalize game concepts and designs. The few days before the submission deadline – we worked late and didn’t sleep much – but of course, it all paid off. All that time, we were also doing endless researches and references on how the game should be and worked hard to create something we were all happy with.

5. What are the challenges you face?

As mentioned above, we were and still currently are working full-time as multimedia designers. With never-ending deadlines and sudden-OT-attacks, it’s not easy to meet up for discussions. Many discussions were actually done through email or MSN – and despite being separated by screens, no misunderstandings ever popped up. (Can you tell we’re really thankful for the amazing technology called the Internet?) We also had to squeeze time in between work, play and sleep to finish up the game, it wasn’t easy!

6. How helpful is the mentoring provided by MSC Malaysia?

We had the passion, and as much knowledge as we had learnt and could gather. The mentors come from various fields and were very good guidance to us. The suggestions and feedbacks from them are from different perspectives – not only being very helpful in the production and direction of the game, but also being an eye-opener for us.

7. What are the changes made compared to the one you pitched?

The major and most obvious change from the pitch to the actual game is the game play. Not in terms of control or concept, but in terms of it being less complicated. We scaled down on certain features to have the game less complicated! It is now quicker and easier to pick up. Perhaps a better word would be optimizing. Game are supposed to be enjoyed, not to have the player be confused and frustrated – and we believe that this change met that goal.

8. Can you introduce some of your team members who work on game?

Already mentioned the three of us in the previous questions Just a tad bit of extra information then? All three of us were classmates majoring in Multimedia Design. We love design, games and gaming!

9. Do you plan to expand your production staff anytime soon? Or will you keep to small teams for the foreseeable future?

The merrier the better, but too many cooks spoil the soup! We are currently searching for 2 more members to join us as concept artists and animators. A smaller team would be easier to manage, and of course – we’d all have to share the same passion and interests!

10. Any advice for the potential IPCC Casual Games Competition participant out there?

To create and finish up a game is a long and hard journey – not for the sake of saying it, but because it’s really true! But there are two things that are bound to get you to the end: passion and determination. If you’re lacking these two, here’s a tip: Refresh and re-inspire yourself by playing great games! If not, just talk to someone who can encourage and motivate you!

And from us: GOOD LUCK!

Follow team Kurechii on their blog {link} and facebook {link}