Katherine Bidwell described how she creates handmade art and models for State of Play Games during her Casual Connect Europe lecture. “Making things by hand helps break down the wall between intention and final artwork,” she says. “The work feels more human.” Watch her presentation below.
Katherine Bidwell is director of State of Play Games, a company based in London. In 2008 she co-founded the company with Co-Director Luke Whittaker. They specialize in creating games with a handmade feel to them.
Bidwell worked in digital design from the early- to mid-2000, a valuable background for her current position. She has gained useful experience working for advertising agencies, where she developed the ability to do things quickly and efficiently. She has also learned to be flexible with design in situations that can require last minute changes.
A Passion for Art
As a child, Bidwell loved playing computer games with her brother, particularly puzzle adventure games; their favorite was Day of the Tentacle. She also was passionate about creating art, so it is not surprising to learn that her ambition was to become a graphic designer.
But the games industry was so new that she had no idea that it was a viable career option. Her opportunity to learn coding and design came later when she did a course in Interactive Media Production at Bournemouth University. She was drawn to this career by the creative process involved in developing the unique games the company produces and by the people, who, she says, are the friendliest people you could find anywhere.
For her, the most enjoyable aspect of her work is being able to tell stories in an engaging and imaginative way, with the potential to inspire people. She is doing a job she loves, with no day the same as the next.
Indie projects were a natural fit for the company, allowing them to make the kind of games they preferred. The ability to self-publish was important since there wasn’t a huge barrier to entry.
For the team she works with, she looks for creativity and the ability to look beyond the traditions of the industry. And she emphasizes the importance of likeability; this is extremely important in a small team.
Trying Out Ideas and Honing Them to Perfection
Bidwell begins her creative process with a sketchbook, trying out ideas. If it seems they might work in a game, she begins discussing them with colleagues. With Lumino City, after the sketchbook stage they created a very basic digital prototype which they tested and honed to perfection before creating the paper and card models they used for filming the final game. She notes that creative blocks can come frequently, especially at the beginning of a project. When they occur, she finds spending time outside, going to an art exhibition or reading a good book will often help the situation.
She finds inspiration for her games everywhere. Scandinavian architecture was a major influence for the design of Lumino City. She is a fan of films and gains insight through them saying, “The way directors such as Michel Gondry or Richard Linklater create a visual landscape is quite inspiring.”
She finds game balancing and testing the most challenging part of game development, to find exactly the right place between game play that is neither too easy nor too hard. But the reward comes through seeing people’s reaction to the game and how they appreciate and enjoy all the hard work that has gone into creating it.
Launching Lumino City after three years of working on it brought her the proudest moment of her career. She admits, “At times it felt like we would never really get it completed, but with an amazing team we finally did, and we’re proud of every part of the game.” A few weeks before the game launched, they had an exhibition as part of the GameCity Festival in Nottingham where they showcased the game and all the model sets. All their friends and family were there for a private showing where they could demonstrate the project they had worked on for so long. She admits, “It was a lovely moment.”
Lumino City is the type of game she had always hoped to create, and it took three years because they made no compromises with what they wanted. With unlimited resources she would make an extended version of the game, Lumino Universe!
There Is a Market for Every Type of Game
For those interested in this career, Bidwell points out that the way games are made is now very diverse, so it is a mistake to assume there is only one way to do what you want to do in the games industry. She says, “There is space in the market for every type of game, from huge AAA games to Casual iOS games. A big dose of creativity and imagination will get you a long way in this industry.”
Away from work, Bidwell spends most of her time with her young son, coloring, playing with toy tractors, and making trips to parks or museums. She loves to spend time in the fresh air, so a family trip to the seaside would be her perfect day.
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