Henrik Johansson, co-founder of Mediocre, took a look back at five years of game development and shared what his studio has learned in his recent speech at Casual Connect Asia. “I love the creative freedom of working in a small studio,” he says. “We can just work on the ideas we believe in.” For his insights on design and the development process through games like Smash Hit and Does Not Commute, see the video below.
Henrik Johansson has experienced Mediocre success. Mediocre with a capital “M,” because that’s the name of the Swedish game studio he co-founded in 2011, and because mediocre with a lowercase “m” doesn’t really describe the more than 100 million game downloads and chart-topping apps they’ve seen since then.
After almost 10 years working as an art director and graphic designer, Henrik and Co-Founder Dennis Gustafsson were inspired by the release of the iPad to found Mediocre and make their own games. “Having worked with design and some Flash development for quite some time, it didn’t feel like a huge undertaking,” Henrik says.
They started their first project, a physics puzzle game called Sprinkle. “Our expectations were low,” Henrik admits, “But to our surprise it was a big hit, and we’ve been making games ever since.”
The Indie Dream
Even after the success of Sprinkle and the games that have followed, Mediocre is still just Henrik and Dennis. Henrik enjoys the two-person dynamic and the opportunities it affords: “I love the creative freedom of working in a small studio. We don’t have to pitch ideas to project managers or investors — we can just work on the ideas we believe in.”
Henrik and Dennis have been friends for about 20 years, so Mediocre is building off a solid foundation of respect. They still hang out after work, and when disagreements do arise, they’re forced to resolve them. “All we can do is talk about it,” Henrik says. “Since we’re just two [people], we have to find a way to agree or we can’t move forward.”
Like many in the industry, Henrik wanted to make games from an early age. A few games in particular sparked his imagination — Delphine Software’s platformer Another World and LucasArts’ adventure series Monkey Island, especially. He never really thought a career in the games industry would be possible, but he admired the imagination and design involved.
And now that he’s a successful game developer, he’s felt the satisfaction of seeing creative ideas through to realization. “What I enjoy most is to be able to create freely; to imagine something and make it come alive,” he says.
Mediocre Highlights
Henrik says one of the proudest moments of his career was the first time one of their games reached the top of the App Store chart. “But on a more personal level, just being able to work with this for a living feels like such a privilege. I’m so grateful for that.”.He also appreciates feeling like his work has encouraged and inspired others. “I’ve been told a couple of times that we’ve inspired someone to work with games — maybe those are exaggerations, but still, that is a beautiful thing to hear.”
Challenges in the Mobile Medium
That’s not to say that creativity comes without challenges, however. Henrik describes developing original ideas into enjoyable games as a continual struggle. The mobile games medium can be limiting, as well, and its audiences can be fickle. “Players generally are not patient, and you’re limited to doing quick-fix games that are almost immediately rewarding,” Henrik points out. “Managing to do that and yet obtain a little bit of depth is very difficult.”
With the studio’s latest release, Does Not Commute, Henrik was disappointed when playtesters didn’t seem to connect with or pay attention to the stories included, but he and Dennis were determined to keep them in. Their conviction paid off after the game released, when the stories became one of the things critics and players loved about it.
Henrik is proud of the balance Mediocre has struck so far between instant gratification and game depth but says he’d like to be able to go further; he’d like to develop a more complex and interesting game that’s still accessible enough for the mobile audience.
The Future of Gaming
When asked to predict where the industry is headed in the next three to five years, Henrik reveals he is worried that the hype surrounding VR and wearables may be a growing bubble. “Both segments are quite narrow compared to traditional mobile,” he explains. “Too much venture capital, risk and unrealistic ideas could make it pop. But I’m really hoping it’ll work out, and we’ll be part of it, too.”
Whatever the future holds, it’s probably a good idea to keep an eye out for excellent offerings from Mediocre.
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