Winner’s Circle

This week’s Flash Game Friday winner is Bomb Diver by Hybrid Mind Studios!

Bomb Diver is a really fun, quick-play game that combines avoider and shooter mechanics. The game begins with descending to the ground in a jetpack. The thing is, you need to avoid the bombs floating in the air. You eventually eject from the jetpack, and have to continue avoiding the bombs as you parachute to the ground.

Once you hit the ground, the game becomes a shooter and your task is to shoot down as many bombs as you can before they destroy the buildings around you!

You collect money for each level based on your performance, which can buy you upgrades such as health, handling, etc.

Bomb Diver is a great retro-style pixel game that features fun mechanics, retro pixel art, good sound, and power-ups- congratulations Hybrid Mind Studios!

Get To Know Hybrid Mind Studios

Tell me about yourself- how many people are on your team? Where are you based?

Hey there! My name is David Wade Evans and I am the founder of Hybrid Mind Studios. I work out of my home office from deep within the woods of New Hampshire, USA. If you don’t count all the squirrels, coyotes, and bears running around this place, then my team is normally just me–though I have collaborated with a few others on some of my games.

I named my studio after the fact that I love all aspects of game development. I’ve been creating art since I could hold something that would leave a mark, I’ve been programming games since the days of the TRS-80–for you young-ins out there, that’s pronounced “trash 80″ and it was about as heavy as a dumpster and about as fast too–and I’ve been playing with various bands and writing music for about 20 years now with computers, keyboard, guitar, bass, and banjo.

I guess you could say I’m working very hard to become a Renaissance man in the context of game development.

How long have you been making games? What did you do before?

I’ve been making games almost all my life! Though until fairly recently I was distracted by the boring yet profitable world of web programming. I discovered the Flash game industry as a way to get back into my childhood passion of game development.

Bomb Diver is the 20th game I’ve finished since I founded my studio in January of 2009 and together my games have been viewed over 15 million times so far.

What was your inspiration for “Bomb Diver”?

Most of the initial inspiration started with the name. The phrase got stuck in my head and I decided to think up the craziest scenario for what a bomb diver would be if it was an actual profession.

Then I worked to create a fast paced mash-up of the avoider, collector, and chain reaction genres with the shooting and city defense mechanics from Missile Command.

I’m fairly pleased with the insanity of the result.

Did you encounter any major challenges or hurdles during development?

Yes! The game actually went through three different revisions over the course of two years. I would shelve it for many months, but manage to pick it up again and revisit it with the fresh eyes of a player. After heavy editing, tuning, and polishing, it finally made it to the finish line.

What types of games do you like to create the most? What types of games do you like to play the most?

I sometimes take a genre I don’t typically like and try to create a game in it that I would find appealing. It seems to be a great game design challenge and you can get some cool results. I try to remain fairly open and flexible though as to what genres I want to create games for. I do tend to find myself inexplicably drawn to both arcade highscore and agility/skill based games.

As far as what games I play the most, that really varies quite a bit too. I love both digital and non-digital games and try to play as many genres as I can when I have the time.

How long is your game creation cycle? What is your process?

Average actual development time is 1-2 months, though some of my favorite games have been finished in one week of solid effort. My process is to try and find the fun as soon as possible, iterate based on player feedback and analytics, and then once the game design is solid I polish the graphics, sound, and music.

Are there any game developers that you admire or consider “rock stars”?

I admire so many other developers that it’s really hard to list just a few. They all continue to inspire me and push me to work harder.

What is it about making a new game that you enjoy most?

I sometimes joke that game development is the closest that we can get to making real magic. The power to create a unique type of fun and share it with players around the world–that’s a pretty special thing.

Do you have any hot projects you’re working on right now?

Sure do! I’ve got a new game called Korrode that is currently looking for a primary sponsorship. I’ve also spent the past six months doing a new offbeat cartoon or comic every day as part of my Morbid Holiday project.

I’ve also got plenty of more games coming along as well, but those are under wraps!

Thanks David, and congratulations again!