Playdate Podcast

Christa Mrgan: What if there were a chain of islands where you could go without really worrying about keeping score? Where every course was new, presenting its own challenges, but each one reminded you about things like taking your time, without over-analyzing or resisting forward progress? And what if uncovering secrets unfolded a narrative as you went along?

Welcome to the Playdate Podcast, bringing you stories from game designers, developers, and the team behind Playdate, the little yellow game console with a crank. I’m Christa Mrgan… Today, I’m talking with Rokashi, whose game Faraway Fairway is a relaxing pickup and play golf game about mental health.

Rokashi: I Am Rokashi and I am the Chief Creative Officer at Hedgehog Dreams. We’ve been working on Faraway Fairway for like two years now, so it’s pretty exciting.

Christa Mrgan: Yes. And very slight spoiler alert. We talk about the overall gist of the game and hint at secrets you can uncover and what the lead to, but we don’t really give anything away. So, let’s get right into it!

What’s Faraway Fairway, and where did this idea for a mental health golf game come from?

Rokashi: It’s really funny 'cause a lot of the times people are like, oh, so what’s your game about? And I’m like, faraway Fairway is like a procedurally generated, mental health arcade golf game!

And then they’re just like, what does that mean?

It’s a game where you know, you play golf and you never play the same courses twice. And as a mental health game, I want it to be something that the players can play and experience something very specific that relates to mental health. And the whole idea of it being procedurally generated is I want it to be very similar to real life where everyone faces life very differently. No one really the same.

I feel like everyone should be able to find a certain kind of thing that, you know, helps with their mental health or helps them feel better about themselves, about people around them, their lives, et cetera. But I was like, okay, what does that mean? Like what-- what are some things that people do, you know, that helps with mental health?

I was like, I guess people play golf? And I was like, I don’t really know how to play golf. And I just also, in like conjunction with that, I was like, I don’t really wanna learn how to play golf. I don’t wanna teach people how to play golf. I wanna make my own rules for how I interpret golf and mental health.

You know, in like real life, you go to a golf course, you’re playing the exact same courses. Everybody plays those courses, but if you want, something special, everyone should play a completely different course every single time.

For golf, I wanted to do something that was fun. And I’m always frustrated when I play, like actual golf, like mini golf.

So I was just like. Maybe it’ll be easier if I just like make a golf game. That way I won’t be too frustrated. So, there’s not necessarily a way to fail in Faraway Fairway. I felt like in a game that, you know, talks about mental health and healing, it didn’t feel appropriate to have a game that scores you. A game that can make you lose or fail.

That was like one thing I didn’t want to put into the game at all. So, out of all the things that happen in the game you can always keep trying. And that’s what I want people to have like sort of like a takeaway of the game, is that you can always keep trying. Don’t give up. You’ll reach your goal eventually.

Christa Mrgan: Yeah, there’s no “score chasing.” And at the same time, the lack of a failure state doesn’t mean the game is easy. With endless lead changing levels. There are always new challenges to overcome some more difficult than others. But the great thing is that you get as many tries as you need without losing your progress.

Rokashi: So when you start up the game, basically you just, you literally just start, you just hit the ball into the hole and you’re immediately taken off to the first stage in a series of courses.

Christa Mrgan: Yes, even to begin the game, you must golf! It’s how you interact with the main menu options.

And in addition to a golf hole labeled “Start”, there’s a hole labeled “Album.”

But we’ll come back to that. You use the crank to aim, press the B button, crank to wind up and then press B again, to swing.

Rokashi: And you just, slowly make your way through whatever the game gives you, I guess. And, you , just hit your way all the way to the hole that you find.

Christa Mrgan: You can press “A” and use the d-pad to pan around the map and see where you’re aiming. Plus see some of the obstacles that await you.

Rokashi: There’s a lot of things that happen in the game, so, you know, like, it could be. A very windy day in the game.

So you have to be careful of like how you hit the ball and the direction you hit the ball, 'cause the wind changes the direction, so you kind of have to like be more aware of your surroundings and stuff like that.

I love to go out on walks. I walk so much. It’s It’s really something that like calms me down. And I related that to a lot of the elements that I face when I’m out for my walks.

So, even if it’s rainy, I have like my parka. And I’m like out for a walk. When it’s windy, I’m usually just like under a gazebo trying to like hide or like go to the community center, like wait for it to like blow over. And I love going out on like night walks as well.

So like there was a lot of elements that I took from real life that I incorporated into the game because those were specific times for me where I do a lot of, like my thinking. Especially the rain. It calms me down. But yeah I, I didn’t wanna put like too many elements in there, but I really wanted to have like a very focused balance.

Sometimes the levels are very busy, sometimes the levels are very scarce. Sometimes there’s things you could interact with that’ll help you. Sometimes they don’t help you, so it’s like there’s always something happening in the levels that keeps it interesting to just like, pick up and play and just like put it down. So it’s very accessible in that aspect. And people have said they really, really enjoy it and they even have their own favorites as well, which is always great to hear.

Christa Mrgan: Yeah, I definitely have, I would say favorite and less favorite elements.

And not just weather patterns, but there’s also a crab who’s always trying to knock me into the water.

Rokashi: Yeah. So, honestly, that is probably.

The most frustrating thing to encounter in the game. So basically it’s just a little crab that’s just like resting on one of the islands that you’re on while you’re completing your course. And if you’re a little too close to it, it gets a little upset with you. And then

kind of charges at you kind of slowly um, not too fast, but kinda like charges at you and just tosses you into like a random direction.

Christa Mrgan: I swear, it’s always into the water for me. This crab just loves to chuck me into the sea.

Rokashi: So there, there was actually a point where I was just like, what if the crab just like made you like lose a life? And that was like basically during development when.

I was thinking like, oh, you could have like certain amounts of health or whatever. And I was just like no, I can’t, I can’t do that. I want people to be able to like, keep trying. So that’s why there’s the random generation of like bushes as well. So if the crab is coming towards you and there’s a bush nearby and you react quick enough, you could hide in the bush and the crab won’t see you.

But at the same time, you could hit the ball pretty hard while you’re hiding in the bush to go past the crab so you don’t have to deal with it. But honestly, that’s. I promise that’s the hardest thing to encounter in the game. But it’s also very cute.

Christa Mrgan: It is pretty cute.

Rokashi: I wanted the enemy, quote unquote to be cute.

So I didn’t want it to be like, something that the players feared or didn’t want to like, engage with. But yeah I thought that could be like a fun addition as to sort of like an enemy in the game. And that too sort of relates to mental health. Is like if there’s, something in your way more often times than not, there’s ways around it and I wanted that to reflect in the game as well.

Christa Mrgan: Yeah. another, I guess I’d say crab lesson for me was just about the importance of not hesitating too much and not overanalyzing my next move. And sometimes you’re going to get thrown in the ocean, but you can always pull yourself out again and keep going. It’s a metaphor…

So the crab is a challenge, but it’s just one element you’ll find among these randomly generated courses. And there are other interesting things to find as well. Remember that golf hole marked album on the main menu.

Rokashi doesn’tt want to give too much away here, but can tell you that eventually you’ll have the opportunity to fill that up.

Rokashi: Yeah, so with the album I wanted to have like sort of like a bigger expansion of the kind of things that people could experience with Faraway Fairway. So the album is basically like a picture book. And as you progress through Faraway Fairway and experience a lot of like changing weather patterns, changing courses, like everything’s changing, you just gotta, you know, keep your eye out for certain things that happen. And when you encounter it you have an option to go to sort of a special place which also I didn’t wanna make too challenging, but I think it’s pretty fun. And once you complete that, you’re rewarded with something that goes into your album.

And from there, well, I guess you just have to play to find out.

Christa Mrgan: Secrets!! Fair enough. Well, I also really enjoyed the music in this game. It definitely helps to set the mood. So I had to ask about that.

Rokashi: Well I played a lot of Grindstone, and the music was always just like very chill and I was like, who did this music and saw his name? Sam Webster And then I also saw that he was also in Toronto. And I was like, Oh, okay, this makes things a lot easier. But yeah, I never, I never met him at any like Toronto events. So I was a little bit nervous to like reach out 'cause like Faraway Fairway’s, definitely like my first console release and especially under like a new studio that I literally made like last year. So like a lot of things were like moving. I was like, pitching them the game. And I was just like, yeah, I kinda want like lo lo-fi, hip hop, elevator music. But that’s like, you know, like chill, you know? And he really understood like what I was going for, in terms of the music and design and like bringing everything together to have this experience where players are just slowly making their way through the game.

I really wanted the music to to have like a good feel on the players who engage with it, especially depending on what kind of stage that they’re on. But then like a lot of people started telling me that sometimes they just like, for safety, hit the ball into a bush and then just like put down the Playdate and just like let the music play. And I was just like, I don’t, okay.

That’s not necessarily how I thought people would engage with the game, but if that’s what you want to do, that’s. Yeah, sure. The game will wait for you. So it was really fun to get that sort of feedback from people who are playing.

And I think that’s cool.

yeah, I’m just really happy that Sam was able to like, see my vision and understand what I was going for. And yeah, we make a pretty good team.

Christa Mrgan: Nice. And yeah, the whole team seems great. After struggling to define a style for Faraway Fairway, Rokashi came across Taylor Anderson’s work, and eventually enlisted them to be the artist and developer.

Rokashi: Yeah, it was, oh man, it was it’s, been very hard. During the early stages of development I was just like, I’m not really sure how I want the game to look. Especially 'cause a lot of people were, you know, making Playdate games that were like 3D and was just like, I don’t know if I wanted it to be like 3D like that, but like, yeah, there was a game jam. I don’t remember which one, but I did see Taylor produce some art for that. And I was kinda like lurking to be honest. Just being like, oh yeah, their art style is like, really cute. I was like, very like, 2D. I thought it was really fun and. Yeah.

Like a lot of things just fell into place and yeah, they were like very interested in working on the project. And that was before Hedgehog Dreams became an actual studio thing. So it was great because they also shared an idea of what I was going for in terms of features and like things that happened in the game, like they would say, “what about this?” I’m like, “I was thinking the exact same thing!” like, very much on the same page. And it’s been such an amazing experience to work on the game with them and it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of things I was just like, I have no idea what I’m doing. But for the most part it was very exciting.

Just the feeling of, putting a lot of work into something and then just have something be playable, like right then and there on the exact same device that you play other games on just felt so seamless and it was, I was just like, oh my God, this is, ah, I just was like screaming a lot.

I was just like, this is so cool. To boot up my game for the first time, my eyes are just like super wide and hear the music and like everything just come together. It was a very powerful moment for me. So. it’s been great. Everyone, at Panic has been very helpful in helping me get to this point and like reach my goals.

So. I feel like the hardest thing about working on Faraway Fairway was probably that it took two years. I feel like definitely Could have been a one year sort of like development cycle for working on the game. But a lot of life stuff has happened during development where it’s just like, pause, go, pause, go.

I don’t wanna say like it’s a bad thing, 'cause a lot of those experiences has definitely helped shape. a lot of the content that’s in Faraway Fairway.

Like for example the last stretch of development last year I moved from Toronto to Montreal for a bit 'cause I wanted to experience new things.

New city, new friends knew a lot of things and. That definitely gave me the experience to finish the major parts of the game and a lot of unforgettable life experiences and like learning experiences. So to have that and then like use that as fuel to finish the game was incredibly inspiring. But now I’m back in Toronto, so.

Christa Mrgan: Oh, yeah. I really struggle with knowing how long it’s gonna take to finish anything. So I feel this personally. But you never know what that extra time or changing circumstances will lead to-- like this cool thing that happened largely because Rokashi had moved to Montreal!

Rokashi: I was told that the people over at Sweet Baby would be like checking out like the narrative that I wrote for the game.

Christa Mrgan: Sweet Baby, Inc is a narrative design studio based in Montreal, and they’ve produced three games for Playdate so far, including Lost Your Marbles, Reel Steal, and Recommendation Dog!!

You can learn more about those games and hear the podcast episodes about them via the links in the show notes. Okay!

Rokashi: And I was like, oh, I live in Montreal right now, but what if I just like go over to the studio and then we could just like chat about it?

And they were like, yeah, sure. I was like, so nervous. Oh my God, I’ve never been like so nervous because I’ve never had an established team, like go over my work. So I was just like I don’t know. I don’t know what to do, I what to say. But I got there and they were like, yeah, we love it.

And I was like. Is that it? And they’re like, yeah, it’s great. And I was like, okay. Well, that meeting was only three minutes. But they did have one thing.

They’re like, you can’t really like lose in the game. And I was like, yeah, that’s on purpose. And they’re like, we under, we know exactly what you mean. Okay. So yeah, that was the only thing. So I was just like, that feels very good. So I was very happy about that.

I need my players to be kinder to themselves. I need my players to have more empathy of people who are having a hard time.

Rokashi: I want people to take care of themselves, take care of each other. That’s why I want my players to, reflect on is that, taking time for yourself should always feel like you’re supposed to be having a great time doing it. So I want my players to be happy and just take care of themselves.

Christa Mrgan: That’s a great goal for a video game, I think.

Rokashi has worked on narrative design for Glow Up Games, including The Come Up Game, based on HBO’s Insecure, and is the Studio Head at Hedgehog Dreams. You can find and follow Rokashi, Hedgehog Dreams, and the rest of the team on social media via the links in the show notes.

Rokashi: I call it Twitter still. I’m sorry. I don’t really wanna call it X.

And yeah, we’re, we’re pretty online, so yeah, I’m super, glad that Faraway Fairway’s finally coming out and I hope that everyone has a great time playing it.

And thanks for listening to me ramble.

Christa Mrgan: Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoy your time in the islands of Faraway Fairway. Available now on Catalog for Playdate! And stay tuned for more occasional episodes coming soon- ish to the Playdate Podcast feed.

Bye for now.

Rokashi: Bye!

Christa Mrgan: The Playdate Podcast was written, produced and edited by me, Christa Mrgan. Cabel Sasser and Simon Panrucker composed the theme song. Additional music was composed by Sam Webster and comes from Faraway Fairway.

Huge thanks to Tim Coulter and Ashur Cabrera for wrangling the podcast feed and working on the website, James Moore for making me an awesome playdate audio extraction app, Kaleigh Stegman for handling social media, and Neven Mrgan, who created the podcast artwork and site design.

And thanks as always to everyone at panic. Playdate is shipping now, and available to order at play.date.

Rokashi: I think I saw that, that infographic that was published on Catalog stats. And it said like, the biggest game on the Playdate was like a hundred and eight megabytes or something. And I was like, that’s huge! Let me check how big Faraway Fairway --it’s like 200. It’s like double. And I was just like, oh my gosh I was like, oh, how did that happen?