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Interview with Tinker Technologies the developers of Rainbonauts!

Could you use a colorful puzzle game with super cute characters, a great soundtrack, and cutting-edge AR technology? If so, you likely won’t find a better fit than this awesome game!

Today we would like to share our interview with the developers of this vibrant new game. You can check out our review of Rainbonauts here.

Before we start we’d like to thank the Tinker Technologies Team for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thanks guys!

…and without further ado, our interview begins…

Ok first up, how did you come up with the general idea for Rainbonauts?

Inspired by what Hipster Whale did for Frogger with Crossy Road, we set out to tinker with various mechanics of retro classics. After experimenting with a few popular titles, Tetris surfaced as the most intriguing. Its clever simplicity offered many opportunities for new constructs, the gameplay involved mobile-friendly controls, and it sparked some childhood nostalgia which always feels good.

All too often we find that mobile developers simply re-skin an existing game and call it their own. That’s surely not our style so the top priority was to differentiate Rainbonauts from Tetris far beyond graphics. Instead of connecting rows, the player connects sun and cloud tiles to craft rainbows. Instead of having space as the only stopping condition, time and tile counts are added to form a triad of constraints. The traditional endless mode is included, but so is a mission mode with plenty of levels featuring various game fields and targets. As opposed to keeping a fixed set of five configured blocks, there is an expanding series of tiles that gradually unlock as you play (the cat bomb tile that explodes into a black hole is a personal favorite). The list drones on.

 

The cute characters are by far the most attractive element in Rainbonauts for new players such as ourselves. Could you tell us a little about what went into creating the cute graphics in Rainbonauts?

In most casual games, boosters are rendered as icons of their respective functions (ex. the Lollipop Hammer in Candy Crush). There’s nothing particularly wrong with that design decision but there’s also no reason why casual games can’t have superheroes too! So, behold the personality-packed characters we call Rainbonauts!

The Rainbonauts were designed to be memorable and very kawaii. The intent behind the rainbow eyes was to establish uniformity across the character set but also to discern them from those of other games. Next, our amazing artist, Shiroi Room, plumped their bodies to make them irresistibly cute. Disclaimer, no Rainbonauts were hurt in the plumping process.

Here is a question we’ve been dying to ask. Is it true that we can hear a Yoshi in the magnificent soundtrack for Rainbonauts?

The composer, Maturbo, is a master in the future-bass genre of music which often samples 8-bit sound effects from games, anime, and other sources. It’s very possible you’re hearing some known sounds like Yoshi’s.

(Edamame Reviews) We were sure we could hear the sound of our little green friend…😆

What advice would you give a new player trying Rainbonauts for the first time?

It’s tempting to craft a rainbow the instant you finally see that one tile you’ve been anticipating, but try to hold off and plan ahead for a longer rainbow. Quality over quantity pays off in the Rainbonaut galaxy as much as in our own.

Ok, now for some geeky questions. What programming language and or software did you use when making Rainbonauts?

Unity (in C#) was used for most of the development work. It’s an excellent platform that keeps up with current technologies. For instance, soon after Apple came out with ARKit, Unity released a plugin for the framework which was used to build Rainbonauts’ AR mode. Anyone interested in mobile game dev should give Unity a try.

What was the hardest problem you needed to overcome when developing Rainbonauts?

Given the scope of the game, the technical difficulties were very predictable and consequently manageable but deciding what to cut or keep was another story. Ensuring the workload would scale well enough for a solo programmer to complete came with a lot of difficult decisions (such as settling for 2D over 3D graphics).

Integrating a new technology such as AR also comes with its own set of problems. Right now there are some lag issues to fix for the AR mode that are being resolved.

A few words to Rainbonauts fans on Edamame Reviews.

In terms of Rainbonauts, a good AR experience necessitates 3D graphics so that’s in the works. An Android version is also nearing completion.

As for new titles, we’re currently working on an IO type game with native AR! The demo isn’t ready so you’d have to bribe the office dog if you want more details.

(Edamame Reviews) …what does your office dog like…?

Lastly a few words on how you feel about Edamame Reviews.

We love what you’re doing for indie developers! Good exposure that doesn’t cost and a team of respectful and friendly staff is hard to come by. Thank you for doing us a huge service and we wish you a successful future.

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