Yooka-Laylee: “We’ve always tried to put style over technical brilliance”

The public scrutiny that comes part and parcel with a successful crowdfunding campaign has claimed many a victim in the past; just look at the troubles that befell Comcept’s Mighty No. 9 after it raised a cool $3.8 million on Kickstarter. Playtonic, the studio founded by ex-Rare employees, will soon face similar scrutiny. In a month’s time, 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee will be released to the public after smashing a £175,000 Kickstater goal to raise just shy of £2.1 million.

With a wide range of stretch goals and constant feedback from the public, Playtonic isn’t so much making the game it wanted to make, but rather the game that backers have demanded. Yooka-Laylee is a 3D platformer that celebrates and re-establishes the kind of visually stylised, exploration-focused platformer popularised in the late ’90s and early ’00s by the the likes of Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, both games that Playtonic’s founders worked on.

“I think players expect us to be the best of indie as well as the best of triple-A,” says Playtonic studio director Gavin Price. “They expect a game created with the spirit of independence along with really high production values… Certain assets have been redone, and features that we’d been going back and forth on have had to go in no what matter what once we’d raised so much money. We had set a bunch of stretch goals that we thought, at best, might be hit at the very end of the campaign, but they were all reached within a few days.”

This unforeseen popularity means that everything that might have made the final cut of Yooka-Laylee now has to be included, lest Playtonic succumb to the same bellicose fan reaction that led to Mighty No. 9‘s myriad problems. For a small indie studio, even one with veterans at helm, that’s a lot of pressure.

Of course, the volume of money raised from over 72,000 backers also validated the idea that a long-forgotten genre was still in demand. Cartoon-like visuals, a focus on exploration over combat, and a lack of signposting as to where the next challenge might reside are all things that Yooka-Laylee prioritises, despite modern platformers tendency to shun them.

“I think a lot of realistic visuals got done simply for the sake of it, simply because the hardware got to a point where it could handle it,” laments Price. “Personally, we’ve always tried to put style over technical brilliance in games. I think stylised art is more fun and creative. From a business perspective, it’s a great shame it’s seen as a risky prospect to do bright, colourful games… Essentially, we make games for ourselves in that they’re fun to play and they’re mechanically very strong. However, they’re also completely fine to give to anyone of any age.”

Having now played Yooka-Laylee‘s opening hours, I’m confident Playtonic has hit its goal. The broad, vibrant colour palette and fantastical character designs will be a hit with younger players, as well as an older crowd eager to relive gaming’s past glories. Indeed, there are many nods to the older audience. Early on, you can choose to explore a boat called “Bat Ship Crazy.” Then there’s a snake. His name is Trowzer. I suspect further genitalia-based euphemisms are all but guaranteed.

“Trowzer actually started as a joke in the office and something we were using as a concept name for him,” explains Price. “But the name stayed that way for long enough that it was mentioned in public. By that point we can’t U-turn and change the name because people would think we’re too scared to use it. Certainly, the writing is very much aimed at being witty and funny without ever crossing a line into dubious territory. It has a Pixar or a Simpsons-like quality whereby adults can enjoy it on one level and kids on another level.”

The core goal of players in Yooka-Laylee is to acquire pages torn from a book, each of which allows you to visit new worlds and attempt new challenges. Some of these pages are positioned obviously in the world and are easy to pick up. Others are more hidden and difficult, and others still are a mixture of both designs: easy to find, but difficult to obtain.