"Innovation is much easier to do in an amateur game where you don't have to convince a producer that your outside-the-box idea would be profitable."

Vince Twelve may not be a household name just yet, but he is the author of acclaimed Underground games Anna and What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed , which quickly established him as one of the more innovative and creative designers in the genre today. Following in the footsteps of other successful independent developers, now Vince is setting his sights even higher with his first commercial title, Resonance. Adventure Gamers recently chatted with Vince as he relaxed in his secret island lair (okay, it's not so secret, the island is Okinawa)...

Hi Vince, can you give us a brief profile of yourself?

Sure. My name is Vince Twelve, originally from Omaha, Nebraska, but now I live in Japan with my wife and two year old daughter. I teach English in a junior high school and two elementary schools. In my free time, when I can find it, I love making games.

Why the "Twelve" when your real name is.... something else?

Shh, quit blowin' my cover! My father was a radio talk show host, and since his last name is a difficult-to-remember, constantly-misspelled German name, he went by the on-air moniker "Otis Twelve." I grew up being called "Vince Twelve" both on-air by my father and at school by friends whose parents listened to him. As far back as I can remember, I've been referred to by the name "Twelve," so it's kind of grown into my real name. Plus, it's fewer keystrokes...

You moved to a foreign country to teach English, you make critically acclaimed AGS games and now you're trying to take your games commercial. Are you deliberately trying to emulate Dave Gilbert, or what?

Haha, to be fair, I moved to a foreign country to teach English before he did! But Dave has influenced me in a lot of ways, not the least of which was proving that the low-res, low-to-no-budget adventure game has a small but viable market. I chat with Dave occasionally and we talk about game development. Even two years ago, before I made Linus, he was talking to me about his idea to make a game based in Korean mythology, which inspired me to base half of Linus on a Japanese myth (as I discussed in my WLBSWHEAC Post-Mortem!)

Living in a foreign country can be a big adjustment. How did you come to move to Japan and has it influenced you and your games?

I came to Japan after finishing college. I had been working a programming job in an Office Space-like setting and really wanted to do something different and interesting before devoting my life to the cubicle farm. So when I had the chance to move to Japan to teach for a year, I jumped on it. It was only supposed to be a year, but here I am four years later. Japan obviously had a big influence on one half of my last game. I live on the island of Okinawa, which has a very different culture from mainland Japan, and that is going to sneak its way into Resonance as well.

What else do you use for inspiration?

Anna

I get inspiration from so many sources. I'm a rabid consumer of entertainment. I'm always watching television shows and movies, playing games, and reading books. Anna was inspired by classic science fiction, Linus was inspired by old samurai films and Saturday morning cartoons, and Resonance is inspired by a slew of sources. But I do try and make everything unique in its own way.

Have you taken any advice or insight from any other indie game developers?

Well, for one, Deirda Kiai's insightful postings on Adventure Gamers and her blog about game design have given me ideas and inspiration, especially about how to approach dialog and branching events. I also bounce ideas off of a number of other people regularly like my good friend Erin Robinson (of Spooks fame).

So far your games have been distinctive (that's politespeak for odd!). Is there any particular reason for going for the unusual?

I'm not specifically aiming to make weird games, just interesting ones. The games that I've released have been short ones, and when you're not going too far, why not wander off the beaten path a bit? Linus, for example, was originally intended to just be a proof of concept for a fun way to use the Nintendo DS' two screens. Since it wasn't going to be a very long game, I decided to go all out on the odd. If my wacky ideas didn't translate into fun, at least it wouldn't overstay its welcome. And when a great idea is found in a small game, it paves the way for larger games to take the idea and use it to greater effect.

Anna and Linus have both had their share of acclaim. What awards or reviews for your games have been the most meaningful for you?

What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed

The yearly AGS awards mean a lot to me even though they don't mean a whole lot to people outside of that community. It feels great to get that kind of recognition from my peers, so getting the first annual Innovation award last year really meant a lot. Also, Linus' review on Adventure Gamers was embarrassingly positive! I knew Gunnar was going a bit overboard with the compliments, but it sure felt good!

What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed won the AGS Innovation award you mentioned and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who could argue against it being innovative. What kind of drugs were you on, and can I have some?

Heh. I was definitely happy with how it turned out. It's not for everyone, definitely, thanks to my love of obtuse logic puzzles, but I think the proof-of-concept worked out well. Oh, and no drugs (as far as I can remember).

Many commercial adventures seem to feel the need to innovate the adventure genre by throwing in RPG elements or gratuitous action sequences that arguably stop the game from being an adventure at all. I think you've achieved a different kind of innovation in your games that shows ways to be creative without turning adventure games into something else. Have you seen any signs of hope in commercial offerings?

I've seen some interesting new ideas on the Nintendo DS, and a few PC games, like Experience112 look like they could be on to something. I haven't been paying much attention to PC adventures lately, but I don't think there have been too many that attempt something too far outside of the genre's usual bag of tricks. But I don't think that lack of innovation is some kind of sin. It seems that most adventure game developers are working to please the crowd that is happy with adventure games how they are. And the fact that some devs are still making games in the genre means that they must be pleasing that crowd enough for the market to stay commercially viable. And occasionally, you're likely to see some interesting new developments. So, if by "hope" you mean "interesting innovation," no, I don't see a lot in the commercial market. Innovation is much easier to do in an amateur game where you don't have to convince a producer that your outside-the-box idea would be profitable.

Do you think the adventure genre is reviving? Did it ever really die?

I can't really speak for the state of PC adventure gaming at the moment. It's been quite a while since I've spent significant time on a non-indie commercial PC game of any genre really, though I recently enjoyed the brief but satisfying Portal. With a wife, daughter, full-time job, and a time-consuming (and now, money consuming!) hobby, most of the serious gaming that I've managed in the last couple years has all been on the Nintendo DS. And I can definitely say that for someone who takes a month or two to go through even a short game like Phoenix Wright, there's plenty going on on that little handheld.

What other games do you play?

I do get on the Wii occasionally to get beaten at tennis by my wife. I download and play a lot of indie and amateur freeware games from a number of places such as the AGS forums, but I rarely get caught up in them enough to play all the way through. I just like looking at all the unique things that people come up with. I also love browsing sites like Jayisgames.com for quirky Flash games. Oh, and I keep going back to Armadillo Run for more. That game is just brilliant!