Words With Toronto’s Own Capybara Games

Posted March 30, 2011 by Keadin
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Canada is home to some awesome game independent game studios, including Toronto's own Capybara Games. Being from my neck of the woods, the president and co-founder Nathan Vella was willing to take a few minutes and answer some questions about game development in Canada and Capy's forthcoming Xbox Live Arcade game, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD.

Capybara is one of Toronto's most famous game studios, how does it feel to represent the city (and Canada in general) on the world stage?

We're famous? Awesome! Does that mean I get to meet Tom Cruise now?

Seriously though, we're happy that there are so many amazing and supportive game developers in Toronto. It's truly an amazing place to be making games. Capy is very proud to be a part of the Toronto community and we're happy to do anything we can do to promote this city on a global level.

You guys had a very grassroots origin, can you tell us about how the studio was founded?

We're about as grassroots as it gets. Our studio was founded out of the Toronto IGDA chapter back in 2003 by a group of 12 passionate gamers, none of whom had ever actually made games. We met weekly at Paupers Pub in Toronto, had a couple pints and talked about games. From there, we started making a couple of cellphone games in our spare time as a team, and those games turned out great. We showed those games to some publishers, and somehow convinced them to take a risk on us, and the studio started being a fulltime gig in 2005. We hired some people (most of whom are still with us) and began life as Capybara Games. After we got tired of making cellphone games, we moved into making console games for platforms like Xbox Live Arcade.

You've also done a lot of work personally with a group called the indie-fund that helps smaller developers get their games off the ground. What is the indie scene like in Toronto and Canada?

The independent development scene in Toronto is like no other. It's large, it's tight, it's extremely supportive and most of all it's based on friendship. A lot of where our studio is today is through the support of other local indie developers like Metanet who made one of the best XBLA games of all time, N+.

Looking further to Canada as a whole, the scene is also quite strong. Toronto is definitely a hub, as is Montreal (home to Fez developer Polytron & Warp developer Trapdoor), and Vancouver (home to Shank developer Klei, Swarm developer Hothead, Scrap Metal developer Slick and more). Beyond that, there's great devs like Infinite Ammo in places like Winnipeg, Playbrains in Ottawa and more. Canada seems to sport a huge number of kick-ass independent studios working on some of the best XBLA titles the platform has to offer. CANADA REPRESENT!

Right now you guys are working on a new Xbox Live Arcade game called Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, which I played at PAX East and loved. What can you tell our readers about the game?

Might & Magic Clash of Heroes is what happens when a Turn-based Strategy game and a puzzle game have a baby, and then that baby is raised in RPG-land. Clash really is a unique mix of a traditional puzzle game with the depth of a full-on strategy title – you create offensive and defensive formations by matching same-coloured units on the battle board, and those attacks need to break through your enemies defences to destroy your opponent.

There's a giant adventure component that includes finding artifacts, recruiting units, collecting resources and taking quests. And by huge, I mean anywhere from 18 to 30 hours of gameplay, depending on how many of the side quests you take, how much bounty hunting you do, and how many of the secret units you find.

Beyond that, there's both 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 multiplayer modes in both online and offline flavours. There's leaderboards, ranking and multiplayer unlocks. And a quick battle mode. And amazing hand-drawn 2D HD art and animations. And more. IT'S HUGE!

Have you got any protips for when our readers pick up the game later this year?

Protip #1: Always take a bit of time at the beginning of your turn to survey your board. Don't just rush to form the first attack you see. This is a strategy game after all, and strategy means knowing what's going on everywhere!

Protip #2: Champion units (the slowest, but most powerful units in the game) require your full attention – both offensively and defensively. If you get a champion unit on your board, drop what you're doing and figure out the best way to get that sucker to attack. If you're opponent forms a champion unit, drop what you're doing and figure out the best way to defend. The single worst choice a player can make is to ignore champion units!