cafe chat - game vtuber & interviewer roema

npckc I'm npckc! I'm a game maker who was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Canada, & now lives in Japan, & I've made over 50 games. (Wow, that's a lot of info...)

I've made a lot of games, but I think A YEAR OF SPRINGS, a pet shop after dark, and A TAVERN FOR TEA are fairly well-known out of them?

Besides making games, I also translate other people's games, and I help out with game-related events like Tokyo Indies, a monthly meetup in Akihabara, and currently Power of Pride, a bundle that will be released in June.

I'm at home a lot, so when I want to treat myself for working hard, I drink a can of Style Balance's non-alcoholic whiskey highball.

npckc I first met you at Tokyo Indies last year, but I saw one of your "roughterviews" (ラフタビュー - rough as in casual, like a rough draft) in a repost recently and recognised your name! The interview was interesting, so it made me want to interview you too.

npckc Oh, so BLUE NIGHT LAUNDROMAT started it! I like the game too... Having that in common makes me kind of happy. Thanks for playing you're just imagining it too!

So, your roughterviews are written in a way that people who don't play games can understand and show sides of devs that they don't usually talk about much, but why did you choose to do written interviews when you're a VTuber?

I'd love to hear about why you started these interviews and why you chose this stance!

npckc Oh, I see! Being able to write when you have time definitely is easier. This format worked well for me too.

Also, since you asked me for info for an introduction image, I think it'd be nice if you had one too, but could you also share your blood type, horoscope, and what you like to drink when you want to focus?

npckc I've only released seven games on Steam, but on itch.io, the main site I use, I've released over 50, so under 10% of the games I've made are actually on Steam...

There's a lot of tedious work in releasing games on Steam, so it's too much of a pain to release all my games on Steam. (I do sometimes add extra content to some free games to release them as paid.)

Some games are ones I made in very short spans of time, while others are a bit more experimental so I've kept them off Steam, so if any of you readers usually only play games on Steam, consider checking out itch. There are many games besides mine that are only available there!

There are lots of game jams on itch too, so if you've never made a game, you can see if any jams catch your interest and join one yourself.

But with this many games, I always have a hard time choosing a title... I usually don't decide until the very end and just decide on whatever comes to me then, but I sometimes change the game name at the last minute. I'll even call a game by the old name by accident sometimes, so I don't recommend anybody name games like I do 💦

npckc I have a bad habit of recommending game jams to people who haven't made games, but have you ever wanted to join a game jam, Roema?

The other day, I went for dinner with a translator I know who told me he wanted to make a game, and I was just like, "Welcome to the dark side!" I think people who don't normally make games can make games with different perspectives, so I hope more people from different backgrounds become game devs.

npckc That's the Bitsy workshop CJ did, right? I haven't played your game yet, so I'll play it later 👀

npckc Well, I started helping out with Tokyo Indies a few years ago, but Alvin, the organiser, has been running it for over ten years. It's a meet up for indie game devs that happens every month in Akihabara. We're always accepting presentations, but there's no need to apply in advance if you want to demo your game - you can just bring it to the event.

Unlike an exhibition, you're just showing your game to other devs, so it's OK to bring a scrappy alpha build to get feedback and stuff. And unlike a mokumokukai/coworoking situation, the point is to meet up with people, rather than to work on stuff, so it's a good opportunity to meet other devs and take a break.

One other difference is that there are many people at the event who come from overseas like I do, so it's a pretty international community. That's why first-timers sometimes get worried and think that they have to speak English, but you don't have to! (Some people conversely worry that they have to speak Japanese, but again, you don't have to!) As long as you are making games or are interesting in making games, you're welcome!

The Tokyo Indies team are all volunteers, and we all just love indie games and want to make Tokyo Indies a space where people making indie games can get together, so if this interests you at all, come and say hi.

The site design was actually recently updated, so check it out if you want more info 👇

Actually, I was the one who did the redesign, so if you see anything that isn't loading properly, let me know... I'll sneak in an update!

Since you go to so many game events, Roema, is there anything you'd like to see more of at events?

Hm, that's kind of a broad question. What I want to say is that I think it'd be nice if Tokyo Indies was an event that anybody could feel comfortable attending, so I'd like to ask if there's anything that you think would make a meetup easier or harder to attend.

npckc I totally get having no time to rest when you're running things solo... People who attend events as exhibitors also want to go around to check the event out, but often, the event ends with them glued to their booths the whole time. But going to a meetup for the first time can be nerve-racking. I think it'd be nice if everyone who goes to Tokyo Indies has a good time, so that's a lot to think about. Thank you for taking the time to answer!

npckc There is a lot of work that goes into game dev that takes a lot of time even if you can't see the results directly, so I think this year I want to take it easy, so that I can continue making games for a long time. I plan on slowly giving past games a few brush ups and releasing games I've only released on itch on Steam - checking in on the seeds I've planted already and taking care of them as they sprout, you could say.

The campaign I did last year for A YEAR OF SPRINGS plushes have actually just started shipping out to people, so I'm looking forward to my plushes too 💐

It seems like there's still some stock, so check out the site if you're interested 👇

How about you, Roema? I'd like to hear about what you want to do in the future. You've already done over twenty roughterviews. Do you want to keep up with them in the same way or try something new?

npckc It seems like this is the 25th roughterview, which makes it one quarter of a hundred, so I think that's really amazing!

You really do get to play so many more games if you can read English. Of course, English has other uses besides that, haha.

I don't know if this will help, but if you play a game that has a Japanese translation and then play it in English, since you already know the content, it really does help get the vocabulary to stick better, and it's an excuse for you to replay a game you like, so I recommend it.

npckc The games that influenced me and the games I like overlap a lot, so that's how I'll answer... 🙇

• Ace Attorney (the game that got me properly studying Japanese)
• For the Frog the Bell Tolls (I'm a Richard fan 🐸 and a Mandora fan)
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (I love the Gamecube version, but I like the Switch version too)

npckc I usually start slow in the morning, but my schedule after that changes every day. Some days I'll be doing dev all day, while others I'll just game. I guess I usually go out on weekdays and spend my weekends working on dev.

npckc Before that, I'd like to leave a comment for you, Roema - thank you for agreeing to my request and answering all my questions!

After talking to you, it's made me want to work harder on stuff besides game dev. Recently, I've been wanting to make a site where visual novel devs recommend visual novels, so I really like stuff like this that supports games and the people making them.

I'll keep reading your roughterviews!

And, a comment for everyone reading - sorry that I made this roughterview ever rougher than usual... 😂

I plan on continuing to make games and translate stuff at my own pace, so I'd be happy if you'd check out my Steam and itch.io pages. You should make games too. It's fun.

Let's meet again somewhere on the internet! (｀･ω･´)ゞ