This was the first game we made as Simogo. We had previously worked with games for mainly Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3, and were worn out by the lengthy development times and the slow processes of console development. Gaming on the iPhone was taking off, and the iPad had just been released. Making a small 2D game for iOS seemed like a good place to start for our new company. We aimed to make a small arcade style game that would only take a few months to make.

We started to think about what gestures would feel fun to perform on a touch screen, and figured that spinning a record like a DJ would feel good. First, we tried combining this with various types of puzzle designs we had come up with earlier, but in the end we realised that something action-filled would encourage the main idea of spinning, and coupled the spinning gameplay inspired by the most simple arcade style game we could think of: Ball-bouncing games like Breakout and Pong.

The visual DNA from ilomilo, a game we had helped to make before starting Simogo, is apparent in Kosmo Spin. The whole project itself felt “do it yourself”, so it was only natural for the art style to reflect this, with its collage-look which uses photos of cloth, paper, wood and the likes. The space theme came naturally, as we simply figured that planets are round, and would probably feel good to spin. We’re not sure how the breakfast theme fits in, but as we were very heavy coffee drinkers at the time, it’s likely that the inspiration came from our own habits.

The quest mode allowed us to give the game a little flavor through its characters, whose personalities are based on the quests’ specific theme, such as speed, size and survival.

If you look closely, you can sometimes see ilo and milo pass by in their flying train in the background.

Halo was still somewhat en vogue at the time, and because of the space theme in Kosmo Spin, we thought that it would be fun to make a parody of space shooters as a first trailer. Rasmus Warming created the model and rig for this trailer.

For the launch trailer, we created a tiny stage (using cloth, books, carpet and a green jug) for tiny Kosmo Spin dolls created by Emma Lindberg. We attached the puppets to chopsticks and acted out a silly eastern European inspired puppet theatre scene, which made very little sense. Simon provided the voices for both the characters.

After the game had been released, and didn’t sell so well, we thought we would try to market it using a music video. This marked the first time we collaborated with Jonathan Eng (who at that time called himself “wearethemassacre”). The video didn’t really move the needle for sales, but it was very fun to make, and we would go on to collaborate with Jonathan on many projects after this.

The in-game music was created by Simon, using a ukulele and Madtracker, even though he had not had any real experience or any specific know-how of how to make music. The main track that plays during gameplay, was inspired by the title screen song of New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Programming & design
Magnus “Gordon” Gardebäck