The Firing Line: 5 questions for Fixpoint Productions on Pivvot
Why are you so cruel?
Pivvot is a brilliant blend of simple visuals, well-balanced controls, and fiendish difficulty.
Its stark colours and relentless pace make for an experience that's quite unlike anything we've seen before on the App Store.
As you can probably tell, then, we liked Pivvot a lot. At review, in fact, we gave it a Silver Award, calling it "an addictive, brilliantly designed blast of twitch and score-chasing".
We got a chance to chat with Pivvot developer Fixpoint Productions (a.k.a. Whitaker Trebella) about the game and its influences. Oh, and how new players can avoid dying instantly the first time they try and weave through its clever and addictive maze.
Pocket Gamer: Could you try and sum up the Pivvot experience in one or two sentences?Whitaker Trebella: Pivvot is a game of strategic avoidance. Basically, you just need to make sure your orb doesn't hit any of the many obstacles heading your way.
What were your main influences when you were making the game?I was very inspired by Super Hexagon. Everything in that game is designed to perfection. From the art style, the music, the control scheme, everything is super-simple and streamlined.
I wanted to make a game that was difficult like Super Hexagon but with a slightly friendlier learning curve.
I've also been inspired by Vlambeer's amazing games, especially with how successful Ridiculous Fishing was at the $2.99 price point.
You've blended the music and style of Pivvot excellently. Was that something you wanted to do from the start?Yeah, I think it's extremely important to make sure all design elements work as a cohesive whole. I started thinking about the art style and the music from the beginning. You know, instead of waiting till the end to make those decisions.
And since I do the art, music, and programming myself, I can change anything to fit with anything else, any time I want.
There's a very pure arcade vibe to Pivvot. Why did you decide to pare the gameplay back to pretty much its most basic elements?My favorite kinds of games are the ones you can pick up and play without a ton of tutorials.
I wanted the learning process to be streamlined. While the game is pretty difficult, it's always clear exactly what the player did wrong, and how the player can do better next time.
I was tempted on numerous occasions to add lots of bells and whistles, like power-ups, achievements, etc. In the end, though, I decided to stick with just the core gameplay elements.
Lastly, could you give us your best tip for first-time Pivvot players?The #1 most important thing to do is to keep the orb in the opposite direction to your current path. It will give you more time to react.
