Calgarian Aaron Chatha has always had a passion for video games.
He was introduced to them at a young age. It was something nurtured by his parents, when they could afford it.
“My parents didn’t have a ton of money when I was younger but whenever they could they would get me a Nintendo and maybe one game a year on my birthday. It was always a big deal,” Chatha told LiveWire Calgary.
“When it’s something so special like that it becomes ingrained in you and I’ve always had this deep love for video games.”
This would eventually into a passion for video game development and a dream that one day Chatha could develop his own. That dream is about to come true.
Chatha’s debut game, the Indestructible Moxy Boxy, is set for release in June of 2021.
Inspired by past favourite titles
Chatha has drawn inspiration for Moxy Boxy from both his childhood classics as well some notable modern releases.
“Legend of Zelda was always a big one for me, as well as a lot of top-down shooters and action games. So then I took inspiration from more recent indie games like Hotline Miami to create something a bit more action focused but with some puzzle elements,” he said.
Chatha said the story element is something that’s very important in a video game. It allows for the developer to convey a message to the player. Chatha has drawn inspiration from many of the real-world events that have happened around him.
“I’m always looking around the world for new stories and what’s going on and that definitely influenced the storytelling. Especially in Alberta, where natural resources are big and that made me think ‘what if people were the resources?’”
Playing the game
The Indestructible Moxy Bosy is an action-puzzle game centered around the main character of Moxy. In it, the player will combat various enemies with color-coded attacks and inhale their corpses to heal and reload.
The game uses real time physics calculations to determine how enemies react to getting attacked. That’s something that’s rarely used – even in some of the most advanced video games.
“In a game like Resident Evil, the animations are pre-calculated. You know you’re getting the same reaction every time when enemies get hit. With my game, the enemies shatter in real time. It creates something dynamic so no enemy will ever shatter the same.
Independent Blues
Being an independent developer has proved challenging for Chatha. He’s had to be the sole creator for most of the assets in the game.
“It’s definitely a time commitment. I created all the art assets myself. A lot of it is resource management because when you’re independent you’re doing everything. It’s finding time in the day to write the script and finding time to learn how to program an enemy, or modelling, or adding sound effects.
If Indestructible Moxy Boxy is a success, well, the sky’s the limit.
“Hopefully this ends up being successful and will allow me to take on bigger projects and collaborate with some really cool people down the line,” he said.
You can support the game by checking it out on Steam and adding it to your wishlist. The Indestructible Moxy Boxy will be released on Steam on June 8, 2021. There’s a potential release on the Nintendo Switch later in the summer.
