In 2008 a unique game launched on the Xbox 360. It was titled A Kingdom for Keflings, and not only was it one of the first games to make use of Xbox's new Avatar system, but it was also a "cozy game" before the world even really knew what that was. It was a game that featured giant avatars that were used to build and interact with the world, and had a strong focus on the little inhabitants as well; the little beings known as keflings. The game quickly became a cult hit, and after the release of 2010's A World of Keflings, fans have been patiently waiting for more.
Well here we are many years later, and A World of Keflings is finally coming to Steam after being absent for so long. It is thanks to this upcoming release that I had the chance to speak with Steve Taylor of NinjaBee to learn more about not just the remake, but also the history of the series in general, how the Xbox Avatar system was first introduced, and even the series' future!
So without taking up anymore of your time, here is what we found out!
Hello my name is Ben and I am one of the founders of our gaming website Netto's Game Room. Before we begin, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm Steve Taylor, one of the founders of NinjaBee, and the lead designer on A World of Keflings. I've been making games for a long time, since the days of the N64 and PlayStation.
This first question I had for you is actually something I've wanted to know more about for quite a few years. The Xbox 360 is a console that holds a special place in my heart, and your games are a part of that history I look back on quite fondly. So with that being said: A World of Keflings is the follow up to the original A Kingdom for Keflings, which was one of the first games to make use of the "New Xbox Experience" Avatar system. How did this come to be? Were you already aware of the upcoming Avatars when you began development, or did it just make sense to include them as a feature?
No, we were not aware of the Avatar system when we started! What happened was this: We were working closely with Microsoft on prepping A Kingdom for Keflings for release on XBLA when they approached us with the idea of Xbox Live Avatar support. We'd put a lot of effort into the stylized design of our Giant characters, so we were initially not very interested, but we promised we'd do a mockup and consider it. We did the mockup and it changed our mind! It looked great! We talked with Microsoft about it, but in the meantime they had internally decided they didn't need A Kingdom for Keflings with their Avatars. We said "wait, wait, look at this mockup!" They looked, had the same very positive reaction we did, and the rest is history.
A funny aspect of all this is that A Kingdom for Keflings was done and submitted to certification before the Avatar system was ready to fully integrate into the game, so technically a base game existed just with our Giant characters, and we added Xbox Live Avatar support in a title update that was ready to go by the time the game launched.
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| (A Kingdom for Keflings using the giant) |
The original game was quite unique, and could be described as being a city builder mixed with a life sim. Back in 2008 we didn't see a lot of games like this outside of SimCity, but even that isn't a fair comparison because of how different A Kingdom for Keflings truly was. Where did your inspiration come from to create a game like this?
I'm a fan of city builders in general, and I had this idea of a city management game with more focus on the individual inhabitants of the city and what tasks they were assigned to. We prototyped this during a game jam event and liked it, but it was another designer at NinjaBee who suggested that the best console experience would be controlling a hero character who walked around assigning the villagers to their tasks. This focus on interaction with villagers and the world through a giant character became the heart of the game.
When it came to developing A World of Keflings what was the number one thing you wanted to improve on compared to the original?
We had a hit-list of key things to improve, but for me it was the fact that it was difficult to build things far away from a workshop - you had to walk all the way back for every single piece. The Builder Brothers in the sequel are a direct solution for this.
I remember it being advertised as "more than a sequel," but what did that mean for you personally?
Besides a very long list of new features and improvements, the first game only scratched the surface of interacting with unique kefling characters who had stories of their own. A World of Keflings has a bunch of unique characters with their own stories that you actively become a part of, and that felt like a whole new game to me.
Although it originally released in 2010 on Xbox 360, the game did see a release on PC in 2013 and Wii U in 2014. Will this new version of the game be based on the previous PC release, or is this something entirely different?
It's a sort of a mix, and a whole lot of new stuff! The core game is the same as the original release, with some visual elements from the Wii-U version and the mouse and touch support of the 2013 version. But even that is heavily reworked and improved for any combination of keyboard, mouse, touch, and gamepad. On top of that we've added a bunch of new functionality and quality of live improvements for what we think is a great experience on Steam and Steam Deck.
One unique feature in the game was the ability to play co-op with friends! Is this still going to be an option with the new version, and if so, will it be online, local, or both?
We've focused on what we think is the most desirable experience for PC players. There's no local co-op today, but we've expanded online co-op support to 8 players.
The gaming world has changed a lot since 2010, and now days indie games are much more common, and we see a lot of them putting out "cozy games." This wasn't really a term used back when both Keflings titles released, but both can fall within that same category. What is it like releasing A World of Keflings in this new landscape compared to how things were back in the day?
At the time, a console game without conflict or winning or losing was a hard sell. We had to hold tight to a core pillar of the game that we called "insanely happy", even in the face of people within NinjaBee suggesting combat, timers, win/loss modes, etc. Today, I don't really have to defend the non-conflict soul of the game at all, and that's nice!
Fans have asked for it for years, but I wanted to ask as well... Do you think a sequel could be in the future?
Absolutely! I care more about these games than any others I've worked on, and our team would love to make more. A good reception to this release on Steam will help us prioritize that plan, so I'm certainly hoping players respond as well as they have in the past!
And finally, is there anything you'd like to tell our readers about A World of Keflings?
Thanks for all the positive feedback over the years! We hope you love this version! And please help us spread the word!
Before we go, one bonus question for fun! What would you say is your favorite cozy game?
In all sincerity, it might be A World of Keflings - it's the game I've never gotten sick of, even after working on it for all these years. Putting NinjaBee games aside…
Probably Harvest Moon 64, for nostalgia reasons, though I wouldn't recommend it over Stardew Valley today. I also got really into Fantasy Life for a while, and I'm going to mention Pocket Frogs and Pocket Planes from NimbleBit as well, which I spent many many happy hours playing.
What about you? I'd love to hear yours!
Thanks for the questions and the chance to talk about A World of Keflings!
For me my favorite for sure has to be Animal Crossing as a whole. It is the first full on "cozy game" I ever really got invested in back on the Nintendo GameCube, and it lead me to go back and play Harvest Moon 64, which I really love as well. Now days New Horizons and Stardew Valley are at the top of my list!
And with that being said, I'd like to thank Steve once again for taking the time to answer these questions. It was a pleasure getting to speak with him, and I personally loved learning more about A World of Keflings and the history behind it! I hope everyone reading today enjoys learning about this just as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing more from NinjaBee in the future!
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