Making of

In game development there is a fairly well-known rule, in which in order to estimate the necessary time to complete the development of a game, you should multiply by three the initial allocated time for the project. I started to work on the Minos Touch project in January 2016, and I signed up for a fairly short development time. Seven, eight months at most would have been enough to complete the game and maybe even do some sort of promotion.

I was aware of the time it takes to make a video game and it was not an improvised estimate. I had already developed some games in the past, and I knew well that along the way there would have been obstacles and unexpected events of various kinds, which would have affected the deadlines I had given myself.

However, I could hardly have predicted that the Minos Touch production would have been completed exactly two and a half years after the beginning of the work, as predicted by 'the rule'!

The decision to take care of almost all the aspects involved in the implementation of the game definitely lengthened this period of time. With the exception of the music and sound effects, I took it upon myself to develop all the elements underlying Minos Touch – from the graphics to the programming, up to the promotional activities themselves - while hanging onto my full-time job.

The choice of taking care of every single detail is for me an essential condition to try to independently, and without any external conditioning, create games that I like and (I hope) other people will enjoy too.

I had to think about the actual developing times during the course of work, but there was a clear aspect from the very beginning about which I never had any doubt: the kind of video game that I wanted to create.

The requirements I had set for myself were few, but all very important. I wanted to create a mobile game that would be easy to understand, offer a good level of involvement and do everything possible to promote a game experience as varied and unique as possible.

I made these points my guiding light during the development process and I set to work.

The first step was to define the rules and characteristics of the gameplay, a fundamental aspect that would have guided the subsequent creation process.

I have tried to make the most of the controls made available by Android and iOS devices (swipe, multi-touch, shake, etc.) with the aim of offering the player the highest level of interactivity possible.

I then moved to the actual programming of the game, starting with the creation of some prototypes to arrive at a playable and bug-free version with progressive fixes and improvements.

Almost at the same time, I wrote the story, designed the characters and defined their role within the game.

In the next phase, I dealt with the creation of the graphics, which I chose to draw by hand as an alternative to the use of the more traditional pixel art.

Minos Touch's characters, backgrounds and graphics interface elements have been subjected to different levels of finishing, in a continuous process aimed at improving the final result and making it as professional as possible.

The creation of the Minos Touch graphics assets was one of the activities related to the development of the game that, in absolute terms, required more time and work.

In order to live up to my aim of making the gaming experience as varied as possible, I chose to implement a system to procedurally generate the main graphical elements underlying the game.

All the characters with which the player interacts are dynamically composed, drawing from a varied set of somatic traits (hair, eyebrow, eyes, nose, mouth, facial shape, etc.), to give life to a very large number of possible combinations, always original and different.

To add a touch of originality, I also chose to include a series of special characters, to be 'unlocked' during the various phases of the game, almost all made using special techniques and styles: from clay modeling to collage composition, up to freehand drawing.

After the graphics and programming chapters had been archived, it was time to think about the soundtrack.

I wanted music that, in addition to accompanying the player through the different stages of the game, had those characteristics of originality that I promised to instill in the graphics and gameplay.

I then turned to my brother Danilo, a talented rock musician (here you can find his official Facebook page and here his YouTube channel) who has produced for the occasion four beautiful pieces, able to adapt perfectly to the proposed environments and give added value to the entire gaming experience.

The last stages of development have seen me engaged, in addition to the various finishing interventions, in the management of aspects related to the promotion of the game: from the creation of the website and the trailer to marketing and promotional activities.

When the work is almost finished, I am quite satisfied with the final result. The game is currently in beta testing: I can't wait to share it with you! Minos Touch will be available free of charge on the Google Play Store in mid-November, and the iOS device version will also be ready shortly.

To be the first to know about developments and updates of Minos Touch, propose new ideas or features to implement (which will be taken into serious consideration) and stay updated on new games that will be released and enjoy exclusive promotions, follow now the official pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube dedicated to the game.

I hope you will enjoy playing Minos Touch as much as I did creating it.

Have Fun!
Fabrizio