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Young alumni

Thomas Barrer & Nate Tamblyn

21 March 2024

BFA Graphic Design 2014 & BFA Sculpture 2016

Co-Founders and Narrative Designers at Fnife Games

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Tell us about Fnife Games! What prompted you to develop this video game studio?

Thomas - Fnife Games is a tiny studio of friends and collaborators working on game development part-time. Our focus is queer, nostalgic, narrative-driven games, and we were established around 2019. In terms of prompting, well… after completing my BFA I worked as an in-house Graphic Designer for several years, which was great, but I ultimately wanted to have creative control over my output.

Nate - We both wanted to make games that were influenced by our own lives and experiences. We heard about the NZ Film Commission’s Whakawhanake Te Ao Niko Interactive Development Fund, which provided support towards the research and development of narrative-focused interactive works, so we went ahead and applied, and Fnife Games was born.

What has been your favourite game/part to work on and why?

Thomas - I’ve really loved working on “Small Town Emo”: a queer GameBoy narrative game with a mid-2000’s setting. Nostalgia was one of my artistic focuses during my 3rd year in Fine Arts, and I really enjoyed revisiting this theme in the interactive space; I handled most of the art, design and writing for this.

Nate - I’m primarily in the narrative space – but I really enjoy being able to help out a bit with visuals and programming. Being a small team mostly working part-time you need to be flexible. Understanding more of the game making process has made me a better writer and narrative designer. My runner-up for “favourite part” would be the initial brainstorming, sky’s-the-limit sessions – it’s really fun to not be restricted by reality!

You’re already showcasing your games overseas, what do you hope to achieve in future with Fnife Games?

Nate - We’ll officially launch our first title early 2024 (Small Town Emo) and keep making LGBTQIA+ narrative games from there. The hope is that we’re able to be sustainable and move into working as game developers full time. We’d love to be able to offer opportunities to collaborate with and employ talented folks in our sphere.

Thomas - We were lucky enough to get nominated for four NZ Game awards in 2023 and win two of them – so hopefully we’re on the right track! Our core goals are to grow slowly and sustainably as a studio and contribute to the interactive ecosystem in Ōtautahi. I suppose our intention is to remain a bit boutique, we don’t have plans for infinite growth: we want to balance our metrics for success towards both artistic outcomes and business outcomes.

What’s the Ōtautahi gaming scene like?

Thomas - The game developer community in Ōtautahi is strong and growing. There are lots of networking and upskilling opportunities for students and hobbyists through events hosted by the Christchurch Game Developers Association (supported by Screen Canterbury NZ, UC’s HIT Lab and Cerebral Fix). I was the Secretary for CGDA last year, and really enjoyed helping run these events. In 2022 CGDA , SCNZ and UC collaborated on the Canterbury Game Industry Action Plan which illuminated lots of possible future pathways for the sector, some of which we’re already seeing take shape.

Nate - Smaller studios and newcomers to the scene are well supported by folks in our community. Resources are shared, it’s definitely a “rising tide lifts all” situation. The success of Black Salt Games’ Dredge in 2023 absolutely put an international spotlight on the Ōtautahi game development scene. It’s just going to get better and better.

Thomas - Going forward, I’m excited to see how the University of Canterbury’s Digital Screen Campus will promote growth in this space!

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting their own company?

Nate - Boring stuff: take a small business course, research your tax obligations, check in with an IP lawyer, consider your options for business insurance…but more immediately when you’re just starting out: make contracts! You don’t have to make the contract super restrictive – but it's good to have some agreement in place, you never know what will happen in the future. Another thing to consider is your company’s name. Check your potential name for good SEO and make sure it’s not offensive (in any language). Pick something that’s not too complicated so that folks can easily find you!

Thomas - Establish company pillars – decide on what your core principles are, and your metrics for success. Our studio has overarching goals of creating validating representation, having sustainable growth, and not jeopardising our values for profit, for example.

Did you always plan to come to UC and study a Bachelor of Fine Arts?

Nate - I was doing mostly art related subjects in Year 13 at high school, and my Mum suggested doing Fine Arts. I put a lot of effort into my application (examples of my work and thought process), as I’d heard it was quite competitive to get in. And I did get in, so that was nice. There’s now the Digital Screen Campus at UC, so if I was graduating from high school right now and having to make the choice again between Fine Arts and a Game Arts / Game Development I’m not sure what I’d pick!

Thomas - I really enjoyed art in highschool and was encouraged by my teacher to consider a career doing something creative. Applying for Fine Arts at UC was an easy decision – I had solid NCEA marks across Design, Painting and Photography, so the first-year “charcuterie board” structure at UC appealed to me. I really enjoyed getting a sampler for each discipline, before picking Design to be my specialisation. In another lifetime I might have jumped at the chance to study Game Development or Game Art, however in the early 2010’s there were simply less courses available in the space. Ultimately I’m really happy I chose Fine Arts at UC: I was given so much freedom and flexibility to work across different mediums while developing my practice – I don’t feel I missed out on anything.

Any highlights from your time at UC?

Nate - One thing I really appreciated with Fine Arts was the studio access, as we had 24/7 entry and I’m a big night-owl. This is a weird highlight, but I did appreciate that the Undercroft was accessible in the evenings so I could fuel myself with vending machine energy drinks. More related to Fine Arts: exhibitions! My favourite was one we did in my final year, in an empty lot in the central city. I made the biggest ceramic piece I’d ever made (had to split it into 3 pieces for the kiln). On set-up day one of the pieces had to be grinded down at the last minute to fit back together… it could’ve easily shattered and ruined everything, but it didn’t! The relief and satisfaction in completing that was a real highlight.

Thomas - I also really enjoyed organising exhibitions – my favourite was one that was held on-site at the SouthCity Mall food court, displaying data-moshed video art. It definitely confused people! Otherwise, winning the School of Fine Arts “Select” Award in 2013 for my work as part of the Barry Holly collective (with classmate Amy Hollands) was super validating. Plus, I made my first ever video game in my 3rd year of Fine Arts as part of a multimedia project called “Tales of The Transmundane” – which definitely planted so many seeds towards my current practice!

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