We are speaking to Yaroslav Yanovsky, the CEO of Enkord Ltd., the people behind some great games like Zodiac Tower, Clash N Slash, and most recently Clayside. He had some great things to say about being an independent developer and the industry in general.

CR: Can you tell us a little bit about your background: Who are you, and why are you making casual games?

YY: We are a team of designers, artists, programmers trying to bring fun and simple entertainment to unsophisticated computer users. Being a gamer myself I am tired of big and complicated mainstream game titles. I would love to play light versions of those and this is our company vision: “Fun games made simple!”

CR: Tell us about Clash N Slash – what was your thought process behind the original, and what did you improve in the sequel? Did you worry that a game with spaceships and shooting would “alienate” you from the core casual market of games about virtual cakes, gems, and happy shiny things?

YY: When we did Clash’N Slash we were basically “one man army” company - I did everything for original game. And since I was better programmer than a graphical artist I decided to pick a space theme as not particularly art intense. I think another theme like medieval or sea battle could have worked better for Clash’N Slash. We will probably try to experiment with new themes if we decide to make another sequel. Speaking about shooting I haven’t worried too much. There is a market for male-themed casual games which is usually ignored by most companies focused on milking match-3 and other top genres and with Clash’N Slash we reached it.

CR: Your latest game, ZodiacTower, has some great innovations in it, not the least of which is the level-selection through exploring a massive tower. Tell us a little bit about where this game came from, and what you are proud of in it.

YY: Actually you can find some bits and similarities of this game in number of other games. All we did is picked not so widely used mechanics and tried to make something relatively new with it, borrow ideas here and there to end up with a mix never seen before. I wanted to add some mystery and zodiac theme with unexplored tower appealed to me so we decided to experiment with that. Making each level a separate tower room adds a good feeling of accomplishment when you progress through the game.

CR: In a world of a hundred Bejeweled and Diner Dash clones, how do you keep casual games fresh and interesting?

YY: We don’t do games for the sake of milking some money from established mechanic or theme. If we are about to make a game we will try to at least mix existing things and to add some new ideas on top.

CR: Can you tell us a little bit about the world as indie game developers see it? What are the biggest challenges for the indie game developers - and what big changes do you see for them in the near future?

YY: First of all I want to say that you need to threat game development like business if you want to make any money. It doesn’t mean you have to make only match-3 clones but it if you want to make a hard game with lots of blood and keyboard controls you are not likely to succeed. Speaking of future - I see a lot of competition and there is gonna be more. In my opinion it is very important to differentiate and find your own casual niche or you will end up having an uphill battle to survive.

CR: What does Enkord have coming up in the future? What’s your next hit going to be, and what should we know about it?

YY: We are working hard to make great games and trying to experiment with new things to end up with something really big. We have 4 quite different games currently in development so I guess the only answer will be - You will see more good games from us.

CR: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

YY: It is a lot of fun being part of this industry. I see this industry as a computer gaming renaissance.

You can see more of Enkord at their website, www.enkord.com. Be sure to stop by and have a look! Check back at Casual Review soon for more developer interviews, features, and reviews