Now I have been fortunate enough to interview the character designer for the game, Marth Jonkers, and find out more about the game, it’s art and it’s influences.

IndieGameBlog.net:  Firstly, could you give us some background info on yourself and the rest of the development team?

MJ: We made this game with a team of five people. We are all students in Game Design and Development at the Utrecht School of the Arts. For our graduation project, we decided to team up and make this game. My role is that of the character designer and animator.

IndieGameBlog.net: How would you describe Hollandia?

MJ: Hollandia is basically a Dutch fairytale! It is inspired by Dutch folklore, art and history and there were many interesting elements we decided to incorporate in the game. All enemies for instance have a real background in Dutch stories, and the combat system is based on a popular Dutch toy.

IndieGameBlog.net:Why did you choose Dutch folklore as the theme for the game?

MJ: Well, the whole idea of making a game about Holland actually sparked when I returned home from studying abroad. In my head I had this very ugly image of Holland, and it is in the

A screenshot from Hollandia.

Dutch peoples nature not to be so fond of their own country. But when I got back, I was amazed by the beauty of the Dutch landscapes.  I thought, why not make a game about Holland? It can be beautiful as well! So we started to do research into Dutch history and folklore and discovered a rich world of enchanting tales, perfect material for a game! Also, I feel that games tend to use the same themes over and over again, like medieval fantasy or sci-fi. There are a lot of cultures that have exciting aspects and stories as well, and we never see them in games.

IndieGameBlog.net: How is the game structured? Is it a series of levels or more open world?

MJ:The main story of the game is linear, and plays quite an important role. However there will also be lots of sidequests which give the game more depth, and make the progress through the gameworld less linear. The world consists of several environment you pass through (fields, forest, city etcetera). These areas are filled with puzzles and enemies. All these environments are connected to each other so the world is quite open.

IndieGameBlog.net: How does the combat work?

MJ:The combat system is entirely based on the old Dutch toy, the spinning top. You have to hit the top to make it spin and shoot it in the right direction to defeat your enemies. There are two different kinds of attacks: the horizontal hit which makes the top move forward, and the vertical swipe, which makes it jump in the air.

Combining these moves will enable you to do massive combos, as the top bounces back on all objects it hits.

Another screenshot from Hollandia.

The trick is to hit the enemies in such a way that the top will bounce from enemy to enemy, hitting as many as possible. The top gains strength when you keep hitting it at exactly the right time. Every enemy reacts differently to the top. For instance, some will steal your top, some will bounce it back and so on.

It’s a new way of combat, and once you get the hang of it is quite fun

IndieGameBlog.net: How do the adventure aspects work?

MJ:There is a compelling main story that will guide you through the game, and it’s complemented by many small sidequest.  You play the story of Tulpje (“little tulip” in Dutch), the main character. She will travel around Holland, where she will meet all kinds of characters from Dutch folklore. As Tulpje advances in the game she will learn new skills for her spinning top which can be used to progress further. The focus of Hollandia is slightly more on combat than adventure.

IndieGameBlog.net:What was the inspiration for the character designs and art style?

MJ:I am a big fan of the VanillaWare Games (Odin Sphere, Grimgrimoire). They proved to me that 2d games are still cool! We actually mailed George Kamitani of VanillaWare to show him our game. He liked it so much that he made a painting for us of our main character Tulpje in his style. That was so nice!

Together with the environment designer of this game, I studied Manga Art in Japan for half a year as well, and so the style of Hollandia is a mixture between Japanese animation and Dutch influences. We looked at famous Dutch artists as Rembrandt and Vermeer for inspiration as well.

IndieGameBlog.net: How long has Hollandia been in development and do you have a timeframe for completion?

MJ: We started production on this project halfway of March of this year, so

A third screenshot from Hollandia.

we’ve been working on it for five months. Our actual graduation deadline is August 19th, but we really wanted to submit for the Dream Build Play so we pushed ourselves a bit harder. We will release a demo of the game for public somewhere in September, and after that we will further develop it to hopefully have a complete version at the end of this year.

IndieGameBlog.net: What do you think of your chances in this year’s Dream Build Play?

MJ: There are really good entries, I’m so impressed. For us it was inconvenient that the deadlines for school and the Dream Build Play were two weeks apart. The day of the DBP deadline our game didn’t even work! We had to pull a few allnighters to finish the game for DBP. Still I think we delivered quite a nice game, and hopefully others will think so too.

IndieGameBlog.net: Are there any other Xbox LIVE Indie Games that stand out to you?

MJ: Yes, I am really impressed by some of the entries and really hope that they will be among the winners:

Dust: an Elysian tale, Magnetic Mind, HurricaneX2, Band of Bears, Guru Guru, Ones, Kaleidoscope and Aesop’s Garden.

IndieGameBlog.net: Any other thoughts/comments?

MJ: It’s fantastic to see what amazing games people come up with, and I hope the Indie scene will grow even more popular. Some of the games this year are really beautiful, and I’m pleased to see that the artwork and styles in Indie games are getting more important as well.

IndieGameBlog.net: Thank you so much for your time and good luck in this year’s Dream Build Play.

A massive thank you to Marthe for taking the time to do this interview, you can find more of her artwork and links to other games she has worked on at her portfolio.

Brilliant 2D art and animation. Let’s hope the gameplay can match the fantastic visual style.