Ski-E-O! Ski Resort Tycoon

Rose: For someone who has never heard of your game, how would you describe it without using the usual genre labels?

Well, it's a game about running a ski resort! You design the runs, place lifts and buildings, hire staff, and bring joy to thousands of little skiers.
Every mountain in the game is built from real heightmaps from mountains around the world, so you can find out if you can run a better ski resort than your favorite resort.
You also play through multiple years and seasons, so you have to handle real weather, droughts, storms, good years, bad years, and more.

Rose: Where did the idea for this game come from?

I love skiing, and it felt like a lot of ski-based games didn't tackle the most important part of skiing: weather. Every ski game I've played has always just been 'snowy'. But part of being a skier is watching the first flakes fall outside, having an amazing powder day, watching the forecast waiting for a storm, and being bummed when you strike out.
So I really wanted to create a game that tackled all of it.

Rose: What makes your game different from other games in the same space?

As I mentioned in the previous questions, we have real mountains with real weather. Playing in Tahoe (my home mountain area) means experiencing huge blizzards followed by days with no snow. Playing in Japan means you get non-stop snow for months. Australia has really variable snow, making it super challenging.
I personally believe that I really understand and love skiing and that it shows. The small details matter, such as a chairlift slightly swaying in the wind.

Rose: Was there anything you had to cut that you still secretly wish you could put back?

For a while, I had guests just sometimes dip off into the trees. This felt real and fun, but then players would get confused as to why guests were off-trails 😅

Rose: What is something players probably won't realize took an absurd amount of work?

Skier navigation.. such a pain. Still continues to be a pain. The reason is that trails can overlap and be drawn on anything, they have multiple 'junction' points where they can connect. Plus we have over ten thousand skiers that all need to figure out where to go next in a smart, but efficient way. It's a really difficult system.

Rose: What is the weirdest bug you've encountered that you almost wanted to keep?

I kinda love it when the lift towers get wacky heights (it's happened a few times). One time the guests ended up riding a lift at an almost 90 degree angle and that was just super funny to see.

Rose: Is there a particular emotion you wanted players to walk away with from your game?

Absolutely. Watching the first snow fall should invoke a cozy feeling of "it's that time of year again", the time for warm fires, hot cocoa, and nature.

Rose: What's one piece of advice you wish you'd had before starting?

I've been in games a long time, so it's hard to pick just one. But I'd say the most critical piece of advice is: make a game that needs to exist. Your game needs to have something that no other game does. It can't just be, "Like game X but better." Build something that people look at and go, "I've never done that before", or "I HAVE to play that."

Rose: Five years from now, what do you hope people remember about this game?

Honestly I hope people are still playing it five years from now! But for those that are just playing it now, I hope they can look at a beautiful ski resort they created and feel proud of their work.

Rose: Why should someone reading/watching this go play your game today?

For skiers: You're going to love the attention to detail, the real mountains from around the world, and the beautiful mountain views.

For tycoon players: You'll love the approachable but detailed economy and the feeling of growing your ski resort from nothing into something incredible.
For cozy gamers: You'll love watching thousands of cute little guests eat, drink, and be merry, while you decorate a stunning ski resort.
For everyone else: It's fun and there's a free demo. Why not try it out?

Rose: Finally, the question we ask every developer: After everything you’ve told us, can you officially confirm that your game is, in fact, probably a game? Why should we believe you?

It's probably a game. It has rules and victory conditions. Is that what defines a game? Who even knows anymore. I guess you should believe me because I've worked in game development for nearly 20 years. If I don't know what a game is, who does?