Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Mana Bomb, two guys who didn't let their location keep them from pursuing their dream of being extravagantly rich game developers.
How did you or your company get started?
Dan Weatherman - Programmer: A group of friends were eating lunch one fateful day and between the fajitas and enchiladas we started brainstorming about a game we would like to play. By the time we were done, we had a good starting point for what turned out to be Colony Defense. I thought, "Hey, I can do that I bet" and Jason Boren (designer) said, "Well let's do this then!" Boom, Mana Bomb was born. Wow, we had NO clue how much work it would eventually take to get our game to the point it is today. It's probably a good thing too, as I don't think any of us just love a ton of extra work. But here we are and we're very proud of what we've been able to accomplish.
Jason Boren - Janitor: I just wanted to do it, create something ourselves that we've enjoyed from everyone else for so long. I literally told Dan I would do anything to make it work, including being the janitor for our company. Nothing against janitors, but they really have nothing to offer a game company starting out who doesn't even have an office.
