Fully employed mother of 6 makes a game in spare time; I ended up feeling she’s “too extraordinary to serve as an example”!

Taking everything into account, how long did it take you to make the game?

Perhaps around 400 hours?

So with about 2 hours per day of work, then about 200 days.

I was sometimes able to work throughout the weekend, so I wouldn’t say that long.

Little by little, in a workspace without a desk and chair.

Originally there wasn’t even this space. She found a cranny in the kitchen and worked there until I told her “you’re getting in the way my cooking, so move over there!”.

Indeed! Oil splatter would make the computer very dirty! （laughter）

Wow… That’s actually kind of imposing. I’m sure there’s lots of other people, like myself, who do one job but think “Someday, I’m gonna make a game!”. So today I was thinking that today I would come here and be able to hear “Oh, this is something people would feel encouraged to hear” or “this is a good model for me!”, but now I am worried that people will read this and lose hope.

Because after hearing about what Yukimi has gone through, there’s just no excuses! “I’ve got kids”, “I’ve no time”, “I don’t have the space”, “I don’t know how”, “My computer’s old” – all of those are things that you’ve just ignored and found a way to ignore and make your situation work for you. That’s very formidable!

Are you sure? While you say those things as a compliment to me, it doesn’t feel special to me. I’ve always just enjoyed making things. Even the card game was just “I hope the kids will enjoy this.”

With six kids, it’s just not possible to make special time for each one on a regular basis. But if they’re playing a game [I made], then they’re still able to have fun playing.

Really, I’m just making children’s games, and specifically targeting my own kids. There’s no game over and you can just keep pressing the jump button to fly around, so it remains accessible to the youngest kids. It really is a game focused on “just feels good to play”.

I really understand that feeling of “just feels good to play” you targeted. I think you really succeeded.

For the readers at home, I hope you will give “Pixel Game Maker Series LUNLUN SUPERHEROBABYS DX” a fair try! After all, the boss is a piece of poo. It almost feels like something out of CoroCoro Comic!

Kids do love poo! （laughter） I’m sure you agree that a ‘normal’ game is generally too challenging for little children and they give up.

When you have a group of kids playing, a younger child might watch an older sibling play a game that is too difficult for them, and I think that’s unfortunate.

That’s why I thought “I want to make a game where even the youngest child can reach the end”. I hope this allows everyone to have fun together.

Does this mean that you enjoy playing games, Yukimi?

I used to. But just a ‘normal’ amount. I played Mappy, Mario, Dragon Quest and other typical games.

But for me, games were like anime and dramas. I would go to school, talk with my friends about games we had all played – it was more like a communication tool. No adults, just something spreading between kids. In that way I really liked it.

When I finished my game and my kids played it, my oldest and my youngest played together and it made me happy to think “oh, they’re able to talk on the same level about this!” With harder games, my youngest kids can sometimes get left out.

Hmm, hearing this makes me think you’re a very sensitive person, or perhaps to say that you have a creator’s sensitivity. In that way, it almost feels like there’s a disconnect between who you are and your work in finance. Have you ever felt “perhaps this isn’t where I really belong”?

Not at all. As I just said, I feel that games are really about communication. And what is work but communication.

Communication is all about the connection between people, and I feel that I am able to achieve that. In fact, I often hear “I came by to see you” from our customers.

I feel like I’m talking to some kind of superhero!

I’m not sure I could do what I’m seeing here…

At first it was just basics like “Idle”, “Move”, “Jump”, but things slowly got more complex as I needed more movements.

And you’ve even managed to keep it so nicely organized too… This, again, really impresses me for someone who has no prior experience.

It’s not something that I planned, but just happened organically as I was putting the game together.

In fact, I’m the type of person that plugs away at tasks. It’s easy for me to get tunnel vision, so I really do rely on support from my husband and kids.

My family gives me so much support, so it’s the truth that that’s how I was able to finish the game.

Then would it be accurate to say that you enjoyed the process of making the game?

Yes, I think so.

Are you also considering making a sequel?

Hmm, my kids have entrance exams and entrance ceremonies, so once those are over and things calm down again I think I would like to, yes!

Do you ever think about making this your full time job?

I have days where I think “if there’s enough sales, that would be nice”, but I think that’s going to be a challenge.

I think there’s the possibility that someone in the game industry is going to see this article and ask “why don’t you come join us?” You’re pretty amazing!

I’ve loved making things for a long time. I’ve handmade pacifiers and toys, modified the stroller, make sweets, and then made the card game.

So making a video game is just an extension of that spirit. Just making enough to recoup the cost of the new computer would be a nice result! （laughter）