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The Rabbit and the Owl

Formal Sheep is an independent game development company which aims to create thought-provoking, surreal, and fun experiences for multiple platforms. It was founded in March 2016 by Gary Chao. Its debut game, The Rabbit and the Owl, is currently under development and is tentatively set to release in 2017 on Steam for PC and Mac. Formal Sheep is currently based near Sacramento, California.
We met Gary‘s team during PAX West 2016, and gladly chatted with them about their story behind The Rabbit and the Owl.

About the game

The Rabbit and the Owl is set in the world of Yril, an ethereal world where light and darkness prevail. Where a once vibrant land once existed now lies a faded shell of its former self. Remnants of an ancient civilization litter the landscape. Whatever fight and struggle for survival that the people who once lived there has since long passed, for now it is obvious that they lost. Now, two kindred spirits, for reasons unknown, have manifested themselves as the Rabbit and the Owl. You will help guide the Rabbit and the Owl through places like tranquil forests, harsh deserts, and crumbling cities while seeing echoes of the past along the way toward a fateful encounter in the depths of Mt. Rulnar.

How do you like the PAX event so far? Are you guys planning coming to GDC next year?

PAX was amazing. We met with over a thousand people, most of which loved the game. After having this many people try the game, I feel more confident and inspired moving forward. This was also my first PAX, and although I'm a little sad I didn't have time to see much I still very much enjoyed it. We are planning to go to GDC next year at least as an attendee if we don't make it into the Independent Games Festival.

The ultimate question－why would you want to build a game? What are the ups and downs being a game developer? What are the stuff you would like work on if you are not a game developer (hypothetically)?

I want to build a game because games have given me so much, more so than any other medium of content and entertainment. I could not see myself working in any other industry than the games industry. I wanted to build one myself because I have always wanted to. Being a game developer means it's great having creative freedom and control to make something only limited by imagination, but it comes at a cost of having a sacrifice a lot in order to make it happen. I don't have a stable income at the moment and have had to keep things as lean as possible in terms of cost. If I wasn't a game developer, I would find a way to still be in the industry. I am simply too passionate about games to not want to be a part of it.

Which is your most admired game company or individual game developer?

My most admired game developer is probably Jonathan Blow, who made Braid and The Witness. Braid was the first indie game I have ever played, and it left such an inspiring impact on my path to becoming a game developer.

What are your favorite games so far? Which one of them has the biggest influence on the style of the game? (The rabbit of the owl reminded me of a game called “one and one story”, which is also about two characters helping each other through a puzzle game.)

Off the top of my head, my favorite games are Braid, Limbo, Antichamber, Stardew Valley, Dark Souls, and FTL. As you probably guessed, Braid has the largest influence of my game.

Any literature influences while building the game plot (such as stories, novels, movies, etc.) ?
A: There are certainly some influences such as Dark Souls and Children of Men. There are probably more, but I can't think of specific examples right now. It's all kind of cumulative influences over time.

The characters in the Rabbit and the Owl is super cute, with an interesting contrast to the gray-scaled base tone. What are the influences regarding the art style?
A: Thanks! My artist actually came up with the design of these animals - I only helped shape what animals they should be and tweaked them a bit. For the most part, the artwork is delegated mostly to him with some influence by me. That's just his natural style, and I felt it fit perfectly for the game!

What are the things you wanted the Rabbit and the Owl to have, but not there yet?

Everything I want them to have in the game is already there!

Any interesting/fun stories you would like to share while developing the Rabbit and the Owl?

I met my artist Andrew through a trip to Vegas. He was a friend of a friend, and through talking I found out he was an art student wanting to do art for video games and that we had a lot in common. So through this experience, you can be sure we now have an eternal bond.

What are the biggest challenges that you met since building this game?

Biggest challenge is definitely multitasking and putting on a lot of different hats. It's really just staying motivating doing the things I don't want to do (like business side) and doing things I do want to do (like game development). This is a constant grind and wear on me, but I know in the end it will all be worth it.

What are the plans for your future games? Any particular type/genre or stories you are interested in building?

I definitely want to tackle an RPG of some sort - however those are very large in scope and can be challenging even for a second game. I haven't put much thought into the actual game design of the next one yet, just bouncing around ideas. Nothing has really stuck to me for sure that I want to do next.

Would you like to share a nice photo of your team and office that you wanted to be included in the interview article?

We don't have a picture together since most of us now work remotely, but here's one with me and Justin, who helps me with level design and was there at PAX with me to help exhibit the game.

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Thanks for reading :)