Released in March 2022, City Defense quickly reached over 13 million downloads. But one doesn’t simply walk into success. It took hard work and over 80 prototypes for the studio, Slowmo, to find the right combination of game mechanics.

We spoke with Slowmo’s CEO, Baptiste Falvet, to find out what drives them, how they approach game development, and what opportunities and challenges they’ve encountered and think might come in their future development. During the interview, Baptiste also explains how Homa helped City Defense succeed thanks to the support of an experienced team, data, and the Homa Lab. Grab a coffee while we sit down with Baptiste.

• WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE SLOWMO?

I founded Slowmo in June 2020. Before that, I studied game development at ISART Digital Paris and specialized in gameplay programming. While there, I did several internships for hypercasual studios. I realized that there were many opportunities in the market, but I had to choose between joining a studio or creating my own. I decided to start Slowmo.

• HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH HOMA TO CREATE AND PUBLISH CITY DEFENSE?

City Defense was an idea we thought up with our publishing manager at Homa. Originally, it wasn’t the game you know today at all. We were actually first inspired by Dice Push. The concept was to roll a die to deploy units and then defend your base with them.

But after a while, we decided to change the concept completely. Homa helped us bring a draw mechanic into the game instead. It sounds simple now, but it was really a long-term process where we kept revising and tweaking the idea.

• WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES YOU FACED?

We actually had two main challenges creating City Defense. The first was optimization. There are a lot of units in the game, so there are a lot of calculations. We had to optimize that, which was a long-term process. Thankfully, we had the help of some developers at Homa who specialize in optimization.

The second challenge was about balance. We needed a smooth progression through the levels, which was particularly difficult with so many units. A data analyst from Homa who was really good at balancing games helped us figure that out.

• WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE WHEN CHOOSING THE RIGHT PUBLISHER TO WORK WITH?

What's most valuable when working with a publisher is, of course, their expertise in user acquisition, ads, and everything related to it. But aside from that, you should look for a publisher who will work with you to come up with great ideas. You should have a good relationship with them and be able to understand each other.

• WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS A MOBILE GAME NEEDS TO SUCCEED?

Mobile games need a fresh concept. Developers are testing game ideas on the market all the time. But what really works is when you manage to bring something new. You don't need – or want – to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to find new ideas. Maybe it’s about merging some concepts or taking things that work and tweaking them so they can work in a different way.

• COMING UP WITH UNIQUE IDEAS IS HARD. HOW DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?

There are many ways to find new ideas. One way I like is to take 2D games and try to find ways to make them 3D, maybe replacing simple shapes with human characters or even changing the camera. Another way would be to take a hit game and try to change the toy, so the main character or object of the game.

• ONCE YOU HAVE IDEAS, HOW DO YOU PICK THE CONCEPT TO DEVELOP?

You need to respect the principles of hypercasual. The idea needs to be really easy to play. Beyond that, you need to be sure that your concept has enough depth. So when we’re picking a concept, we look at it and ask ourselves: Does it have enough depth? Is it marketable? What’s the theme? You need to choose that theme wisely, because some work in hypercasual, but others don't.

You also need to think about marketability, replay value, and in-game stats in general. Will the players be coming back to the game? Or is it something they play once and then leave?

• HOW DO YOU LET AN IDEA GO IF IT DOESN’T HIT THE KPIS?

Personally, I'm kind of used to it. I’ve been in the hypercasual market for a long time, so I’m used to letting concepts go. I think what's really exciting about prototyping in hypercasual or hybridcasual is the chance to switch from concept to concept to try to find the next big hit and never work on the same game.

Maybe, at some point, the prototype you’re developing isn’t working. But that’s not a big problem. It'll probably be the next one. You just need to keep going. For me, it's always exciting to change concepts.

• WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES RIGHT NOW FOR GAME CREATORS?

Hybridcasual. It's really exciting because there are a lot of new concepts to find, but it's also a big challenge because the games are harder to make. We need to go more in-depth with game design, and we need more optimization and more balancing. It’s harder, but it's very exciting.

• HOW DO YOU STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST TECH AND TRENDS?

Well, of course, I watch the top charts of the Google Play Store and App Store. But another way is to look at YouTube a little, as there are some channels that present the new games they find. For example, New Games Daily.

Homa also has an internal tool (Market Watcher inside the Homa Lab) that allows us to see interesting new concepts being tested on the market.

• WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SMALL STUDIOS OR INDIE DEVS?

Focus on a few concepts, but do them well. So invest your resources in a single idea and don’t try to do everything at once. Basically, focus on developing a great prototype.

• ONE LAST QUESTION: WHERE DID “SLOWMO” COME FROM?

Slowmo comes from when I was a student. We used to make a lot of games, and I liked putting the slow-motion effect in every one of them. That’s why I chose this name for the studio.

ABOUT BAPTISTE:

Baptiste Falvet is a founder & CEO at Slowmo. He describes himself as a game developer first and CEO second. When he’s not managing the studio’s projects, he’s coming up with new concepts, developing games, and keeping up with the latest trends. But what he enjoys most is the excitement you get when you have a new concept that could be a hit.

For more insightful articles & interviews, visit Homa Mag.