In their own words, Kurechii is a studio filled with passion, creativity and determination. This is especially evident in their catalogue of games that includes ‘Tiny Guardians’, the ‘King’s League’ series and now light RPG, ‘Postknight’. With games for iOS, Kindle, Android and even the Nook, they’re slowly building a reputation for solid titles with excellent gameplay mechanics, high production values and an inventive hook. My Boxed Universe managed to grab a slice of this busy studio’s time quickly after the launch of Postknight to pick their brains.
MBU
First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us today. For those not in the know, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little about Kurechii?
KURECHII
We are a cosy little Malaysian-based indie game studio, aiming to bring more memorable and unique games to the world!
The studio’s name is a mix of the words “creative” and “crazy”—as our team is fuelled by a healthy mix of creative and crazy minds.
MBU
How did Kurechii form?
KURECHII
We first started as a 3-person student team in 2009, trying our skills at a game pitch. After winning the grant, we proceeded to make our first game—Reachin’Pichin. All three of us still worked day jobs then, and only took time out after working hours to complete the game, and the next one that followed.
In 2011, Kurechii was officially registered and we came to work on game full-time from then on.
MBU
What was the first title developed and was it the first idea you hit upon or did it have to fight its way to the top of a larger pile of concepts and demos?
KURECHII
As mentioned earlier, our first game is Reachin’Pichin, a launcher game playable on browsers. We started off by choosing a genre then, so it narrowed down a lot of options for us—which in retrospect was a good thing. That gave us slightly more time to spend on deciding on the setting, features and details that were all put in place after.
MBU
Postknight is your first foray into the RPG scene, is it a popular genre in the studio?
KURECHII
Most of our games so far have been strategy ones, so trying out an RPG is a first. That said, the Kurechiians do enjoy RPGs—and that of course, did help in us making Postknight what it is.
MBU
What does Postknight bring to the mobile market?
KURECHII
Our main goal for Postknight was to present a fulfilling RPG experience for those on-the-go. Considering that it is for mobile devices, we wanted players to be able to go on their adventure anywhere and at anytime, instead of having to allocate a whole afternoon only to be able to play.
Various features in the game are designed to give that experience. We also highlighted the important features of RPG in Postknight: the progression, upgrades, characters, etc.
MBU
Many of the games in your back catalogue have a fantasy realm theme, is this coincidence or a case of world building?
KURECHII
It is for world building, most of our games are set in a world called Prism and the stories are centered on the kingdom of Kurestal.
MBU
PostKnight features a number of elements, from item levelling to romance systems, what about the game is the best element for you?
KURECHII
I think that the best element of Postknight is the fact that it is gives a balanced mix of progression and management.
Players can follow the postknight’s adventure whilst making their choices on what equipment to don, which girls to date, what items to trade for, what skills to equip, etc. The former eases the player into the world of postknight, while the latter opens up endless possibilities and experiences for them.
MBU
Are there new elements planned in future updates?
KURECHII
Yes, quite a few! There were some features we didn’t include in the release, but have decided to add after going through various player feedback. Do keep an eye out for announcements on Postknight’s Facebook and Twitter if you are interested!
MBU
How has the reception been since launch and what information did the lengthy period of the game on Test Flight give you?
KURECHII
As this is Kurechii’s first free-to-play mobile game, we weren’t too sure what to expect, to be honest. However, we are happy that players have been enjoying the game, allowing it to rank in the store charts, and helping us reach a million downloads in a week’s time.
Our early accession period gave us valuable feedback on what improvements to prioritize, I think it contributed Postknight’s well reception upon release.
MBU
Is the game on target for financial expectations?
KURECHII
Postknight is doing fine and we are happy with what it has achieved in that area.
MBU
Did anything get cut from the title that you’d have liked to have seen included?
KURECHII
Instead of being cut, there were some features we held back on including for the release. But as mentioned above, we will be including some based on overall player feedback and the game’s performance.
MBU
Can we expect more RPG systems from Kurechii in the future?
KURECHII
As we’d like to continue building the world where our games are currently set in, it is very likely that our future works will include RPG elements.
MBU
What’s the studio’s next project?
KURECHII
We will continue to improve Postknight while transitioning into our next major game—a follow-up to the King’s League series.
MBU
Do you have a personal favourite RPG or any particular memories with RPGs?
KURECHII
I asked the team, and here are some of ours: Grandia, Final Fantasy 7, Maple Story, FF Tactics, Shining Force.
MBU
Why go free to play with PostKnight over premium like Tiny Guardians?
KURECHII
When working on a game, we begin by deciding on the gameplay experience we want to give to our players, instead of choosing the business model.
Since we wanted Postknight to be an RPG for those on-the-go, it would be a game with a shorter gameplay session and targeted to a wider audience. Based on that, we chose to go with a freemium model.
On the contrary, Tiny Guardians is more centered on the experimenting of strategies in various set levels that requires a longer play session. There are various classes, challenges and modes in the game, and players could finish the game in one sitting if they wanted to, and go back to challenge same levels with a different strategy another time.
MBU
What’s the best received game from Kurechii to date?
KURECHII
Our King’s League series. Since the first game, it has received warm response and feedback, spurring the follow-up releases. King’s League: Odyssey also won a lot of international awards (notably, the Best Game award at IGF China 2014), and has the most player count amongst our games.
MBU
Do you have any advice for budding game devs?
KURECHII
Complete a game and release it.
You will be able to learn from it: what you did right and what went wrong. Through it, you will know what mistakes to avoid in your next game, while applying the lessons learnt to it. The more you go through this process, the better your games will be.
MBU
Thank you again for your time today, if any of our readers would like to check out PostKnight HERE and other titles mentioned in this interview for themselves, Kurechii’s official website can be found HERE.
My Boxed Universe 