You would be doing yourself a disservice if you skipped over Omno while searching for your next Xbox Game Pass game — it’s a wonderful adventure and is all the more impressive considering it was made by a solo developer: Jonas Manke. We chatted to Manke in the leadup to Omno’s launch, and he told us more about the challenges of solo development, achievement design, and bringing Omno to life. It would be easy, when gliding through Omno’s hauntingly beautiful world, to assume that a much larger team had been behind its creation, and Manke admits that it could be a “lonely road” to be the game’s sole developer. “Working on a game solo requires working in very different areas simultaneously — which I was not used to,” he says. “So sometimes I made a design decision in one place, but later realised that in another field (say storytelling) it required something completely different. So there’s quite a lot back and forth, which means progress does sometimes go quite a bit slower than expected! The biggest challenge overall though is probably just staying on track and staying focused,” he adds. “Without having fellow devs to bounce off of, it can be a lonely road — so staying disciplined and motivated is a constant battle. Luckily I have a super supportive family — my wife is the person who I talk to about everything I’m working through and she’s amazing. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get to the end of the project without her constant support, advice and love.” Manke has worked on Omno for years, and opted for a different angle when asked what advice he would offer to other solo creators or small teams. Instead of the usual tips of “get feedback early” and “never stop learning,” he encourages other developers to “take more breaks,” adding, “it can really speed things up!”Manke also has a background in animation, and cites this as the reason he began with a character when creating the game, adding that it’s “very different to how most games start! I wanted to learn the process behind implementing my animations into a game engine,” he continues. “I didn‘t really have a plan for a game yet, just pictured a monk-like adventurer that has a heroic and curious attitude, yet has a vulnerable, young appearance. The art of animation can really breathe life into things, so although I was told otherwise from more experienced devs, I animated him very early in production. I wanted to feel his personality. It‘s a fine line of giving him enough specific attributes to make him believable while leaving enough room for interpretation and projection from the players.”Seeing him move, walk, jump and look around in an empty scene in the engine made me want to build a world for him to explore and enjoy. The curiosity I felt in him, the unstoppable will to seek for something ‘out there’ and his fragility, his inexperienced and fearful side really made him interesting for me. He wants to prove himself, yet doesn‘t know how to. In that sense, creating this character was the first prototype of the actual game.”One of the loveliest things about Omno is the feeling of natural progression in exploration and puzzle solving. The game rewards you for trying things out and for being a little curious, and this is reflected in its achievements. “The achievements aren’t overly complicated, in the same way Omno isn’t an overly complicated game,” Manke explains. “They will be rewarded primarily just for progressing through the game, with a few little extras to encourage some fun interactions with some of the creatures in the game… [and] hopefully some that encourage a little extra playfulness. Overall I wanted Omno to be a pretty accessible game that audiences young and old could enjoy equally, so I designed the achievements in the same way I designed the game — to feel satisfying and rewarding, rather than overly challenging.”Omno is available now with Xbox Game Pass. If you’re wondering what to play next, we definitely recommend it — if you’re interested in hearing more, check out our Omno review.
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