I grew up in the countryside.
My home was surrounded by fields of sheep, cows and mud (so much mud).
I was fascinated by the gathering of cows and sheep that met me at the fence.
Flock
And the animals seemed equally curious about me.
I may not have realised it then, but it was a truly special time.
In Flock, players are tasked with acquiring a flock of their own.
But this is not your typical shepherding experience.
Rather, it is a gloriously colourful sky-bound delight, featuring flying sheep and a collection of eclectic wildlife.
It can be played either co-op or single player.
Hohokum itself is a rather ambiguous game, and almost defies explanation.
You glide and weave your way through a series of surreal landscapes and villages.
Hohokum is serene and hypnotic.
And it is this that I also felt when I watched Flock.
Our time together was all too brief, but we managed to cover a lot of ground.
I’m very excited to talk to you both because Christian Donlan speaks very, very highly of you.
I mean, that in itself could just be my entire interview.
Do you have any stories like this for Flock?
Where did Flock come from?
Hagget:Partly, I think Flock came from Hohokum.
I would say that’s definitely one of the touch points.
So it’s not a sequel to Hohokum, it’s not the same kind of game at all.
There’s very few bits of that game where you gotta have people rolling on you or not.
It’s just nice.
Thinking about that feeling [for Flock] and wanting to make a game that’s more about that.
We could have called Flock ‘Squad’… that would have been good.
Hogg:We spent a lot of time talking about flying in games.
But it’s a kind of flying-ish feeling, I guess.
Is that the same for Flock?
It’s got no score or, or any kind of on screen information.
Hagget:And approachable.
Hogg:So, Flock is a bit more video gamey…
There are more video game mechanics in it.
It’s very much just about the place and the creatures in it, and exploring that.
Can you share how the co-op element works in Flock?
Hagget:[Flock] is a great game to play with your friends.
You get given a guidebook, which at the start is empty.
Then there’s like a little identifying minigame.
But when you do catch it, that’s kind of another level of progress for that creature.
you could put markers in the world to show players places to go, or creatures to find.
It’s not a game explicitly about having to work together.
We really liked the idea that it’s much more chilled than that.
It’s not a game where most of the conversation has to be about game mechanics.
One thing I felt from the trailers, is it reminded me of 2020 during the lockdowns.
We had these lockdowns, and I suppose during that time there was a greater appreciation for nature.
I noticed a lot of people going out and listening to birds, or looking for birds.
I felt like it became a much bigger thing.
So in that sense, it is a lockdown-inspired game.
I’ve been a bird watcher since I was a child off and on, you know.
I wouldn’t say I’m a hardcore Twitcher anymore, but I am really interested in birds.
I volunteer at a local nature reserve and I do a lot of walking.
Hagget:It’s definitely directly inspired by being out, walking around and listening and looking for birds.
You know, the experience of it.
Hogg:I don’t know, but that’s interesting, isn’t it?
We’ve always made stuff like that, you know.
Everything we make is quite wholesome.
Hagget:Cosy is the new wholesome.
That’s what we do, and what we’re good at.
I hope there’s more demand for it.
I’m always looking for stuff that’s more calm.
Hagget:There’s certainly better curation around that style of game now.
It’s been good to see a bunch of those games be really successful.
Hagget:I’ve been making games for a while now.
And there are always lots of new ways of, as a developer, making money for games.
And those ways come and go, and ebb and flow.
And it’s very hard to make predictions about the big picture or like where it’s all going.
It’s good that there are different people offering different ways to fund video games.
I’d be sad if the only way anyone ever made games was through a subscription model.
But that isn’t the case.
you’ve got the option to sell your game still.
And that’s good.
And I think it’s good that there are subscription models as well.
And there’ll be new things coming all the time, and deals changing all the time.
On the Annapurna website it says: “As your flock grows, your sheep get woolier.
you might use your wool to shear them for hats, cardigans and even socks”.
Could elaborate on that?
Hogg:These hats, cardigans and socks are things that your character in the game wears…
It’s a cosmetic thing.
Hagget:Someone in our team is really into knitting.
So she has hats which were generated by an algorithm she wrote.
Wow, that’s amazing!
Hogg:Yeah, it’s really cool.
It’s really cool.
Have you ever sheared a sheep?
Hogg [laughing]:Have I ever sheared a sheep?!
No, have you?!
My friend’s a farmer and he very sweetly let me go and shear one sheep.
And my goodness, the following day, my arms were limp because those sheep can move!
He can do like 100 and something a day.
[Now also laughing] You have to hold it still.
I can’t really demonstrate from my desk [and yet, I still try].
You get it in some kind of vise grip with your legs.
And then you’ve got the clippers in this hand.
And you’ve got - well, I had - another farmer who’s holding the back.
And you have to kind of pivot around the body of the sheep.
And it’s quite the undertaking!
Hagget:Dick, did you finish the animation work on the sheep shearing?
I think you gotta shear real sheep.
I think we need to figure this out.
