Interview of Maximiliano Demonte

One of the game developers we have worked with most to build this site is Maximiliano Demonte, the founder of QKY Games. We publish dozens of his games on our site, and recently had the chance to interview him.

What was the first video game you played?

My first video game was the NES classic Super Mario Bros.

Did you immediately take to playing games after playing the first one?

Yes, but I play more time now, I played lot of time to PES 6 in the past, and now I love the shooters games.

What type of games do you mostly play & how frequently do you play games?

My favorite shooter game today is Apex Legends, which I play maybe 10 hours a week. I also have 200+ hours in Rocket League too. Rocket League is not as fun, but I enjoy the challenge of how hard the game is.

When did you think about exploring being a game designer?

When i was a 9 year old kid I used cardboard and paper to create games. My dream was to have a laptop. Back then I would draw the laptop screens on paper and change it when I “clicked” a button. Crazy? Maybe, but I enjoyed this so much. 🙂

What made you decide to become a game developer?

The passion to create stuff, my love for laptops, and fun. I used more time in my life to create games than playing games.

When I was 12 years old, I set out to create a game, so I use Google and download dev-pascal. Obviously, I didn’t develop anything with that. I went back to Google and download Game Maker and it was very easy for me to create a game.

I created my first game in two days, and back then I only had a computer at a friend’s house.

What were the hardest steps in becoming a game designer?

Two areas:

• Learning English, as my native language is Spanish, and I live in Argentina.
• Drawing and learn how to polish a game to sell it.

I created maybe 10+ Adobe Flash games and they would not sell. After months and months of work – creating 10 more games – I sold my first game, which was a defense game in AS3 (Flash). To this day I continue to remember the perfect sensation of satisfaction and pride from the accomplishment.

Where did you come up with the name Qky Games from?

When I was a child, I used to tell my sister Qky, so the name is for her honor.

A lot of the games which are made in Construct tend to feel a bit unpolished. By comparison your games seem exceptionally polished. What do you do to create such a polished feel? Is it due to heavy testing, great graphic design skills, or something else?

I have maybe 8 or more years working with construct and 10+ years creating games. That experience, seeing other games, and spending a lot of time watching game developer channels on YouTube has helped me improve my skills, habits, and abilities.

Working every day with passion means I keep improving, as I love creating games.

Many designers have a specific feel or design to their games, whereas you incorporate a wide range of designs. Where do you look for inspiration?

I like to create different games, and to use different art styles and modes of gameplay. I love to create shooters or puzzle games, and to train my brain. The variation is great fun and prevents me from getting bored.

I play a lot of web games on my laptop or on my iPad. As I play, I of course enjoy playing games, but I also take inspiration from the ideas, effects, and designs found in the games. I keep incorporating new ideas into the games I design.

Many / most mobile games are based on app installs, but HTML5 games have been getting better over time. Do you see the app store model being the biggest thing that drives online game plays perpetually? Or do you think eventually HTML5 games largely replace the roll of app stores?

HTML5 games are great, as they have a low size, meaning they do not use a lot of data and can be downloaded quickly. Any child who has access to even a low-cost phone can play lot of cute games. Kids who don’t have a phone of their own can probably borrow the phone of their mom or dad or another family member.

How would you suggest the HTML5 game landscape has changed since you started making games?

When I started to create HTML5 games, I did not know anything, flash games were dying, HTML5 games were very short and boring, but lot of websites started to migrate to HTML5 and removed the Flash games. Some game portals ported Flash games to HTML5, so I knew QkyGames needed to create HTML5 games, but how? Remember my history when I was 12 years old? Again, Google 🙂

If a person wanted to design HTML5 games where would you suggest they start?

The best way to start with HTML5 is Construct 3, as they have a free version (with limitations). If a developer is just getting started and is interested in free software can try with GDevelop. Both game engines do not need code, just visual scripting, and both are very intuitive.

Both programs are great, though I prefer Construct 3, as they have a great community, and their software development is constantly progressing.

Thanks CardGames.pro for your interest in knowing the experiences and life of indie developers.

Thank you Maxi for making great games!

Players can check out some of Maxi’s great games (including a few exclusives) over here.

CardGames.pro published this on January 7, 2023