BW: First I must say thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions for my readers. We (at the Asylum) are always excited to find out about development studios located in our backyard (relatively speaking). How did the development studio come to be?

CG: We both moved back to New Brunswick, Shannon from Vancouver and Adam from Edmonton, around the same time and lived together for a few months while we were finding our own homes. During that few months we played around with the idea of making an indie game.

BW: It is good to hear that some Westerners are coming out East. Did you or your brother have any formal computer programming training prior to jumping into game development?

CG: Adam has taken courses through Athabasca University online. Also, he has read many books on the subject. Shannon has a Bachelor of Design.

BW: Canned Games recently published its first title called “Sidehill Gouger" which is currently available on the Xbox Live Indie Games. Tell us a little bit about Sidehill Gouger.

CG: It is a puzzle game, with a hide-n-seek format. You are a young boy, named Andrew, going on an adventure outback of your Grampie's camp. The goal is to find the sidehill gouger in each puzzle stage and knock him out with your slingshot so that you can progress further along the countryside to your ultimate destination, the fishing creek.

BW: Was Sidehill Gouger the first project tackled by Canned Games or just the first published project?

CG: It was our first project and first published project.

BW: I noticed that Sidehill Gouger borrows heavily from an old classic PC game called “Hunt the Wumpus". Were you or your brother a fan of the classic game?

CG: The concept was to recreate a game we loved to play in the early 80’s on the TI/99-4A entitled “Hunt The Wumpus". We wanted to re-envision the game with a new look and feel and add more modern gaming elements, such as additional creatures for challenge. Also, we added trophies based on different skills played, such as speed (par times), accuracy(streaks) and endurance(ever increasing challenge). We hope that other Wumpus fans out there will find the game to be nostalgic for them as well.

BW: I really enjoyed the game and I am not the only one. So far the reviews for the game have been fairly positive. Is this a pleasant surprise to either one of you?

CG: We are definitely very pleased with the reviews we have had. We find it amusing to see so many references to the gameplay being similar to minesweeper, since that game had never even crossed our minds.

BW: As indicated, the game is now available from Xbox Live Indie Games. What was the main reason to first develop the game for the Xbox Live Indie game platform?

CG: You do not need a publishing contract and it reaches a very large audience. And we are huge Xbox fans and love to play Arcade and Indie games.

BW: How long did Sidehill Gouger take to complete from its inception point till it was available on the Xbox Live Marketplace?

CG: We started on August 10, 2009 and it was released on December 15, 2009. The majority of the game design and programming was done by mid November. The last couple weeks was waiting for the game to go through the review process before release.

BW: How many people worked on the game in total?

CG: Primarily it was the two of us. Adam Culberson was the programmer and Shannon Brownlee created all the artwork. Our brother, Luke Culberson, composed the title song for the “Sidehill Gouger" entitled, “The Woods Traveller". And our father, Joseph Culberson, Professor of Computing Science at the UofA, was a HUGE help in designing the algorithm for the random map generation.

BW: Wow, my family cannot even have dinner together let alone create a game. Were there any budgetary considerations that needed to be taken into account?

CG: The cost of xna membership.

BW: Sidehill Gouger is a great bargain at only 80MS points or approximately $1.14 Canadian. The game would still have felt like a reasonable purchase at 240MS points. What was the main reason to go with a cheaper price point?

CG: This being our first game, we were unsure of what to expect in regards to sales from the indie game marketplace. Also, we wanted to make it an easy purchase, so lots of people could play our game.

BW: Did you receive any sales numbers so far in regards to Sidehill Gouger?

CG: Yes, but for the time being we are keeping that to ourselves. sorry =)

BW: Understandable. Are there any plans to port the game to a different platform such as the PC, the iPod/iPhone or the Wii all of which also enjoy a very strong indie game presence?

CG: Possibly in the future.

BW: The game introduces some interesting creatures such as the sidehill gouger, the treesqueak and the hidebehinds. Both the sidehill gouger and the treesqueak are based on existing mythological creatures. Are the hidebehinds also based on some myth?

CG: We were inspired by our grandfather, Everett Culberson, and his mythical creatures that he would warn us about before going out back in the woods of Carleton County, NB to play. Those being the Sidehill Gouger, Treesqueaks and the Hidebehinds. He never explained further as to what these creatures were or why we should be wary. And being young children from Edmonton visiting for the summer holidays in the New Brunswick countryside, our imagination naturally created the identity of the monsters into something quite scary.

BW: According to Western Canadian lore, sidehill gougers are reputed to be very timid herbivores, not the type that would attack people or leave bloody markings. Any reason why these Atlantic Canadian gougers are so angry?

CG: When we were children we did not know what a Sidehill Gouger was...there was no google search available back then. So, we re-created the Sidehill Gouger from our memories of our childhood imagination of it, which was something fearsome. Our idea was to bring back that feeling of being young and going into the woods and imagining all sorts of fantasy creatures of your own creation. Playing and pretending that the world is much more magical than it appears.

BW: I could not agree more. Developers are often very secretive about their in-development projects. Are you at liberty to give my readers the inside scoop on Canned Games’ next title?

CG: Well, we can say that it will be spicy and smell fresh!

BW: Are there any current or long term plans to develop for the Xbox Live Arcade platform or possibly even retail Xbox 360 titles?

CG: If Microsoft makes an offer...of course!

BW: Are you and your brother willing to share your Xbox Live Gamertags?

Sure. Adam (Daggart) Shannon (Shmoogurt)

BW: One final questions. Be honest now, when taking a walk in the forest behing your home, do you keep a watchfull eye out for sidehill gougers, treesqueaks and hidebehinds?

CG: All the time. And we always bring a slingshot!

BW: Thanks once again for your time. I do look forward to this new “spicy" game that you mention. Make sure to drop me an email once you have something to share. Keep up the good work and I wish you and everyone at Canned Games the best of success.

For more information about Canned Games please visit www.CannedGames.com
Read the Asylum Game Review of Sidehill Gouger here