by: Andrew Webster

Capybara Games had a busy 2009. After toiling away making cell phone and iPhone games, the Toronto-based studio finally made a name for itself. First came the addictive PlayStation Network puzzle game Critter Crunch, which was followed up by the strategy/puzzle hybrid Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, one of our top Nintendo DS games of the year. We sat down with Capy's co-founder and president Nathan Vella to discuss Clash of Heroes and life in an indie studio.

Critter Crunch

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Clash of Heroes rode a wave of critical praise that Vella describes as "overwhelming." It was featured in numerous end of the year lists (including our own) and currently holds an average score of 86% on Metacritic. "I'm pretty blown away by how much people are talking about it, especially people we respect: the CO-OP guys, you, Jeff Green," Vella explained.

But how did a little known studio end up with a license like Might & Magic and the backing of a major publisher like Ubisoft?

"We were at the point where our studio could start making the kinds of games that we wanted," says Vella. "Our creative director Kris had a concept for a DS battle system...and everybody was really behind the idea. Everybody knew, from the start, that it could be something interesting and different. Puzzle Quest had already made a giant splash so we knew that there were people that would be interested in playing something that was a mix of puzzle and strategy/RPG. So we took the idea, pitched it to Ubisoft and they loved the idea. They're really keen on bringing Might & Magic back into the forefront. And they had been talking a lot internally about how to do that on DS, because they thought that DS would be a really interesting platform to hit people who hadn't necessarily heard of it, and didn't really know about the amazing past that Might & Magic has.

"It was kind of overwhelming how good of a fit it was," Vella added. "Because, when we pitched it to them, we pitched a really, really well thought out solid gameplay concept, but we didn't really spend that much time on the world, the lore, the factions, that kind of stuff. It was just something that, while we had ideas, it was pretty loose. When Ubisoft said 'what do you think about this?' we loved the idea and we think it suits really well with the Might & Magic lore and the world. It kind of fit the vibe...We had the concept and Ubi had Might & Magic and the two just kind of fit together."

While it's not the biggest franchise, Might & Magic certainly has a dedicated following and a rich history dating back to 1986. And Capy knew that their unique take on the series might not sit well with long-time fans.

Might & Magic circa 1986

"We had pretty much assured ourselves that anybody who loved Might & Magic was going to hate us. From the very beginning we knew that, basically, we had to make the game really, really good so that the people who love Might & Magic for so long would not be disappointed...It was mostly intimidating from a cult following standpoint. In terms of how storied the Might & Magic brand is, we weren't really that intimidated by that. We just thought it was pretty cool to be working something that had such a neat video game past."