We Interviewed the Creator of Pumpkin Days!
We had the pleasure of chatting with the mind behind Pumpkin Days! If you want to learn more about it check out their official website or by reading our article!
Tell us about Pumpkin Days.
I was inspired to make Pumpkin Days after failing to secure a job in the game industry after graduating with a BFA in game design and being stuck in a minimum-wage job. I'm a huge fan of farming games and before the rise of Stardew Valley, the farming genre was sparse. Dissatisfied with my favorite farming game franchise, Harvest Moon, I set out to create my own farming game. I wanted a 3D, more fleshed-out, and immersive farming game. Pumpkin Days was initially called Pumpkin Online because we had set out to make an MMO due to the demand for a multiplayer farming game. We later scrapped that idea midway through development. It was very costly, and we had to start over nearly two years into development, but the decision to make it a single-player game with peer-to-peer multiplayer contributed to us finishing the game.
What are some unique features or mechanics that set Pumpkin Days apart from other farming simulation games?
We have quite a bit, and this is just scratching the surface. One of the features fans love about Pumpkin Days is having robust LGBTQIA+ options for the player, which is not available in most farming games. We have a non-binary character creator using body sliders instead of picking a gender and the ability to date any NPC regardless of gender; we included a system for polyamory with no limit, including the ability to plan a wedding with a cutscene that includes marrying 3 NPCs at a time in the cutscene.
Pupkin Days also has many farming gameplay mechanics that set us apart from other farming games. Pumpkin Days has many items to collect and explore compared to other farming games, including over 100 crops, 80 herbs, 100 flowers, 100 bugs, 150 fish, 500 recipes, 100 dateable NPCs, and many more. Not to mention the opportunity to purchase a total of 7 farming plots across three towns, that grow different types of crops. Pumpkin Days does not shy away from animal meat as it offers much more diverse recipes for the players to cook compared to other farming games. The player can rear animals for their meat or buy meat from the market. However, we also added a cooking system that includes the ability to use substitutes such as tofu and seitan if players want to craft the same dishes using real vegan substitutes for meat and dairy. Pumpkin Days also greatly emphasizes dating and relationships with NPCs, something that I feel is omitted in many indie farming games. We focused on making the dialogue for the NPCs fun and unique and different across over 100 characters. The player has to unlock some dating cutscenes before jumping into marriage. Once the big day comes, the player can plan their wedding by picking the time of day, the color of flowers, their wedding attire, and more, something I don't think I've seen any other farming game do. However, for players not interested in romance they can invite a NPC to be platonic roommates instead when maxing out their heart level, and they will help you on the farm. There are many other features that I do think are different from other farming games.
Tell us about the male x male option
Because the player can date any NPC in the game regardless of their gender, and there are many male characters you can date across three towns. The male characters in Pumpkin Days have a wide variety of personalities and designs. Takeo is the most popular male character in the game. He's a very polite and friendly doctor with yakuza tattoos exposed on his arms. The characters don't get too in-depth with their backstories, but they will drop little hints at what their past might have been like. I think this is what makes this character very intriguing.
How do you hope the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in Pumpkin Days will positively impact players and the gaming community as a whole?
I hope that my game, as well as others, can encourage the inclusion of LGBTQ content in more influential games with a larger audience reach and impact. The Harvest Moon series (Now Story of Seasons) was very reluctant to include any LGBTQ+ features back in the 2010s, citing it as too difficult. Now, ten years later, they have included many LGBTQ+ options in their remakes, so we are already seeing the impact, and I couldn't be happier. I also hope that players who can't or aren't ready to be their true selves just yet can find some respite in roleplaying games that allow them to be whoever they want.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on a new game called Mangato: Life in Taiyokawa. It is a manga-ka life sim in a solar punk city. It's a cozy game in the city, which I don't think has quite been done before. The various activities the player does around the city give them buffs for the type of manga they are making. The game will focus on crafting, collectibles, mini-games, quests, and relationships.
Advice for new game devs?
Don't make your first game an MMO or live service; like me, they're overrated. Get some game dev experience making smaller games and working with a team, like game jams, which you can find on itch.io. While Pumpkin Days is my first published game, I felt like I avoided many rookie mistakes that would have killed my project had I not worked on multiple smaller projects beforehand. Project fatigue is real. Ride the wave of inspiration as far as you can, but it won't be there forever. Make sure to take breaks when you feel the project fatigue coming on so you don't burn out and abandon your project permanently.
Where can people support your work
Our website is pumpkin--interactive.com. You can find all of our different socials there. Buying or wishlisting Pumpkin Days on Steam helps a lot. We plan to do another Kickstarter for our next project in the future, so follow us to be notified for when that happens.
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