‘Download This’ is an irregular series of interviews, primarily focused on the games, the people, the business, and the overall challenges of being an independent console developer in the downloadable space.

Perhaps best known for their work on the Penny Arcade Adventures and DeathSpank, Hothead Games is a name to know in the downloadable space. Joel DeYoung joins us to share some insight on the studio and their latest game, Swarm, which also happens to be the team’s first original IP.

For those unfamiliar with Hothead Games, could you tell us a little about yourself and your role at the studio?

I’m one of the co-founders of the studio and currently act as Director of Game Technology. Really this means I wear any number of hats, trying to help where I can (or at least looking busy). Most of my last year and a bit has been taken up by acting as producer on Swarm.

Swarm is very different to the games you’ve created thus far, your first non-RPG. Was there a specific desire to work in a totally different genre?

We never really set out to make a particular genre. We started the company to focus on the digital distribution side of things, and we’re open to creative, innovative gameplay in any form that fit that mold. Swarm was proposed by one person at Hothead, based on their Ph.D. research in artificial intelligence.

In the game, swarmites are constantly dying. Was the game always intended to celebrate their deaths in the way it does?

It kind of evolved that way. We created the cute (yet somewhat stupid looking) character–the swarmite. They look so clueless we thought it would be funny if they died a lot. Then the more time we spent on it, we made it more and more a core part of the gameplay itself.

Were there any memorable deaths that didn’t make the final cut?

Not that I can remember. The lead animator kind of went wild, and we decided we would put in whatever he had the time to do during the length of the project.

In contrast to the studio’s previous titles, Swarm is designed for constant replayability and leaderboard jockeying with friends. What do you think will hook players into that mentality?

Well the game is all about high scores, and the scoring system is setup with several key aspects in mind. First, there is no natural maximum score for any level. This way, we don’t have thousands of people tied for first at the top of a leaderboard. Second, the multipliers and multipliers on multipliers mean that as your skill grows, your score grows exponentially. The technical upshot of all this is that it keeps the range of scores really wide on the leaderboards. And if you’re competing near the top, it means every last pickup and every last millisecond counts!

The best way to get high-scores in Swarm is to keep a robust multiplier going and a clever way to continue it in the absence of any points, is the ability to sacrifice a swarmite at any time. What was the challenge of balancing that sort of risk/reward mechanic?

Level design, play test, fix the problems, and repeat. We play tested a lot so we could see where people had problems and where they had the most fun.

Although the games play radically different, the comic deaths of the swarmites and the ‘one must survive’ mentality are reminiscent of Psygnosis’ PC classic, Lemmings. Was that franchise a point of inspiration for the game?

It wasn’t a direct inspiration. Certainly a lot of us on the team loved that game way back in the day. But the game and its core play are based on the Ph.D. research of Dr. Mike Hayward, Hothead’s resident doctor. We hear the reference to Lemmings a lot, and I suppose it’s because the swarmites are really compelling, they aren’t that bright, and they sometimes have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

Aesthetically, the blue swarmites are in direct contrast to their hellish surroundings. What was the challenge of designing an alien race that felt like it belonged in the game world, but was also obviously an outsider, on an unfamiliar planet?

Swarm is all about contrasts. The swarmites are blue, round and soft whereas the world is everything but blue, sharp and dangerous. The swarmites are adorable and cute, but their deaths are over-the-top violent. We set this core principle of contrast when we started on the art direction, and it kind of came out from there. If the swarmites feel like they don’t belong, then I think we succeeded. Plus the contrast has the practical effect of helping you see where your swarm is even when explosions are going off and all hell is breaking loose.

Prior to Swarm, Hothead had worked on DeathSpank and On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, which were both preexisting ideas to varying degrees. What’s it been like working on a property cooked up completely in-house?

It feels really natural to us. Our studio is filled with creative people with lots of great ideas. We enjoy making fun games whether it’s an entirely new creation, or based on someone’s work that we admire.

Swarm is published by Ignition Entertainment, but you’ve also worked with EA Partners in the past. What have the benefits been of working with a smaller publisher?

Working with EA and Ignition on our last couple of titles has been great, each in their own way. When you’re finishing a game, there are so many different things to be thinking about just in getting the game done and out the door. So partnering with someone to handle the marketing, PR and release activities around the game really helps us maintain focus.

Before we part ways, is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers regarding Swarm?

If you haven’t already, try the game out! There are free demos on both XBLA and PSN. See you on the leaderboards!

I’d like to thank Joel DeYoung for taking time out of his busy post-release schedule to answer our questions. Swarm is available now on both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.