A naturalistic world for flying sausages: The evolving design of Flock

gamedeveloper.com:

"We feel really strongly about making games that are relaxing or therapeutic," says Flock art director Richard Hogg, explaining why the adorable collect-em-up leverages design in pursuit of feeling.

It's a philosophy that's visible in much of Hogg's past work. The veteran artist has spent years etching life into abstract oddities like Hohokum, Wilmot's Warehouse, and I Am Dead alongside frequent collaborator Ricky Haggett.

The duo's latest endeavor, Flock, is cut from the same cloth, but this time around the two developers, in tandem with the Hollow Ponds team, are hoping to create something that, while undoubtedly peculiar, feels more accessible.

During a recent interview with Game Developer, Hogg and Haggett explain that Flock was born out of a desire to let players slip into a kinetic flow and take flight—either solo or with friends. There's no manufactured impetus. No countdown clocks or malevolent threats. Instead, the breezy title simply asks players to tend to a herd of wide-eyed sheep, serenade strange critters to expand their floating flock, and soar across a painterly world on the back of exotic birds.

For Hogg and creative director Haggett, Flock is about "expression," but the duo initially struggled to figure out how to format their ideas in a way that felt tonally cohesive. Building on the foundation laid by Hohokum almost a decade ago—Hogg describes Flock as a "spiritual successor" to the cult title—the pair sought to inspire the same feelings of curiosity and wonder as the synaesthetic puzzler without repeating old mistakes.

"Although it's kind of a spiritual successor to Hohokum, one thing we really didn't want to carry over is that real obtuseness that tells you nothing," says Hogg, noting that Hohokum had