Before I’m going to kick-off this interview I will have to come clean about something…Truth be told, this is our first new interview since May of 2021, and that was a looooong time ago. Long story short.

Due to the COVID circus, a broken Gaming laptop, sickness in the family (my mother), and a sudden move of our website (+ all of its data) to a brand-new server & web host…

Well, I think you get the idea. So I’m just going to get to the point. All of that combined pretty much forced us to postpone all of our interviews, reviews, previews, streams, Youtube videos, giveaways, and whatnot to a later unknown point in time…

As heavy and sad as that might sound though. I do have some good news to share with you all. Because as of today, we’re back in business again! You see, I managed to save EVERYTHING from my old Gaming laptop. All the interviews, reviews, previews, all of it.

So we will now start to roll out interviews, giveaways, and whatnot like we once used to do! And with that out of the way (which is something that’s been a very heavy burden on my shoulders for a long time now).

I’m very pleased to inform you boys and girls that I got a chance to sit down and do an interview with Mr. Danny Peet (the game developer behind “A Fox Tale“) not so long ago.

Well, we ended up talking about everything from his upcoming fast-paced precision platformer “A Fox Tale“, game development, Peet’s Kickstarter success story, the release plans for “A Fox Tale”, to Peet’s plans for the future.

So with that said, please enjoy our interview with Mr. Danny Peet =)

Robin TGG
First and foremost, thanks a ton for taking your time to do this interview with us =) So, with that said, would you be so kind to give our readers an introduction of yourself?

Danny P
Thank you for having me Robin! Yes, of course, I’m an indie game developer currently working on a pixel art platforming game called A Fox Tale. This is my first full solo project, and I’ve been working hard on it for almost a year now. It’s all really exciting.

Robin TGG
Do you recall how everything started for you in terms of playing video games and getting into game development?

Danny P
I can’t really remember a time before I started playing video games. My parents had the SNES console, and I used to watch my Dad play games on it. I was always amazed at how much better he was at it than me.

In terms of game development, I first started working on making little games around two and a half years ago, this was mainly simple little projects to improve my skills and develop my knowledge.

Robin TGG
From what I understand, ”A Fox Tale” is your very first commercial video game project, right? So, how did ”A Fox Tale” go from an idea to an actual full-blown video game production? (when, where, why, and how)

Danny P
Back in 2020, I felt I was ready for my own full commercial video game, but I needed an idea. I’d gone through tons of small games, and I’d stuck on a zombie survival game. While working on this, I was messing around with pixel art  and came out with this fox. I liked it, and posted the picture on social media. It got a pretty good reaction, and I wanted to explore the idea further.

After a week I’d built a custom physics system with controls, and set up a few simple stages. Some of my friends tried running and jumping around as the fox and really enjoyed it, that’s when the project started to become more serious and I decided to let go of the zombie survival game and work full time on A Fox Tale.

Robin TGG
Speaking of which, for those who don’t know what ”A Fox Tale” is all about. Perhaps you could give us a brief introduction of your game?

Danny P
Sure, I’d describe “A Fox Tale” as a platforming adventure. You follow the journey of Eva, a stubborn fox who seeks something that’s always just out of her reach. The story is a little dark in places but I’ve tried my best to balance this out with a touch of humor and well, some pretty cute animals!

Robin TGG
Not too long ago (October of 2020 to be exact), ”A Fox Tale” became fully funded via Kickstarter (congratulations!). Well, did you ever think that you would reach your Kickstarter goal on time? And what did you think and feel once you reached your Kickstarter goal?

Danny P
Thank you Robin. I really hoped it would reach the goal, but I didn’t think the funding was going to get there as the campaign progressed. It was projected to miss the target, but in the last couple of days, the indie game community was incredible and shared the game everywhere they could. Thanks to that effort it did get funded!

I honestly couldn’t believe it, there was only about an hour remaining when it did reach the goal. After it sank in I just felt very lucky and incredibly excited to work on the game. I was overwhelmed by the fact that,  especially in such difficult times, people have put their faith in me and my vision – this is always at the forefront of my mind when I work on this project.

Robin TGG
What would you say have been the greatest source of inspiration for ”A Fox Tale” during its development phase?

Danny P
There’s been a lot. I made a big list of games to play and made notes on each of them. It’s hard to just choose one game that has helped me, but to name a few of the most Influential: Super Mario World 1 and 2, Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Mario 64, Celeste, Super Meat Boy and Hollow Knight.

Robin TGG
Just out of pure curiosity, what was it that made you want to develop a game with a fox in the lead role? I mean, is there any special reason why you didn’t pick any other animal? (don’t get me wrong, I love foxes. I’m just curious).

Danny P
Well as I said before, it started with a pixel art drawing of a fox. They’re just very beautiful and majestic animals in my opinion. I find them fascinating to watch, I always think they’re somewhere between a cat and a dog in the way they look and move.

Robin TGG
I find the pixel art, visuals, and animations to be very well-made and beautiful in ”A Fox Tale”, with that said, have you always been into pixel art? And did you have to spend a lot of time on that aspect of the game?

Danny P
Thanks Robin, I’m really glad you like it! I’m definitely not a natural artist, and had done very little pixel art before A Fox Tale. My background before game development was more on the programming side.

I’d say making the art is the hardest part for me, and because of that, I spend a lot of time constantly changing and improving things. It takes me a while to be happy with what art I make for the game. Whilst researching art, I have found that I enjoy seeing other people’s pixel art creations online which always leaves me in awe.

Robin TGG
I don’t know if it’s just me, but ”A Fox Tale” looks and feels like a mix of ”Super Meat Boy”, ” Sonic the hedgehog”, and ”The Lion King”. So, is that a fair description of your game you think? Or perhaps there are some other games that would describe ”A Fox Tale” better?

Danny P
That’s an awesome comparison. Perhaps the craziest, but I’d say it’s pretty accurate for what I’m going for!

Robin TGG
What has the response and feedback been like since you announce ”A Fox Tale” to the world? And what are your own hopes, goals, and expectations for your game? (what do you hope to achieve?)

Danny P
It’s been amazing, I’ve loved being able to connect with some really great people who are interested in the game. I think my biggest hope for the game is that people enjoy playing it, I’d love to be able to keep working on “A Fox Tale” and improving it with the community after it’s released too.

Robin TGG
Can you give us some reasons why gamers should be excited for the upcoming release of ”A Fox Tale”? And what is it that makes the game stand out from the crowd in your opinion?

Danny P
For anyone who enjoys playing platformers or likes a story, I think A Fox Tale is a game to be excited about. One thing that stands out on the surface is that you play as a four-legged character in a 2D game, I don’t believe I’ve seen many games do that. I hope what will make it stand out when people play it is how tight the platforming controls are.

Robin TGG
Do you have a rough idea of how many hours of gameplay the final version of ”A Fox Tale” will offer?

Danny P
It’s hard to say at this point, but I want there to be extra content for people who want to keep playing after the main game. I also want to offer a lot of replay-ability for people who want to improve there platforming skills and beat the game in fast times.

Robin TGG
To my knowledge, there is no playable demo for ”A Fox Tale” at the time of doing this interview with you. So, if that’s correct, then could we get a chance to see a demo for ”A Fox Tale” before its full release?

Danny P
No, there’s no playable demo at the moment. However I plan to do some play testing through the A Fox Tale Discord channel, so there will be a demo version of the game available through there in the near future.

Robin TGG
And speaking of full release, is it correct that ”A Fox Tale” is coming to PC (Windows, MAC, and Linux this year? (2023) I’ve also heard that the game is coming to consoles as well in 2023? (PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch) Is that correct?

Danny P
Yes, that’s the plan. The console release would be slightly later than the Widows, MAC, and Linux releases but fingers crossed not too long after!

Robin TGG
As for my final question for you, what are your plans, hopes, and expectations for the rest of the year? And is there anything else that you would like to say to our readers?

Danny P
My plans for the rest of the year are really just to focus on the development of A Fox Tale and posing on towards the release. I love working on it, and can’t wait to get it out there.

I’d just like to say thanks so much for reading and being interested in my game! And thanks again to you Robin for interviewing me.

Robin “V-Act” Ek
Editor in chief
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround

More by Robin Ek:

• The realistic survival game “The Last Plague: Blight” is coming to Steam EA on October 3rd, 2024
• “Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Anniversary Edition” is coming physically to consoles on October 8th, 2024
• The single-button boss rush game “ONE BTN BOSSES” is now available for PC via Steam
• The unique viking base builder/roguelite/strategy game “Landnama” is now available for consoles
• The full version of “MARS 2120” is now available for PC and consoles

Tags: Adventure, Danny Peet, Fast-paced, Fox Tale, Indie games, Kickstarter, PC games, Pixel art, Platformer, Precision, Retro games