WarioWare’s game director explains what makes a good microgame

For 20 years, Goro Abe has lived and breathed Wario, overseeing the development of thousands of microgames in the WarioWare series. When creating WarioWare: Move it! For Nintendo Switch, Abe helped refine over a thousand ideas to ultimately create 223 strange and wacky new microgames.

And while platforms can change and the way people interact with WarioWare games changes from title to title, the key factors that make a good microgame haven’t changed since then, says Abe WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. “The controls and rules of microgames should be intuitive so that every player can immediately understand how they work,” says Abe. However, he still expects people to fail on the first try. Abe adds that these microgames should also “make sense for as many ages and audiences as possible.”

Polygon recently interviewed Abe via email to discuss his work WarioWare: Move it!and his work as co-director, gameplay designer and programmer on the WarioWare series. He discusses what continues to excite him about developing microgames over the past two decades – spoiler: Games That Make You Move Your Butt is one of them – and the long-term impact of WarioWare microgame development on the human brain.

You can read our full, translated interview below.

---

Polygon: What were the team’s main goals when developing a new WarioWare game for Nintendo Switch?

Goro Abe: The original concept was to combine elements of a party game WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! and a more motion-based game WarioWare: Smooth Movements into a WarioWare motion-controlled party game for the Nintendo Switch system.

When we developed the game, we wanted to make the poses during the game look silly so that the spectators could have fun too. The chicken form (Ba-KAW) and the micro game that you defeat by simply waving and wiggling your arms (“Seaweedy”) are good examples of this. While there are some co-op microgames where two players can play story mode at the same time, we mainly chose turn-based games because we thought it would be more fun to have an audience.

Additionally, party games are designed to make this easier Proceedings Enjoy winning or losing, not just winning or losing itself. One example is Galactic Conquest, where the player who wins the battle game gets to roll the dice, but then all sorts of mishaps happen depending on the space they land on. There are many scenes where the player who lost the fighting game gets the last laugh because the winner lands on a square that forces them to start over or split their points. We tried to make it so that even people who are not experienced players can enjoy this title until the end.

Ultimately, I think we achieved our original goal of creating a motion-based WarioWare party game for Nintendo Switch.

How did the development go? WarioWare: Move it! different from previous WarioWare games?

First of all, the development framework was different. Intelligent Systems and Nintendo had the original idea, but when we got to the point where we could actually develop the microgames, we worked with other development companies. Initially there were differences in company culture and some differences in quality, but through conscientious communication and balanced optimization we got closer and closer to perfection. I think that the mix of different backgrounds and cultures of the staff ultimately led to more variety in the microgames compared to all previous games in the series.

And since it is a motion-based game, there are many microgames that allow the player to move freely from their own perspective, which required work on a lot of 3D graphics. Additionally, the programming to process the Joy-Con inputs was complex and required a lot of optimization. Because of all this, I feel like the effort put into developing a single microgame was greater than any other title in the series’ history.

What do you think makes a great WarioWare microgame? Has your opinion of what makes a great microgame changed over the last 20 years?

There are many factors, but I think the following are the most notable:

• The controls and rules of microgames should be intuitive so that any player can immediately understand how they work. For example, the balance we were aiming for was to allow players to win a game on their second or third try, even if they didn’t succeed at first.
• The theme for each game should be unique and relatable. We have carefully selected topics that are useful for as many age groups and target groups as possible.

None of these ideas have changed since we launched 20 years ago, but what we pay attention to changes depending on the characteristics of the game. I’ve already mentioned how important it was for us to make sure the poses looked silly during the game. This is the focus of WarioWare: Move it!

And since this is a motion-based game, we also focused on how the game reacts to players. Our goal was to create a simulated experience so that players feel like they have entered the game world. We achieved this by ensuring that the movements of the characters in the game corresponded directly to the player’s movements, and by adding vibrations and sounds in a way that felt natural.

After developing thousands of WarioWare microgames, how does the team ensure it doesn’t repeat itself?

First we collect lots of ideas. WarioWare: Move it! features 223 microgames, including boss games, but we’ve collected over 1,000 storyboard ideas from our staff. However, it’s okay if some of the games have similar themes. This is a motion-based game, meaning the gameplay is brand new, even though the theme is consistent with the first WarioWare game.

Another important factor is that I personally select which games are suitable. I have many of the previous WarioWare microgames stored in my head so I can focus on prioritizing choosing new ideas. Even though there are some similarities to a previous game, we’re changing things up to make it a different game.

Again, you must have played so many WarioWare microgames – which ones have excited or surprised you recently?

We were very excited when we realized that we could use the sumo form to create butt-moving games like Buttograph and Balloon Buster.

Microgames that use the IR (infrared) sensor, like Safe Snacker and Put a Lid on It, also felt new and refreshing. I initially thought that it would be difficult to integrate the IR sensor into this game since you have to use both hands to hold the two Joy-Con controllers, but then we managed it by using the left Joy -Con hanging on the console using a carrying strap. I think this particular way of solving such problems is unique to the WarioWare series.

Another microgame that I wasn’t initially convinced about in the idea phase was Chow Down, but once it was finished I was pleased to see that it actually matched the player’s mouth movements.

WarioWare games are happening so quickly and at such a rapid pace – does that ever affect how you think about games? (Or life?)

I’ve spent so long looking at ways to make a game more intuitive that I’ve realized how easy a game is to understand. Even when I play other games, I subconsciously think about what about the game was easy to understand, what was difficult to understand, and what could be done to make it easier to understand.

And lately I’ve been noticing the intuitiveness of things, not just in games but also in various things we encounter every day, like user interfaces and visual effects.

How exactly do you approach developing 9 Volt games and adapting Nintendo gaming history into microgame form?

First, we made a list of previous Nintendo games and collected as many ideas as possible that could be made into a motion-based microgame. We then went through the list and selected evenly so that no single title or system was favored.

However, with newer titles, even a short microgame is very labor intensive just to reproduce. When selecting the titles and their specifications, we took into account the reproduction method.

Once we had a pretty good idea of ​​what we should do, we reached out to the different developers of each game, who provided us with resources and guidance. The development of microgames at this stage is made possible by the contributions of many different people.

What was the inspiration for Wario’s island vacation?

For WarioWare: Move it!We had to teach players the Joy-Con poses (shapes) before they start playing the microgames. In WarioWare: Smooth Movements, we did this using forms found in ancient ruins. We wanted to adapt a similar introduction for this game, where there is a kind of legend that has been passed down.

But if we set the story in Diamond City, where Wario lives, it would have been the same WarioWare: Smooth Movements. We brainstormed ideas for a different and more suitable setting and finally came across a tropical resort. It made sense that a tropical island had its own unique culture and legends, and we could show a different side of Wario and his society outside of their regular environment. Since they’re all traveling to a tropical island, we thought the idea of ​​a corporate trip would be easy to understand, and that’s how this story came about.