Review Fix Exclusive: Inside Gathering Sky

Review Fix chats with Gathering Sky co-creator Crystal Ngai who discusses the game’s origin, development and goals.

About the Game:

Since it launched in 2015, the experience has been honoured with over a dozen industry awards, including three awards from the 2016 Game Audio Network Guild awards, a placement at IndieCade and an honourable mention at the 2016 IGF.

Simply put, Gathering Sky is a love letter to the games that aren’t about winning, scoring or conquering.

Review Fix: How was this game born?

Crystal Ngai: Sometime in 2013, we made this prototype simulating the coarse controls in directing a flock. We thought it was pretty compelling, so we added in a bunch of other things we liked — birds, painterly art, cellos!

Review Fix: What was development for the iOS been like? Any hurdles?

Ngai: Gathering Sky was developed in Java for Android, so the process of porting it inevitably caused bugs. On the other hand, it was very refreshing to be able to verify that the game works on all of the devices! An unexpected hurdle — apps released only for iPad devices don’t show up in an app store search on iPhones, so it caused a lot of confusion!

Review Fix: With all the competition on the mobile market and in the indies now, how difficult was it for you guys to try and make something that stood out?

Ngai: When we started making Gathering Sky, the mobile market was pretty different. While we did try to make something we hadn’t seen before, it was more important that we were making something we really enjoyed. Gathering Sky represents something personal within us, so I like to think it’s unique in that way!

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone play this game?

Ngai: I hope that someone would be attracted to Gathering Sky for its aesthetics and the promise of a tranquil and meditative experience.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Ngai: I hope people will remember Gathering Sky as a beautiful, hopeful experience.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this game?

Ngai: If Gathering Sky helps make your day feel calmer, or brighter, even just for a little while, then it’s accomplished its goal!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Ngai: We’re not quite sure, but whatever it is, I’m excited for it.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14263 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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