An Interview with Odie, of Orna.

An introduction from Coob:

     Greetings everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Coob: I am a person who really loves unique video games, but even moreso, conveying stories about the developers involved. I started this site with the intent of shining light the intent of showing those who work hard on their projects to an audience who might not normally get the chance to be exposed to them. I hope that you enjoy the subjects I present you, as much as I enjoy writing them~!

     The interview with Odie, of Cutlass Interactive.

Today I interviewed an independent developer by the name of Odie, the Creator and Sole Dev of Orna: The GPS-RPG. What is Orna, you ask? Well aside from one of the most addictive games in my recent memory, it is also one of the finest community driven experiences that I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. 

      (A photo of myself and my pet Ashen Phoenix, versus a Fey Yeti which is rather unfortunately obscured by a massive blast to                                it's face.)

     The games dev really means it when they describe Orna as "a game defined by item luck". But despite that, it owes much of its devoted player-base to being a game with almost zero microtransactions, player-trading, pay-to-win, or whaling, and it'll probably stay that way forever. But, I digress. Here's the interview in full~☆

0. Who are you? (With as much or as little detail as you are comfortable giving - just a formality.) 

   Hi! Well, I go by Odie. I'm a gamer of 30+ years and a professional developer of 15+. I'm from Canada. 

               (Pictured: Odie, the Creator)

1. Growing up, what was your first video game you played? What was your favorite, and what was it about that game that just did it for you? 

    I believe it was - in an anticlimactic manner - a Mario title. However, I will say that I remember the first game that really captivated me to not only video games, but the RPG genre as a whole: Earthbound.

                       (Earthbound, SNES)

1a. When was the moment that you decided that you wanted to make games of your own? Has the urge to develop always been there, or was there a precise moment that you can trace that you said to yourself: "This is what I need to do"? 

    I'm actually not sure there was a single moment, to be honest. But with Orna, that initial pour of feedback over Reddit was a real motivating moment. Until that point, Orna was a project that was solely shared and enjoyed my some close friends of mine. Sharing it was over Reddit was a litmus test to see whether it was worth continuing.

1b. I've personally preferred to work with a team to develop games in the past. However, the word around the community by and large is that you are a one-dev-show. If so, Does that make work easier for you, because you don't necessarily to coordinate a team of people? 

    Yes and no. Working alone has really allowed me to branch out creatively and work on the developments I've been passionate about at the time - at my own pace. But, it does get lonely - and the pressure does get rough when things don't go just right. There's become an incredible amount of things to be accountable for: uptime, moderation, the roadmap, and keeping touch with the community.

    But lately, I've felt much less like a "solo" operation. The community involvement in translations, moderation, and more, have really brought the project somewhere new. Orna is only as strong as its community is.

1c. Orna is a fantastic game to me, personally, - and I'm sure lots of us have often wondered what was going through your head when the initial idea for it came to you. Care to share a bit of your memories from that for us? 

    In all honesty, it was a bit of an organic accident. I was teaching myself a little bit about geolocation technology while creating a simple game. Eventually, the game just snowballed into a deeper RPG and I began enjoying actually playing it. Then my friends started playing it. Then folk over Reddit.

       (Odie is actually pretty easy to spot in              game, with a custom sprite, and class!)

               [Photo courtesy of "Otchy"]

2. You can see there is a tinge of influence from other games within Orna, such as some of the naming conventions within skills, for example. What would you say are some of your inspirations from other games? 

    Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma, Chrono Trigger, and of course Final Fantasy.

     (One of the strongest skills in the game,        Ultima - shares it's name with a spell of the             same caliber from Final Fantasy!)

2b. Throughout the game there’s several mentions to different cultures mythologies. Is there any one mythos that inspired you the most?

    Irish / Celtic mythology is super cool, and really isn't touched on that much in popular fantasy. But Norse is just so rich, you can't go wrong. 

   (A page from the in-game Codex, depicting         Odin, a common 10☆ [Tier 10] Boss.)

3. Orna is a game that has a  seemingly deep lore that's only really expounded in the odd item descriptions and briefly through in-game menus á la Souls. Was the indirect, and sometimes intentionally open-ended narrative always your intention, and was it meant for players to solve, or draw their own conclusions? 

    Yes! This was absolutely intentional, and definitely inspired heavily by Souls. I find it such a unique way to tell stories and create a slow drip of information / lore / community speculation. I know quite a few players may be annoyed the vagueness of item effects and descriptions, but I love seeing the community's dialog and exploration that it results it.

    (One of any item descriptions that leave vague mentions of an event known as "The                                   Falling".)

4. You are often seen in close contact with the players of your game - a unique approach, considering that most devs have a team of people that handle the public relations. Was it always your plan to maintain a close community relationship with your player base, or did it happen organically? 

    Honestly, the community really grew faster than I muster any plans for. Some early players established the Discord without me, and it grew a ton before I took a stronger position. So, it was definitely organic.

    That said, the relationship between dev and players is paramount, and I plan to always be part of the community.

4b. As a sort of follow-up to the previous question, since you’ve started Orna the player base has grown quite a bit. With hundreds and hundreds of kingdoms and communities intersecting them; was it always your aim to bring people together who may not have otherwise had anything in common? 

    Ha - I really can't say it was an aim as I never foresaw the community getting as large as it did. But, I am very happy with the result. Some amazing communities have come out of Orna, and some great real world things (shoutout to Wyvernhand, et al.) came around pre-COVID.

5. Okay, shifting a little away from Orna for a moment: I've been pretty serious into this game you've got in development right now, The Gauntlet. Can you tell us a little about this game and how it came about, and where your inspirations came from for it? 

     (Odie's Newest game, The Gauntlet has Earthbound inspiration in all the right places,        while still being unique all on it's own!)

    There is definitely some Earthbound inspiration driving the battle system and lofi graphics. I wanted to play with a rogeli[k/t]e base as well, as mobile just seems to fitting for a simple one.

    Furthermore, as others have speculated, it's been a good sounding board for some combat mechanics I'd like to see/try/implement in Orna.

6. Okay, back to Orna for the last one: Orna is rapidly growing: the playerbase, the mechanics, everything. The teaser for Tier 11 had me super-hyped. What are some of the plans for the game that you have for the future? 

    Even with the playerbase as large as it is, I still feel there is a lack of a "connectiveness" feeling when playing. My current plan is to take a stab at correcting that via more co-op and realtime features. It'll be a larger undertaking, but will open a ton of doors for new play.

    Oh, and more content, of course. We could use a few more minor activities, and a little more in the endgame.

       (The 11☆ Class Teaser, Arisen. Photo         courtesy of, well... Odie, obviously. I mean                    look at those Orns, man!) 

Bonus Question: HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DRINK ALL THAT COFFEE?!

    (shakes uncontrollably)

I'd like to thank everyone reading this, it was fun to talk to Odie, and even more fun being part of their community. I hope to bring you further interviews from Orna: The GPS-RPG, with perhaps Community Leaders, and Prominent Players in the future!

Lastly, thank you, Odie - for the interview, and the game. Now if I can just get that 200% Abyssal Axe...