Indonesia's indie games level up after Coffee Talk -

Indonesian indie game Coffee Talk was a surprise hit that charmed global audiences in 2020. In the past, local game developers were mostly locked out of major platforms like Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. That’s changing now

Indonesia, much like the rest of Southeast Asia, has a thriving game developer ecosystem. But it tends to produce free-to-play mobile games

Making games for PCs and consoles gives game devs more creative opportunities and income models. But it’s just more complicated

The tools are becoming more accessible, though, and gaming majors like Sony and Nintendo are doing more to reach out to indie studios

This is an era of opportunity for Indonesian indie developers, because the gaming industry is global and hungry for new stories

For Mohammad Fahmi, the best thing about working at Toge Productions, an Indonesian game development studio, were the “Game Jams”. They were like hackathons—ideas were pitched and prototypes were developed in a short period. And they were open to all employees. “Even the marketing guy, like me,” he says.

At one of the Game Jams in December 2017, Fahmi, the public relations and marketing manager, pitched a rather unusual game. By traditional standards, project Green Tea Latte wasn’t much of a game at all. It was more of a mood.

You play as a barista in a coffee shop and interact with a cast of human (and humanoid) characters who are regulars.

AUTHOR

Nadine Freischlad

Nadine is based in Indonesia. She covers Southeast Asia's super apps, the changing nature of work and employment, and other structural shifts happening as a result of digital disruption.

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