Indie game development is a precious process, especially for Fabien Weibel. The animator and game developer took to focusing on his passion project during last year’s pandemic, and after pouring hundreds of ours into the making of it he finally released Haven Park this summer. We had the chance to catch up with Fabien to talk Haven Park and also his approach to creating the Animal Crossing-like game under the conditions of the pandemic.
Fabien studied art and animation in Lyon, France for five years and worked in Paris at Cube Creative Company as a director. He then moved to Luxembourg where he had the opportunity to develop his own animated TV series called Barababor, which is currently broadcasted in 60 countries. About two years ago, he decided to start a new journey towards real time rendering, such as VR and video games, and he learned Unity and started a few VR projects that brought him to releasing his first indie game as a solo developer.
So what is Haven Park?
Haven Park is a small exploration game where you need to take care of a natural park. Players are encouraged to build charming little campsites, meet and make friends with the campers, and explore the surrounding area for ways to improve the park. The game takes much of its inspiration from similar wholesome games, like A Short Hike and Animal Crossing. You can play at your own pace, discover quests and meet cute characters along the way.
We had the incredible opportunity to join Fabien on a playthrough of his game while discussing his process in developing the indie title last year. You can find our full conversation below and be sure to check out Haven Park, available now on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Linux, macOS, and Macintosh operating systems.
