With Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart, Outright has released their second game based on the popular show – partnering up with 3DClouds for another family-friendly take on the kart racer genre. We connected with game designer Alex De Nittis at 3DClouds to find out more ahead of our playtest for the game – here’s what we learned.
3DClouds has been producing family-friendly racers for a while now. What are some of the bigger enhancements you’ve made to the game engine?
The team always looks for inspiration in other games but I think our background in kart racing games has been a huge advantage for developing this title. We’ve also had experience developing popular children’s brands into kart racers with PAW Patrol: Grand Prix and Blaze and the Monster Machines: Axle City Racers. For Gigantosaurus, we really wanted to expand on certain features so we added in different skills to help players get ahead and made some really cool obstacles like falling rocks and geysers to keep races exciting. One special skill called ‘Giganto’s Roar’ gives you the ability to slow down all opponents within a certain range.
What is some of the player feedback that has gone into the development of Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart?
A key part of our process has been playtesting not just internally but with children who fit our target audience. With their help, we’ve managed to make something we think players will love, but will also encourage independent play for our target audience; we’ve included features like the autopilot, to simplify the driving phase and allow kids to get to know the game at their own pace. I think the most exciting feature of this game is the inclusion of the Gigantosaurus and Spinosaurus, who create obstacles for players by running onto the track and making that race to the finish way more intense!
What can you tell us about the design process involved in making sure that Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart looks just right for the fans?
A big part of our pre-production process was spent doing research on the Gigantosaurus episodes so that we became familiar with the visuals and how that would translate to a kart game setting. Outright Games were also involved every step of the way, providing feedback alongside Cyber Group Studios, who gave us access to their soundtrack and character designs that fans would instantly recognise. We know how beloved Gigantosaurus is and we felt it was important to do the brand justice for those fans by bringing Cretacia to life.
How well does the game scale towards older players?
For older players, there’s three levels of difficulty for them to test their skills out and plenty of trophies to earn but the multiplayer mode is perfect for players who love the competitive side of things. Our goal with this game was to create a kart racer that the whole family could play together so the real challenge was ‘how do we make this accessible for the youngest children’? For that, we introduced the ‘autopilot’ feature that gives younger children support while they learn the controls.
What exciting elements can young fans of the show expect to see in the game when it launches?
We were really lucky as we had a lot to work with when it came to drawing inspiration from the Gigantosaurus TV show. The game itself is actually inspired by the episode ‘Racing Giganto’, and the land of Cretacia is so detailed that we were able to incorporate natural elements like geysers into the gameplay. The game also has three different locations – Savannah, Jungle, and Mount Oblivion — so we had the chance to create something really exciting with different racing backdrops.
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