Interview: Ben Moy, designer of Buku Sudoku!

With the release of Buku Sudoku this week, I was given the chance to ask Ben Moy, the designer of the game, some questions on not just how the game works, but also some interesting insight on how Microsoft deals with Live Arcade titles, and what they've been up to since the announcement of the game back at E3 2007. Read on!

What games had you worked on before Buku Sudoku?

This list is quite long, having done evaluation, testing, localization, production and design, but to name a few, and more recent ones where I was the lead Producer: Disoku Apprentice, Disoku Master (Disney Sudoku PC), Triple Threat Pinball (Cartoon Network PC), Buku Kakuro PC, Buku Sudoku PC, and LASR (PC Racing).

How many people are on the Buku Sudoku team, and how long have you worked on this project?

A lot of people touch a project over 2.5 years, but I would describe the core team as 5 people, with A LOT more deservedly making it onto the credits pages, pages being very plural, especially from Microsoft and VMC.

What is the meaning of Buku? Why did you choose it?

With a rhyme, Buku was partially a phonetic joke on the French "beaucoup," meaning many, or a lot. With irreverent humor being pretty big around the office, it was sort of a dig at where many of Merscom had been born and raised, North Carolina, and the south. Think Jeff Foxworthy. It resonated with our fun/funny bone and Buku Sudoku was born.

A version of Buku Sudoku was released for the PC and Macintosh a few years ago - how have you expanded on the concept laid down by the original?

I don't want to write a tome on the specifics here, cause there is a HUGE difference, so this is a general answer and you can ask specifics if need be. The main difference is that Buku Sudoku 360, the working title, was designed with the 360 in mind. That means HD graphics, powerful animations, assorted complex and simple controllers, couch and LIVE multiplayer (these were even combined), achievements, leaderboards, DLC, and a greater range of gamers, allowing us to cram in TONS of customizability. We drilled down into how each of these facets of the 360 would allow us to provide a visually, aurally, and functionally wonderful and unique Sudoku experience to 360 owners, and I'm proud of the result. The PC version taught us the algorithms for puzzles and gave us credibility with Microsoft, but Buku Sudoku 360 is effectively a completely new project.

This game includes 1,200 different Sudoku puzzles - what puzzle sizes are available and how does a player select each puzzle?

You've got 3 difficulty categories based on the techniques needed to solve them, easy, medium, and hard. Then you have 4 grid sizes, 6x6, 8x8, 9x9, and 12x12. There are 100 puzzles available for each combination, totaling 1200 puzzles. More packs of 1200 puzzles will be up with gamer pics, and dashboard themes for a really affordable price, especially compared to books, I want to say 150MP for 1200 puzzles plus more.

Buku Sudoku supports multiple controller schemes - how do you deal with selecting a numbers on a standard control scheme and which other controllers do you support?

At the beginning of the design, I'd say the main focus was on how to bring this pen and paper game to the controller beneficially. Essentially, there are 2 base schemes, simple and advanced. Advanced is faster than paper, and you can even select any number with your eyes closed (not that this necessity is likely to ever arise). In both cases, the player moves the field cursor using the left stick or d-pad, and the number selection cursor is manipulated with the right stick. The key difference is how the number cursor moves. In simple, the cursor, and here's insight into the customizability I mentioned before, the cursor is displayed in a panel on the left, and/or in the cell itself, and the layout of the numbers can be changed from a keyboard numpad layout to a telephone keypad layout, this cursor moves in the direction the right stick is held in. Then the player uses the face buttons to enter in a Pen or toggle the Pencil mark for that cell.

In advanced, the cursor auto centers, acting like an 8-way analogue aiming device, with the cursor snapping to the closest value while the right stick is being pointed. Then pulling the triggers enters the selected number as a Pen or Pencil. Not pointing RS and pulling a trigger enters a 5, and pointing RS straight down and pulling a trigger enters a 2 (keyboard layout). In addition to the simple scheme being good for players still getting used to 360 controls, the panel also offers more options, like a horizontal or vertical cyclical layout that requires just 2 directions to change the selected number.

While it may sound a little complex, either scheme is understandable with just trying to play 1 game. And in addition to all these options, we also offer left and right one-handed schemes, support of the BBC (Big Button Controller), any of the Xbox360 DVD Remotes, and even the Dance Pad.

How do the leaderboards work for this game?

There are multiple leaderboards supported, with a wins ordered board for competitive/ranked multiplayer modes, and the other boards being different totals of Buku Points ~ points that are earned across the whole game in every puzzle solving mode, single player and multiplayer.

How do the different multiplayer and cooperative modes work?

There are 4 multiplayer modes, each offering the same selection of puzzles, grid sizes, and difficulties in the single player experience. First there is local multiplayer, for 2-4 players where each can have their own controller settings. Then there is LIVE co-op, for 2-4 players with the possibility to bring local players signed in as Guests online too. Both co-op modes have players working on the same screen, same puzzle. Guests can also be brought online for Team VS, for symmetric or asymmetric teams, 2-8 players total, where the goal is to be the first team to solve the puzzle. The last mode is Duel, where it's 1v1 and filling in a group (row, column, or box) will delete one random lone cell from the other players board. Completed groups have their cells protected. Clever players will find different strategies and counter strategies here and in this next point: there is one more twist to the competitive modes, a mini-map of the other side's puzzle progress is shown, allowing you to see their progress and where they're filling things in.

Any plans for Downloadable Content, and if so how will it expand on an already large product?

DLC is ready for puzzle packs coupled with gamer pictures or a dashboard theme. These packs have 1200 new puzzles. There is also the possibility of more puzzle environments or custom packs, think symmetry or even harder difficulties.

The game was shown way back in the E3 2007 Microsoft Conference during the Xbox Live Arcade montage, and was one of the three game not yet released (the others being Feeding Frenzy 2 and War World). Has the game been in the waiting queue for some time, being pushed back due to other more high profile releases?

The queue wasn't an issue in the long development cycle. It was more a mutual quest for polish and quality. QA for the full featured Xbox360, stuff like Join in Progress, Memory Card behavior, or even that description that tells you exactly what your friends are doing ingame, requires many iterations to get perfect in every instance imaginable, because when you have millions and millions of users, they manage to perform some very very odd combinations of actions to produce obscure bugs. I'm impressed with Microsoft's adamant quest to provide users with the most solid experience possible. Microsoft was integral for focus testing the different controls, as well as other aspects of the game post-E3 as well.

The Xbox Live Group has been known to be very picky with what can come to the Xbox Live Arcade. What was the process for bringing Buku Sudoku to the service, and were there any difficulties getting there?

Initially, when we started to talking to Microsoft they had 5 or 6 proposals for Sudoku from other publishers, including some of the really big ones. The portfolio manager at the time, however, really wanted something other than a basic Sudoku game (think GO Sudoku) and was impressed with the depth of our proposal, especially what I put together for multi-player. Fortunately, they ended up choosing Buku as the exclusive Sudoku title for XBLA. Of course, that was just the beginning. Microsoft understands the importance of an iterative process to get everything just right. Unfortunately, this can also lead to basically scrapping whole game features. Things that came and went included completely different menu schemes and graphics, game themes, grid sizes, multiplayer modes, USB keyboard support, more puzzle options and more customizability (if you can imagine that. There's already so much). Hopefully, some of this will make it into DLC.

Have you seen Sudoku puzzles in your sleep? Just how sick are you now of Sudoku?

I've dreamed about riding zerg overlords through painted landscapes, walking the desolation of the Fallout universe, and co-operative zombie management ala Resident Evil and Dead Rising, but I think the Japanese theme of Sudoku has made it into my dreams. And rather than being sick of it, I'm actually really looking forward to the release and finally playing the retail game with my girlfriend, my friends, and earning real achievements (instead of achievements through testing), though I can't win the 10" TV we are giving away.

What's your favorite Xbox Live Arcade title to date?

Until recently, I would've answered Geometry Wars, with Puzzle Quest being a close second, but N+ has taken that honor easily, thanks to its equally fun multiplayer. I really like social gaming, and for the same reasons it's a focus in Buku Sudoku are the same reasons I love N+.

What else would you love to see on the Xbox Live Arcade someday?

If I had to name just one game, it's surprisingly clear, Capcom's 4 player arcade masterpiece, Dungeons & Dragons Shadow Over Mystara. It really is the pinnacle of the beat em up genre, with branching paths, multiple endings, 6-8 different characters, items, combos, experience points, spells, easter eggs, and strategy galore. Argh, now I want to buy an arcade machine (is the cost worth eating a diet of Ramen Noodles for life?).

Thank you Ben for taking the time for this interview, as well as Merscom for setting it up.

To check out some new images of Buku Sudoku, click here!