Flipper is a game that, perhaps more than other games we’ve covered, deserve your attention. Why? It’s one man’s labor of love. And when I say one man, I do mean, one man. Flipper for DSiWare is made top to bottom by Hugo Smits. I was lucky enough to get him to answer a few questions for us about his one man marvel, Flipper.

Flipper to most is still a mystery. Can you give us a brief rundown of what kind of game it is, and what the players objective will be?

Basically it’s a puzzle-adventure game. The hero of the game lost his goldfish (named Flipper) and you need to find it back. This sounds a lot easier than it is, because there are a lot of obstacles in every level. You need to use powerups to transform the landscape to your advantage!

From the screens, concept art, and video, I see a rather exuberant kid and a rather lethargic looking goldfish. Care to introduce these characters to us?

Well, the boy doesn’t have a name. But his best friend is his goldfish (named Flipper). One night Flipper gets kidnapped and the you (the boy) need to rescue him. Flipper on the other hand has no idea why the boy is freaking out like that. He’s simply happy to swim in his bowl, minding his own business.

The graphics in this game are pretty bold, and not exactly clocking out the DSi in terms of graphical capability. I find them extremely charming. Is there a reason you decided on such a visual throwback?

Ah, quite the contrary is true! Flipper runs on my true 3D Voxel Engine. A technology normally used for CAD scans on big medical computers. So believe me that it’s pushing all the DSi has to offer! The Voxel Engine allows us to dynamically change the landscape (i.e. blow up whatever you like, build things,etc).

The visual style is somewhat retro. Basically voxels are 3D cubes, so they come off as a little blocky. Besides, I really love old-school games so I thought pixel-art would be a brilliant fit.

Since this is a downloadable title, I have to ask, how long do you think the game will take to beat? Are there any extras that will keep us coming back?

It really depends. I think you can play through all the levels in about 1.5 hours. However every puzzle levels has a hidden golden star. Collect 4 of these stars per world and a secret star-level will unlock. Getting the stars really makes the game a lot harder. Besides that, the game also keeps track of each levels highscore. So you can challenge yourself to get a higher score. Each level can be beaten in a lot of different ways, so be creative!

Can you give us a price range on how much the game will cost, and an approximate release date?

The release date is ASAP. Hopefully xmas but I think it will be early 2010 though. I expect the game to cost 500 points or less (200 points). It depends on some things.

Are there any other projects Goodbye Galaxy Games will have on its plate in the near future?

I have multiple projects lined up. But it’s to0 early to tell anything about it right now!

I would like to point out that if you want to know more about Flipper please visit :

http://goodbyegalaxygames.blogspot.com

http://www.goodbyegalaxygames.com

http://www.twitter.com/HugoSmits

http://www.youtube.com/GoodbyeGalaxyGames

You can be sure we’ll be keeping up with all things Flipper, whether it be news, screens, or video as they develop. Thanks again to Mr. Smits for the interview!

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