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Interview with Tentacles Creative Director and the Co-Founder of Press Play!

In the year of 1960 a lab accident leaves the dolphin-headed professor Phluff with a tentacled, microscopic creature, Lemmy.  By mistake Lemmy ends up inside the good professor and the game is on. Ever wonder where this creative idea of playing inside the guts and brains of another character came from? Click Read More to get all the gooey details from Press Play crew, Ole Teglbjærg, Mikkel Thorsted, and Rune Dittmer!

What is Tentacles about?

It is about gameplay character Lemmy surviving his journey through the insides of his mad scientist creator, Dr. Phluff. Dr. Phluff is an inventor and he is obsessed with cute creatures. One day Lemmy, an unpleasant being with long tentacles, pops up in his petri dish. He gets furies and starts breaking everything around him. As a result he ends up swallowing Lemmy. 
The games starts out with the Petri Dish level that works as a gameplay tutorial mixed with cut scenes telling the story.
After that the game levels present players with “a guided tour” through the insides of the professor.
As a player you control Lemmy by tapping, moving one tentacle at the time. The ultimate quest is to survive the dangers and eventually defeat the professor. 

So, who is the bad guy in this game? Dr. Phluff or Lemmy?

Dr. Phluff is a rather complex character. He is obsessed with cute creatures, to the extent that he ends up chopping off heads off baby seals and dolphins in the quest of creating even more adorable beings.
Lemmy is just trying to survive getting caught up in the professor’s stomach. And to do so he must fight back and conquer the challenges he is exposed to.

How did you come up with the idea to Tentacles?

Originally, Tentacles started out as a prototype a few years ago. We had a clear idea of the game controls, but we were struggling to get the gameplay and the pacing just right. After many iterations, we eventually came across the idea of this crawling creature well suited for the game mechanics.

The story of Dr. Phluff came to our mind on a flight returning from a business trip. Maybe it was because of the jet lag we were feeling but it suddenly made sense having a creature like Lemmy crawling around in this absurd environment.

What should gamers look forward to with this game?

The game is designed to be casual so you can pick up and play a session whenever you have a few minutes, and still advance in the game getting a rush completing new achievements.
We like to believe that part of the enjoyment of the game comes from the distinct character and level designs in this rather absurd environment.
We had a lot of fun producing the game trailer as well, so we hope people will enjoy it and if they do, support us by downloading the game.

What do you believe makes a good game?

It is important for our development philosophy never to compromise on creativity and innovative thinking. In Press Play we like to say that “we build from mechanic”, meaning that we always start with one core mechanic and iterate like crazy on that, until we think we get it right. Then we build from there. 

Furthermore, we like to always provide gamers with new experiences, and we are thrilled to finally allow iOS gamers to enjoy Tentacles.

Can you tell us about the future?

A little bit… We have a few projects in the making now, but it is too early to open the lit the details.
Right now, we are just excited to see how iOS gamers like Tentacles and we will not exclude the possibility that future updates will be coming down the pipeline. Until then, we extended the game with an additional level pack, Dog Eat Dog. This provides both new levels and new gameplay features.

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