Rami Ismail has returned to active game development after six years away, working on Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defense Business. The turn-based strategy game marks a departure from the fast-paced titles he previously made with Vlambeer co-founder Jan Willem Nijman, including Nuclear Throne and Luftrausers.
In an interview with Game Developer, Ismail described the industry as more brutal and risk-averse than before. He said his return was made possible in part by publisher Mystic Forge, which approached him about backing a new project. He then assembled a team with Rochester-based Aesthetician Labs, artist castpixel, musician Max Caulkins and visual effects artist Jack Gutmann, with further development support from Dreams Uncorporated.
The team is expected to disband after the game launches. Ismail said he wanted to make an unusual, ambitious game, and saw a temporary team as a better fit than building a permanent studio around a project with significant risks. He also noted that the group had to establish its own ways of communicating and working, with Aesthetician Labs’ Sam Magnolia taking on production duties so Ismail could focus on creative direction.
Australia Did It also required Ismail to adapt to a different kind of design process. At Vlambeer, he and Nijman would look for a game to feel fun within two weeks. Strategy games, he explained, take longer to evaluate because players need enough content and balanced systems to make long-term decisions. The moment the new game’s design clicked for him came around four to five months into development.
The game’s approach to base-building is unconventional: rather than constructing buildings that produce units, players acquire units individually and merge them to suit their strategy. The team added a “progression checker” to help players assess whether their units are keeping pace, with the aim of giving them regular feedback as they play.
Ismail said the design reflects frustrations he remembers from strategy games such as StarCraft, where an early choice could leave a player at a disadvantage, and Fire Emblem, where relying too heavily on one powerful character could create problems later. Those experiences informed Australia Did It, despite Ismail’s reputation for making fast-paced action games.
Although he said he is proud of the work, Ismail is waiting to see how players respond to its systems. He hopes they will experience the satisfaction of making a successful unit merge—or recognise when a choice has gone wrong.
Sources: Game Developer.