Jai Bunnag
/Jai Bunnag and his studio Finfugu Games are nominated for the A MAZE. Award 2020 with their new game Too Many Cooks. The game is a local co-op cooking party game. Enjoy the interview.
Jai Bunnag
A MAZE.: How would you describe yourself?
Jai Bunnag: A perfectionist who doesn't always have the skills to get the result they want 😋
A MAZE.: Are you a wild heart? If yes, what makes you think you’re a wild heart
Jai Bunnag: I'm not sure! I think I'm more mild than wild, but amongst the mild I'm probably more wild.
A MAZE.: Why did you start making games or playful media works?
Jai Bunnag: I reached the end of where I felt I could go on my previous profession (architecture) so I began to look towards virtual spaces. Funnily enough, now most of my work is 2D + UI based so I've completely left behind explorations of space!
A MAZE.: Who (or what) is your biggest inspiration? Think beyond games too - musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists, scientists, …
Jai Bunnag: Everyday encounters and experiences affect my work the most whether it be a conversation, commuting or buying groceries. Since I make primarily mobile games I like to think ideas that come from the mundane has a tangibility that can relate to the every-day person.
A MAZE.: Where can we find this in your work?
Jai Bunnag: You can see this pretty clearly in TACENDA (inspired by the stories of strangers London Underground), COLOURCITY (graffiti + sticker tagging on the streets), T.M.Cooks (on a road trip but not having a board-game)
A MAZE.: What message(s) are you sending out with your works?
Jai Bunnag: FINIFUGU's Games almost always engage the idea that mobile entertainment is something that brings us together and is a lens that allows us to engage with different layers of our daily lives.
SCreenshot of Too Many Cooks
A MAZE.: Is there a repeating pattern in all of your works the players may experience?
Jai Bunnag: They're all mobile, and primarily use, engage or promote a social-cultural element or behaviour.
A MAZE.: What influences your work more: Past (history), present (contemporary) or future (scifi) and what are your sources?
Jai Bunnag: I always look towards what is being made, consumed or promoted currently. There's an excess of information to divulge simply by living in the moment, and I think it's great if each piece of our work can reflect a certain time, place, and state of mind of where we are in our lives and beliefs as we evolve through practicing our craft.
A MAZE.: What impact is the current pandemic having on you and your work?
Jai Bunnag: Not much, our team has always worked remotely so our productivity is about the same as before. It has stopped us from attending several events prior to the launch of the game however. I don't want to think about how that has affected the breadth of our launch, but hopefully if those events host again later in the year we can still make use of them.
A MAZE.: If there is something wrong in the field of games / playful media, what would you fix first?
Jai Bunnag: I feel that the games development community and its consumers have a unnerving bias against mobile games that I would draw parallel to discussions regarding "high" and "low" art, despite mobile being a key platform that has fundamentally changed the way games have integrated and interact with everyday users lives. I would like to fix that, but this is a trend that has already started to shift.
SCreenshot of Too Many Cooks