From Kyiv with love
This cycle there’s only one team from Europe and they are from Ukraine, the country of whole milk and candies. They are Electronic Jaw, or EJaw, the team of 18 very different yet remarkable members. In Kuala Lumpur we have only 4 of them, but they are talking to the team in Kyiv so much, that they made us get an extra key for the office, as they stay there until almost midnight every day.
EJaw was established by Pavel (programmer) and Igor (designer), who worked together for more than 5 years in different companies and on different projects, but ended up unhappy with no influence on decision making processes. Both of them quit their jobs to pursue their dream to build something extraordinary. It was in 2011 when the two experienced developers began to look for the perfect new idea. They started to work with Alawar and the co-operation was so successful that next 4 years they had no time for their own games. It was always in collaboration with other companies, but the EJaw’s brand became quite well known. During that time Igor left and now Pavel is the only one responsible for such a fast growing team.
My Kingdom Fall’s is the first game the team is developing on their own. It’s a card collection game with a match-3 mechanic. Pavel and his game designer Ivan got inspired by such card games as Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone, but wanted to make it their own way and for now they have a plan which evolves every day after mentor sessions, playtests or feedback from teams.
Flying to KL was a great challenge for Pavel as he never lived abroad. He is a huge foodie and after a month we are sure he tried everything that can be eaten in Bangsar South and further. Currently we are waiting for his feedback on durian as the other teams can’t dare to try it themselves.