Super addictive games for casual players - interview with Tiny Kraken Games Founder

We interviewed Ayaz Malik, Founder and CEO of Tiny Kraken Games, an award-winning game development studio based in Lahore, Pakistan. Ayaz has been in the digital business for about 15 years and the gaming business for 6 years. He is a gamer, anime/manga addict, and loves food:) In this interview, Ayaz shared his experience and the company’s success with us.

Tell us about how it started and how you got into the industry.

I have 10 years of career as a successful blogger. I sold my blog and was planning something I could enjoy doing more and more. As a gamer from the age of 3, I couldn’t resist the temptation of starting a gaming business.

Why did you decide to develop your own games? What game/idea has inspired you?

The first game that inspired me to start looking at how games are made was a browser game many years ago called Edge World. Afterwards, there was a Clash of Clans. Both had the same type of mechanics and feeling to them.

Let’s talk about your studio. Where are you located? What is the size of the studio? What is your focus now?

We are located in Lahore, Pakistan. Our team consist of 25 amazing people. Currently, we are focusing on Casual, Hypercasual and Blockchain games.

Tell us about your studio projects.

The first game we built was a hyper-casual game, and it won first place in Google Singapore HQ out of 150+ studios in a competition held by Google.
Afterwards, we made a very detailed and engaging cooking game for the female audience.
We also published one successful game with Super Sonic and are currently working with multiple publishers on different genres.

What are the results in 2022 for your company so far? What are the key milestones?

So far in 2022, we have successfully formed a blockchain Unit, working on multiple titles.
We successfully published a blockchain game with Voodoo, and one is in soft launch with Lion Studios.

What key events in 2022 would you highlight in the gaming market so far? And what were they in the last year?

The rise and almost fall of the blockchain/crypto games. Yet we are working on it to see how it will go. Personally, casual titles growth was something to look at in the gaming market.

What 3 pieces of advice could you give to people who dream about developing their own game or opening a studio? What advice would you give to beginners?

Make sure to research thoroughly what you are planning on making. Sometimes it’s too late to jump into a genre.
Test Fast, Fail Faster! Until you find the right product-market fit.
Don’t fall in love with your prototypes/games. If they have poor metrics, kill them early. It gets hard the more you delay thinking you can improve it.