The first thing I am struck by when speaking to Vander Caballero is his infectious optimism. The man laughs constantly and speaks warmly about his tumultuous life story-growing up as one of the youngest members of a wealthy South American family and having to cope with his dad’s frequent alcoholism and abuse.

After working in the AAA space for over a decade, he left EA Montreal to start his own company - Minority. The company’s first game, Papo and Yo, is an autobiographical depiction of Vander’s relationship with his father. The core gameplay centers around Quico, the player character, solving puzzles with his large and fearsome companion, Monster. Monster is addicted to frogs, and whenever he catches and eats one in a level, he transforms into a very different beast. While Monster is drunk with rage and frog meat, Quico can only hide or trick Monster to protect himself.

The metaphor is pretty blunt, but Caballero emphasizes that he doesn’t want to let players off the hook with the game’s cartoonish appearance. I caught up with Vander over the phone in the midst of a development push for the game to talk about his childhood inspirations to make videogames, why he used frogs to represent alcoholism, and the importance of empathy in modern game design. Read More »