December 24, 2018
Keeping up with Florent Maurin, creator of bury me, my love
For the past few years, we’ve heard and seen a lot of stories on the news about the horrible situations that have ripped apart tons of Syrian families. As a former journalist, these stories have had an impact on Florent Maurin. Well, keep on reading to get to know Florent a bit better.
Tell us about yourself for the people that do not know you?
Hi there, I’m Florent Maurin. I used to be a journalist, I had been doing that for 10 years before switching to games. It’s kind of odd that I do games, actually, considering the fact that I don’t have a clue how to code nor draw. But I’m super interested by stories from the real world and super enthusiastic about games as a medium to convey them. Apart from that, I live in the countryside surrounded by cows, I have two daughters, and to tell you how cool they are, once the oldest one asked for a Four cheese pizza as a birthday cake!
What do you consider you first significant success?
Well, it’s a tough question because there are so many different metrics for what people call “success”. For me, professionally, the thing I am the proudest of is that we’ve been able to finish a game that kept us busy for 18 months, without going crazy because of the absurd complexity of such endeavor. And of course, having made a game on an important topic that met both critical success and audience recognition is something I’m super happy with!
You won an award in the past at IMGA. Do you think competitions like this are important to help developers get recognition? And does it help?
Of course, they are! When you make a game, you’re basically in the dark. You try to make things as interesting, compelling, innovative or fun as possible, but you don’t really know if the decisions you make are the good ones. Getting an award for your work is super satisfying. What it says is that people who had nothing to do with the development process, yet are seasoned pros, find your work celebration worthy. It has to be worth something!
Can you tell us more about what inspired you to create Bury me, my love?
As a former journalist, I’m used to paying a lot of attention to the news. In 2015, I read an article in the French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ that struck me. “The Journey of a Syrian migrant as told by her WhatsApp conversations” was the title of the piece. It was a series of conversations between a girl named Dana, who tries to reach Europe her family both in Damascus and Germany. This was such a strong piece, that I contacted the journalist, and through her, I got in touch with Dana. Both women agreed to become our editorial consultants and help us make a game inspired by this stories – and thousands of others. That’s how Bury me, my love was born!
- Artwork for Bury me, my love.
What’s next for Florent Maurin?
Well, a new project is underway. It’s still reality-inspired like bury me, my love. But much less news related. It’s what I love to call an “existentialist car crash simulator”, and there’s not much more I can say yet 🙂
Florent Maurin was an IMGA Nominee and winner in 2018. His game won the Category ” best meaningful play”.
Have you submitted your game yet? Enter your game here before Dec. 31st
