Wild Country CEO Discusses Banjo-Kazooie's Influences from Mario and Its Cozy Gameplay

Wild Country is a cozy card game that combines city-building elements with competitive gameplay, set in the animal-populated world of Big Sky Canyon. In addition to battling other players, Wild Country also offers players the opportunity to relax, explore, and engage in purposeful activities in its open-world environment between card matches. This sets it apart from the typical fantasy world-building and hardcore mechanics found in traditional CCG games.

While Wild Country remains complex in its mechanics, it was also designed to be approachable for beginner players, infrequent gamers, and enjoyable for families and kids to play together. The game draws inspiration from various sources, including popular card games like Hearthstone, as well as games like Banjo-Kazooie. In a recent interview, Becky Matthew, the CEO, co-founder, and design director of Lost Native, talked about these inspirations and their influence on the creation of Wild Country, along with other Nintendo games.

How Banjo-Kazooie Inspired Wild Country

The characters in Banjo-Kazooie have a similar approach to teaching as some of the characters in Wild Country, both in how they provide tutorials and guide players through the game mechanics.

Interacting with the animal video game population in Big Sky through "adventure exploration" gameplay allows players to acquire new cards by completing quests and engaging in mini-games. Collecting these new cards not only adds to the game's story, but also allows players to customize their decks to fit their preferred playing styles. Along their narrative journey to become the Mayor of Sun City, players will encounter references to Banjo-Kazooie's main menu. However, it was Disney's Zootopia that served as the main inspiration for the game's visuals, as the team aimed for a more realistic aesthetic rather than a fantastical one.

In terms of tutorials, the team drew inspiration from the tutorial systems of popular Mario games as well as traditional card game battlers. Matthew explained how studying these systems helped in designing the tutorial for the game.

We extensively studied Spyro, Banjo Kazooie, and Mario games, particularly Kingdom Battle and Mario Odyssey, to understand how they effectively provide tutorials to their Nintendo audience. While we also referenced card battlers like Runeterra and Magic, our focus was on understanding the concepts they teach rather than their teaching methods. Wild Country is currently in the development phase.

Editor's P/S

As a Gen Z netizen, I am excited about the upcoming release of Wild Country. The game's cozy gameplay and charming animal characters are a refreshing change from the typical fantasy world-building and hardcore mechanics found in traditional CCG games. I appreciate that the game is designed to be approachable for beginner players and infrequent gamers, while still offering enough depth and complexity for more experienced players.

I am also intrigued by the game's influences from Banjo-Kazooie and other Nintendo games. The characters in Banjo-Kazooie have a similar approach to teaching as some of the characters in Wild Country, both in how they provide tutorials and guide players through the game mechanics. I think this is a great way to help players learn the game and get started on the right foot.

Overall, I am very excited about Wild Country and I think it has the potential to be a big hit with Gen Z gamers. The game's unique blend of city-building elements, competitive gameplay, and cozy exploration is sure to appeal to a wide range of players. I can't wait to get my hands on the game and start building my own animal-filled city!