Katamari creator Keita Takahashi on why his games are both silly and serious

It’s been a decade since Keita Takahashi released a commercial video game — the last title from the creator of the Katamari Damacy series was Noby Noby Boy in 2009 — but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy. He’s continued working on games, dabbled in augmented reality apps, and even tried his hand at designing playground equipment before being stymied by the heavy costs and regulations involved. “I decided I should be a billionaire to make playground equipment with my own money,” Takahashi tells me, laughing. “So that’s the reason why I keep making video games.”

For the last six years, he’s been working with game studio Funomena on Wattam, which launches today. It’s an adorable puzzle / adventure game filled with 100 different characters,...

Continue reading…