When we speak about what motivates me to work on Project Pinecone, we need to talk about why I founded Quality Time Studio in the first place and the philosophy behind it.
Let’s start with the bigger picture: From my personal perspective (purely subjective), the world is in kind of a chaotic state. The number of stress factors is huge: Wars, extreme weather events, geopolitical tensions, decline of social behavior and all amplified by social media. As a result, the general mental stress level has (at least subjectively) increased in recent years.
Now let’s look at the smaller picture: The daily reality. As a father with young children, balancing household and family responsibilities while working in a demanding and fast-changing gaming industry can be intense, requires a lot of agility, and ultimately can also lead to stressful situations.
All of this combined creates a desire: When I dive into gaming worlds (which has obviously been my hobby since I was a kid and it still is), I want to find relaxation. I want to have some “quality time”. A peaceful experience without stress, where I can be creative and have a positive impact on the world (something that in real life sometimes feels impossible given the scale of the global problems humanity is facing). And I guess I’m not the only one looking for this kind of digital retreat, as Cozy Games are becoming more and more popular.
So when I started Quality Time Studio, I put it right there in the name: I want to create games that give players a positive, relaxing experience. A true moment of quality time.
And that is exactly what Project Pinecone stands for. Like many players, I love Stardew Valley, but my passion for Farming RPGs actually started earlier with Harvest Moon. I spent countless hours playing Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town on the Game Boy Advance and still have fond memories of it.
But what always struck me about Farming RPGs is that they focus heavily on economic loops: You plant something, grow and harvest it, and then you throw it into a box and get money.
I understand the game loop, the economic optimization as a motivational factor, and the resource/source-sink logic behind it all. But what puzzled me was this: In my real life, when I plant something, my motivation is completely different.
When I plant something, I immediately see the positive effect of my action. There is a beautiful plant where there was none before. I can visit it every day, see it grow, and observe how it changes the environment around it. That is deeply satisfying and it has nothing to do with economic motivation. If you have a balcony or a garden, you might know what I mean.
So even though Project Pinecone will be a Farming RPG with economic elements (you can still sell and buy things), the main motivation for planting will be re-naturing the world around you. Every tree the player plants will start growing and have a positive effect on the harsh and desolate game world, bringing nature back.
The player’s actions will not only affect the limited area of their farm (which in Project Pinecone is a tree nursery), but will gradually re-nature large parts of the world itself. By adding more plant diversity, players might attract animals that return to the regrowing world. They can try to photograph them to fill their animal lexicon and maybe even are able to “catch them all” 😉
In this way, players will create their own custom world, with flourishing nature and a lively ecosystem. Of course, Project Pinecone will also feature a cozy town with quirky characters, decorative elements, farm optimization, and a beautiful world with secrets and mysteries to uncover. But I don’t want to spoil too much here. We can dive deeper into the systems in future blog posts.
For me, the idea of Project Pinecone (which I’ve had in mind for quite some time) fits perfectly as the first game of Quality Time Studio and I hope it will resonate with players who share a love for this kind of experience, too.
If you want to be part of this journey, follow me or Quality Time Studio on LinkedIn, or visit the website regularly for more blog updates. We’re also exploring additional social media platforms for regular communication. More on that will follow in a future update.
Until then, I wish you all the best,
