Slopecrashers has been out on Steam since December 4th and at the reviews are in! Not surprising, the reviews have been very positive overall! Since the release and our review, we’ve had a chance to catch up with the developer.

In case you missed the review, Slopecrashers has been an incredibly fun racing game with cute animals. These animals don’t just race down the slope or course, they also do it with style. Slopecrashers is best enjoyed with friends who don’t mind running into a snowman or on your own practicing your moves. Personally, I’ve also enjoyed dressing up my penguin in cute outfits. Penguins already have a tux, why not finish them off with some accessories?

My favorite animal though isn’t quite the same as the developer. Huge thank you to Johannes for speaking with us and giving us some insight into the creation. Keep reading to hear about the adventure that got these crazy creatures on the slopes!

Now that Slopecrashers is out there and live, what's it like to see the reaction to the game through reviews and other feedback?
So far I am super happy with the feedback that the game has gotten! I was kinda scared about what the reception will be like and if people will even like it. But reviews, both from press and players has been super positive so far and I am super happy about that. Also in terms of bugs there hasn’t been too many issues, and most of them I was already able to fix with updates.

Take us back to 2021, why did Slopecrashers go from side project to major project for you? What was the first element you knew had to be in the game?
The game simply just was too big. From the start I thought the scope was good and it didn’t really grow too much during development, but I didn’t really consider how much time the polishing will take. Like all the maps, all the characters went through numerous iterations until I was happy with it. Also play testing itself added a lot of time to the game. So there was really only two choices: Either wrap it up quickly and release it as it was at that time, which was okay-ish and I knew I wouldn’t be too happy with it, or dedicate much more time and finish it up the way I would like to. So it was kind of a big decision but in my opinion it was worth it. The game is in a great state now and it feels like a complete experience, with progression, unlockables, customization, etc. While before it only felt like a tech demo for a long time.

As to the first element, I kinda have two answers for that: Like the first element I worked on was the physics system. I knew I wanted it to have a lot of depth and be momentum based. There is nothing more unsatisfying to me in racing games as when you feel that the car or player character behave weirdly because it was programmed to behave that way, e.g. when you flip your car in certain racing games and you can feel the game trying to not make that happen even if it would have looked cool and probably would have worked out in the end, so initially I worked on being able to ride on walls, on ceilings, wherever the momentum takes you basically.

But that was mandatory for me so I wouldn’t even say the game would exist if I wouldn’t have managed to create this, So I guess the first game element that I added that I really wanted was the split screen multiplayer, I wanted to capture the vibes of the N64 era, and we always played games together back then on one TV, even though that might not be the biggest thing anymore Nowadays.

Your game has a cast of animals, how did you decide what animals to include and their backgrounds (such as the capybara who loves pizza)?
Honestly, the choice of animals was super random – like it began with a Lemur, because when I saw the first game play of Uncharted 4, there was a Lemur where I thought: That’s a funny looking animal, let’s model that. The next one was the penguin because sliding down a mountain just felt like it needed a penguin. The next one was the chicken to beat the “Are you just remaking the Madagascar animals” allegations. And the parrot I made because I had that in my company name.

The raccoon I made because everyone online kept calling my Lemur a raccoon and I was like: “I’ll show you the difference in those two”… turns out… They look kinda similar ooops. So I gave the Raccoon skiis in the game to make him more unique. Capybaras are just great overall so that wasn’t even a decision. The ferrets probably only happened because I got so much ferret content on tiktok and then I needed another bird because I had an almost equal amount of birds and mammals.

Spoiler alert incoming!
And the hamster as the big evil? That just felt right. As to why? I don’t actually know but I feel like that is a Sims 1 memory where the hamster sometimes randomly made everyone of your sims sick without any way of healing them so hamsters will forever be coded as a bad thing in my brain.

Who doesn’t love a good Sims reference? And those personalities!Those really just formed when we started getting voice actors for the animals. Like initially I only wanted to have normal animal noises, but that didn’t really work since most of the animals make weird noises and it would be hard to convey like a mischievous laugh of a ferret or something. Initially I went with kinda basic traits and voice lines, but when I got the first auditions and hearing their voices, a much more detailed picture formed in my head and I kinda changed the voice lines for certain auditions and that kinda gave them the personality then. So now we have chef capybara, dancing queen chicken, the gamer penguin and the gambling toucan and more.

If you had to choose, which of these animals is most like you?
The answer I would like to go for is that it is a mixture of all the different animals but if I am being real then the capybara, its just chilling on the snowboard and it likes to cook and eat so that is probably the correct one.

Now that we know which animal is most like you, what accessory do you always make sure they have on?
Probably the clown nose and the helicopter hat.

Take me through the process of the items. What inspired them and why did you choose these specific ones to help or harm the racers?So my favorite games that have combat items have been Snowboard Kids and Mario Kart, so I took a lot of inspiration from those, some on purpose, some accidental. For example, I thought when playing balloon battle in Mario Kart, if that could be turned into an item. So I did that, and then when I tested it I basically noticed this was how the parachute in Snowboard Kids worked.

The default projectiles I kinda wanted to not be some cartoony explosion or anything, but I somewhat wanted to keep the party vibes, so those became fireworks – like yeah you just wiped out but look at the pretty fireworks.

The idea of the ice shock was kinda formed based on how in Mario Kart Double Dash you could run into ice and then get frozen for a bit where you loose control, I thought that could make a fun item especially with an added impulse to propel the opponent away and they have to mash out of the ice to get control back.

Some other items I just thought about how to bring the animal theme into the items as well, so I created the Bees, the Mole and the Pigeon item. And the rest of the items basically just formed because I needed ways to counter the other items.

Give us a pro tip, what's the best item in Slopecrashers for someone who needs to catch up?
So it is either the pigeon because it slows down the lead of the pack or the boost rocket. It makes you faster than your normal max speed and stays longer the farther you fell back, so it should really give you a chance to catch up if you don’t propel yourself off a cliff with it. Although my pro tip is: Do a lot of tricks and use the boost meter all the time as well, this is what differentiates the pros from the casual players in Slopecrashers.

If time wasn't so linear and you could put Slopecrashers in the hands of your younger self, how do you think he would respond?
I basically made this for my younger self who only played snowboard kids and wanted more of that, so he would love it and play it all the time!

Could you see yourself adding any DLC in the future, and if so, what would you add?
I feel like the game doesn't need anything extra. I feel like it is a complete package of a game. But if I decide to add more content, there is more room for more boards / characters / gadgets (gliders / jetpacks / grappling hooks) or even more courses and game modes.

What's one thing you want anyone who plays Slopecrashers to take away from your game?
Just have fun with it, either by yourself or with your friends – I mean I made it with splitscreen from the getgo so that you can play together and progress through everything together with your friends or family, but if you love playing games by yourself, then the game has got enough content for that as well.

Finally, besides some well deserved rest, what’s next for you? 
Honestly, I haven't planned anything yet [laughter]. For now my focus is still on bringing Slopes to consoles, but afterwards, probably making more games to be honest. Making this was super challenging, and there were some rough times in there, but I am super happy with what I created and even more so now that other people are happy with the game, so I kinda did what I set out to do, and now that I finally know how to make a game, I will probably make more if that is possible.

We’re so glad to hear Slopecrashers will be coming to consoles! If you can’t wait to pick up Slopecrashers, be sure to pick it up on Steam! It’s even Steam Deck compatible for our handheld gamers. We’ll keep you updated for the console release here! Thank you again to Johannes Lugstein for taking the time to answer our questions.