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Interview with MogDog, developer of Nubby's Number Factory

March 16, 2025

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ethan Anderson, also known as MogDog, the one-man game developer behind the recently released Nubby's Number Factory. Here we discuss the success of the game, his influences, and the state of the gaming industry. He was very kind and generous with his time. I hope you'll check out his game on Steam, it's only 5 dollars and incredibly fun. Below is my interview in full, I've bolded my words and his will be left un-bolded. Feel free to check out his website, and donate if you'd like to support him.

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Hey thanks for your time! Is it alright if we start now?

Hey! Yep I'm good to start now. Before we begin, are you holding this interview for personal interest or will you be publishing this somewhere (i have no problem with either!)

Both! I'm not with a publication, I just planned on publishing it on my own website sometime soon. I wanted to conduct this interview because I really appreciate your work.

Of course. Thanks for the support. Ask away!

To start, the sort of attention that your game Nubby's Number Factory has been receiving after only a week into its Steam release is something not seen very often, and I have a feeling it will quickly build steam from here. Were you anticipating a reception like this?

I was anticipating moderate success, but nothing at this level. Over the past 4-5 months since the demo has been out, I've been amassing wishlists on the full release. At release, I ended up with around 1200 wishlists, which I think most indies would be pretty stoked about. I was stoked about it. Sales were going exactly like how I thought they would for the first 3-4 days of release, then something just clicked and it completely took off. I'd always hoped that something like this would happen, but that was a pipedream.

It seems there's a big desire from people right now for more simple games, which even appears obvious in the rave reviews for Nubby's. In an era of games with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, many big developers seem to miss the forest for the trees. Realism and wide scope at the expense of fun. By contrast though, your approach almost seems to be a rejection of this. Nubby's uses a beautiful art style reminiscent of a Windows 98 screensaver or an old Flash game. Was there anything that influenced you to decide on this style?

Yes! As for what me decide on the small scope of my game, you said it yourself: it's the modern state of gaming. I think we're on the cusp of a major paradigm shift with the gaming industry. More and more we're seeing groups made up of 1-2 people pull together a game that against all odds, rises above 90% of triple A games. Over the past few years, I think the sentiment that less is more in terms of budget has really started resonating with people. I believe that for my game and others like it, the fact that it was made by 1 person is a part of the appeal. People like an underdog story.

As for the visual style, this is where I start to think about fellow indie developers as competition. It's always a bit touchy to bash other indies, but I was just so burnt out from playing the same indie game over and over again. I love scaled up pixel art - but it's just not unique anymore. It's perfect for the indie scene because its relatively fast to make, easy to edit, and has it's own charm to it. I wanted my game to have a style that was derivative of games before it, but I didn't want the style to be derived from any game within the past 10-15 years. That's why I chose the Y2K/flash game aesthetic qualities. I chose it because it stands out!

I can definitely agree there. It felt like for a long time in the indie scene, pixel art was what explained that to outsiders. But it's been at least a decade since Fez or Braid or Cave Story. I'm glad to see you're choosing something different. Yours has a certain tone to it that almost reminds me of a pilotredsun video, maybe something from thecatamites or Jinxtengu. There's a surreal type of humor to Nubby's, from the upgrades or the creative decisions behind what item represents what function.

The first time I was feeding an entire pig to a super-imposed mouth in the wall was cracking me up.

Yeah! I have a few specific artistic inspirations, pilotredsun would be one. Cruelty Squad didn't directly inspire me, but the public acceptance of a game with an adjacent art style allowed me to have a bit more confidence with my creative choices. It's also just really fun to make art that kind of makes me feel uncomfortable as I'm working on it. As far as art goes, if I'm ever bored of it while I'm making it, I usually scrap it.

Yeah the public embrace of Cruelty Squad was very shocking to me, especially considering it was Ville Kallio's first game, but it definitely deserves its flowers. Is Nubby's your first game, or did you have prior experience with Gamemaker? I noticed on your website it seemed to be the only available release.

Yeah it's my first real release of a game. I've been toying around with game development for 4-5 years now and only in the past year I've gotten serious about it all. I've never put out anything to the public at any capacity before this, so everything that happens is a first time!

That's incredible! Some people that haven't played it or have only seen screenshots may not know, but it really is quite a polished game. For this to be your first release really shows serious talent. As far as future plans go, are there any potential updates or added content planned; or would this take a backseat to Dysphoric Soymilk Lidocaine, your other project?

Thank you! I plan on doing a good few content updates to nubby before I decide to move on to something else. What that something will be… well that’s a problem for the future. Depending on how these next few weeks go in terms of sales, I’ve got my eyes set on potentially a DLC for nubby, and a mobile port for nubby. If the opportunity were ever to arise for a console / switch port, I would be interested in capitalizing on that too. After that though, I’m not sure. I’d like to revisit DSL at some point, but that’s still a maybe. I’ve got a few other ideas I’ve been kicking around as well, but nothing concrete :)

I'm excited to hear it! If DLC is released I have no doubt I'll buy it, even if just to support you. Thank you for chatting with me I really do appreciate it. Was there anything else you wanted to say before we wrap up?

Nothing else to add other than to thank you for giving me an outlet to talk about my work. I appreciate the support, I really do. Thanks for the conversation!

babe wake up... it's 2006

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