In this 2019 GDC session, Mountains' Ken Wong discusses the journey of designing the studio's hit debut game Florence. 

Wong broke down how this poignant, impactful game about the lifecycle of relationships came about, covering the game's inception and turbulent design evolution.

He also offered some useful insight into how the game was tuned to achieve its emotional resonance, before stepping back to outline a clear path to ultimately building your craft and reputation through international work.

It was a great talk, with useful takeaways for both Florence fans and indie devs in general, so take advantage of the fact that you can now watch (for free!) via the official GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or XRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.