For the love of pizza

Perfectly caramelised cheese, just the right level of rise on the crust, generous toppings... Did someone say pizza?

Just like your favourite pizza joint down the street, there’s a pizza game on the App Store that began with humble but passionate beginnings. Good Pizza, Great Pizza launched in 2018, and boy, does it deliver.

Anthony Lai, CEO of TapBlaze, the makers of the game, explains that the inspiration came from a neighbourhood pizza place he frequented when he was a child. At first glance, it looks like a plain sort of pizza game, but get a slice of this: its surprisingly detailed graphics and hands-on pizzeria gameplay has won over lots of stomachs, oops, we mean fans. Is it the dough? Is it the special tomato sauce? What exactly is the secret to TapBlaze’s successful pizzeria simulation?

“Everyone goes through hardships in life. So, we try our best to be kind and generous. It’s also why there’s a homeless person in our game. It’s entirely up to the user to help the person, to try and make something of that opportunity to simply help someone in need. Many of our reviews make a positive comment about the character.”

He shares that it was also his conviction that chance visits those who are ready, and that conviction was a big part of why he pulled out all the stops to make the perfect game.

“That was particularly noticeable when we launched in Korea. For a month leading up to release, all our resources were focused on Korean localisation. We wanted our Korea users to get the most out of our game. But when we launched in September 2018, the response wasn’t quite there. Then, soon after Chuseok (a national holiday in South Korea), a big change came about. Some popular gaming streamers were playing it live, and boom we were getting traction.”

This is definitely a game, but there’s something about it (the pizzeria, the grumbling customers) that makes it all somewhat familiar. Lai explains that Good Pizza, Great Pizza has that grain of realism kneaded throughout because a large portion of the game was based on the experiences of the developers.

“I was inspired by the pizza joint I enjoyed going to as a little kid. The brick wall and the upholstery that I saw were applied to the in-game shop. In fact, at that place, I found a piece of work by the American realist painter Edward Hopper, and since I already liked his work, I just put that in as well.”

The actual experiences of those who contributed to Good Pizza, Great Pizza also played a large part in developing elements of the game.

“The designer we worked with once worked at a large supermarket food court. A customer once ordered a ‘Half pepperoni, half combo’ to which the employee asked, ‘Half combo, half pepperoni?’ and the customer gave the stink eye, saying ‘No! I said half pepperoni, half combo!’. Crazy, right? Since we were working off of those kinds of personal examples, we were bound to weave some really ridiculous and fun orders into the game.”

Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a delicious slice, one that’s got all of the right people’s experiences on top. But let’s be honest, they had us at the cheese.

Good Pizza, Great Pizza

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