MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Our special report on the Finnish game industry continues today with a look at Secret Exit, which Develop met with in Helsinki to talk Zen Bound and iPhone.
Secret Exit
Location: Helsinki
IPs: Zen Bound, Spin
Specialty: iPhone and download
Formed in 2006 by Jani Kahrama and Jetro Lauha, who describe their development skills at the companies inception as ‘modest’, Secret Exit is one of Finland’s iPhone success stories.
Despite downplaying their ability, Secret Exit clearly is very capable, having enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success with iPhone titles Spin and rope-tying game Zen Bound.
“We started with our two person team, and we spent a year making mistakes and learning what to do and what not to do,” admits head of studio Kahrama.
In the first quarter of 2008, Secret Exit evaluated all the key platforms while creating game concepts, and took a long look at developing for WiiWare. However, as the iPhone arrived, Kahrama and his team decided that Apple’s new platform offered far more potential for their output.
“iPhone changed the way people think about mobile gaming, which is fantastic, as our team has a mobile development background,” says Kahrama. “When it came out, we took a look and decided to go with it. We’re really happy with that decision, and for some reason it seems that the public likes the idea of bondage.
“We have learned that visibility is very difficult and very important. We figured how to do things better, and media exposure is really important, but really we’ve learned that there’s not much that we can do about it.”
