It’s spooky season, so what better way to celebrate than by talking with someone who worked on Love, Ghostie with us today? I’m happy to welcome Jennifer Goto, Lead Programmer at Janbeh Games!
Love, Ghostie is one of the cute games that was on my list of games to cover on TikTok (and I did!). I was really intrigued by the concept: imagine a ghost wandering around a manor, learning about its residents to create romances. I reached out to Jennifer on X, and ta-da! Here we are, and I hope you will love this interview as much as I did.
Welcome Jennifer! Should we start with a sweet introduction of who you are?
Thanks for having me! I’m Jennifer – the founder of Janbeh Games and lead developer of Love, Ghostie. I’ve been working in the game industry for almost 8 years, and I’ve been playing video games ever since I was a kid.
How did you end up working in the video game industry?
I majored in Computer Science, but I took a couple game design classes in college and absolutely loved them. However, I was so intimidated to work in the games industry that I ended up not pursuing it after I graduated and instead got a software engineering job.
After a few years there, I decided to look into game development jobs and was happy I made the switch – it eventually led to me pursuing my own game, Love, Ghostie!
Johanna: YESSS, I love seeing talented people pursue their dreams! It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s great to see that it can sometimes work.
What made you become interested in development and what do you like most about it?
The college courses I took definitely had a big role in getting me into game development. In those courses, we had to create a game from scratch in a semester with a team of 6 people. For one of the games we made, we got to showcase our game at the Boston Festival of Indie Games! It was such a fun and fulfilling experience to watch people enjoy something you’ve made.
That experience really stuck with me, and I knew I wanted to create another indie game again someday. Creating your own game is such a fulfilling experience, from seeing players’ reactions to having the creative freedom to put whatever you’d like to in your project, like easter eggs, references, and jokes. Lots of people have told me that they can feel the love put into Love, Ghostie, and it really makes me happy to hear that it shows.
Johanna: That is so sweet! I love seeing community members not afraid to show some love to the dev team for those reasons. It feels so motivating to hear that the game you spent time making inspired them, or made them feel such intense and positive emotions.
As a woman working in that field, did you encounter specific challenges?
As both a woman in engineering and in game development, I was often the minority when it came to meetings or teams. There would be times when I felt like I wasn’t being listened to or my opinion wasn’t taken as seriously as some of my peers’. Sometimes, I felt like my statements were questioned and it really added to the imposter syndrome that I was already dealing with.
Unfortunately, there aren’t that many women leads in these fields, so it’s very easy to feel like I don’t belong. I had very bad imposter syndrome for a lot of my career, and I really wish I had a role model to look up to while I was new in the industry.
What are the main responsibilities of a Lead Developer within a game studio?
That’ll depend from studio to studio, but for me, I had so many hats that I think the only title that fit well enough was “Lead Developer”! For Love, Ghostie, I was in charge of programming, game design, UI/UX, marketing, social media, and more.
What would be the main qualities and skills to have as a developer?
The qualities and skills will vary wildly depending on what role you are in. Since I’m more of a generalist indie developer, I think the most useful quality to have is the ability to learn and research other fields.
Before going indie, I came from a purely technical software background, with no experience in marketing, UI/UX, etc. I spent A LOT of time reading and researching these other areas, which is key for indie developers.
What is the genesis of Janbeh Games, your indie game studio? When did you decide to take the leap?
I used to work in mobile games before going indie, and I spent a lot of my time there working on prototypes for new games. During the pandemic, I re-evaluated a lot of what was important to me, so I ended up quitting and was planning to take some time off. However, a lot of friends asked if I was going to make my own indie game (knowing it was a long-time dream of mine) and I decided it was good timing and I took the leap!
Johanna: And this why we have this cute game now, yay!!
Could you tell us a bit more about your first game, Love, Ghostie?
Love, Ghostie is a cozy management game where you play as a ghost matchmaker. There are 12 characters available for pairing, every character can be paired with every other character, and every couple has their own unique story to discover. Love, Ghostie was originally inspired by Fire Emblem!
Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG, but a huge part of the community is into the characters and their relationships. I absolutely loved watching all these character interactions and found myself grinding battles to unlock more of them. I wondered to myself if there were any games out there that only focused on shipping, and that’s how the idea of Love, Ghostie came about!
As a fan of cosy games myself, I am super interested in what makes you love those games. Tell me more! 👀
I love how chill and relaxing they can be. There’s often no time pressure and you can take things at your own pace. Work is already stressful enough as it is, so the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is be frustrated with what I’m playing. While I love playing other genres of games, sometimes I need something to wind down with, and cozy games fit that perfectly.
Johanna: I agree with you! This is also why I stopped playing competitive games (or not in the same mindset as I used to). It was adding so much stress into my life than I thought to myself, why am I just not playing cute and chill games instead?
What would you like to see change in our industry?
There are lots of things I’d like to see change in our industry, but the one that comes to mind most recently is regarding discoverability and visibility for indie games. There are so many wonderful indie games out there and because of the sheer number of them, it’s so hard to stick out and get discovered.
Especially with a small team and small social media presence, we struggled a bit to get out of our social circle and get noticed by players. There are tons of indie game festivals and showcases, but it gets more and more competitive each year. It’s really tough out there, so I appreciate everyone who’s played or shared Love, Ghostie – it helps more than you know!
Anything else you would like to share?
Thanks for the interview! If you’d like to check out Love, Ghostie, it’s currently available on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Steam Deck!
Jennifer Goto – Lead Programmer (she/her)
Steam / Website / X / Instagram
Thank you so much for your time, Jennifer! Feel free to check out Love, Ghostie on Steam and on socials as well. In the meantime, take care as it’s getting really cold out here, and see you all again soon!
