DRAKNEK & FRIENDS

A puzzling magician makes publishing provisions

- CHRIS SCHILLING

Playing any Draknek & Friends game, it’s common to find yourself scratching your head or frowning in concentration as you pause for thought, weighing up the conundrum before you. From Sokobond to Cosmic Express, A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build to A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions), these are games that feel as if they have been plotted out with care, crafted and refined in accordance with some ingenious masterplan. Yet, just as the epiphanies required to solve them can sometimes arrive suddenly and unexpectedly, there is a surprising spontaneity to the various decisions that have led this tiny developer to today, recognised enough to air its own Direct broadcast and launch the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, a Steam event designed to help players find their new favourite puzzle game.

In truth, there has never been any sort of grand plan for Alan Hazelden, down to the name of his company. “Draknek has been my personal username basically as long as I’ve been on the Internet,” he admits. “It was never really a decision to use that as a brand.” When he and Lee Shang Lun released Sokobond in 2013, his goal was a modest one. “I had a Web development job for a few years which I wasn’t enjoying, but I was enjoying game development. So it was a case of, ‘OK, well, I’ll quit my job and make games until I run out of money’.” Nine years later, he still hasn’t.