Creator Spotlight: Alec Holowka

            This week's topic is bittersweet for me.  You see, for a brief period of time, one team of developers had my heart, my soul, and the power to cash any check from me, which I would pay without question, provided it meant more of one game.  That team is the one that made the game Aquaria, Bit Blot.  And...then the disappointment comes.  That being said, I still respect the star of our topic today for what he's done.  Today, the design and musical genius of Alec Holowka.

So much genius...yet, it's not aimed in the direction I desire TT_TT

            Alec Holowka got his first big start in game design with the masterpiece, Aquaria.  This game is ranked in my top 10 of games, bearing in mind that I've played over 1000 titles...yeah, that's a big flippin deal.  So, let's take a journey.  It's 2010, I've got my laptop, it's moderately powerful, and me, having seen an awards show in 2009 that spotlighted a strange, but beautiful title...decide to download the demo for Aquaria.  My god...Aquaria.

From both a music and a design standpoint, Aquaria is a masterpiece.  Go out and play it now.  NOW!!!

            One part Metroid, one part Ecco the Dolphin, and one part the most bittersweet of stories, Aquaria captivated me from start to finish.  Derek Yu and Alec Holowka were the designers responsible for bringing the game to life, alongside the voice talent of JennaSharpe.  Derek Yu is worthy of a spotlight in his own right, but today, we're talking about Alec.  See, Aquaria is a PC game that focuses on exploration and combat, much like Metroid, but which takes place almost exclusively under water.  It features a song based system of auditory, color, and shape recognition for puzzles and fighting enemies that managed to be intuitive, memorable, and strangely haunting, as a way of making the music a more real part of the game.  All these design works belong to Alec.

The voice of Naija, who gave life to Alec Holowka's compositions?

That would be the amazing Jenna Sharpe.  Please, game designers, HIRE THIS WOMAN!  She is just fantastic.

            Alec Holowka is a brilliant game designer.  He's got a real knack for coding, and using the engines at his disposal to make a title memorable, intuitive, and enjoyable.  However that's not all.  Aquaria also features some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard and Alec was the first composer aside from Nobuo Uematsu to make me break down and cry from the sheer beauty and tragedy of the music alone.  Lost to the Waves and Fear the Dark from the Aquaria sound track should be all one needs to prove the sheer power of his rhythm and melody, however he manages to perfectly mix peaceful, exciting, sorrowful, and upbeat all within a few tracks.  Aquaria is a musical tour de force and while I have a bone to pick with Alec...his work in the industry after Aquaria continues to prove that he's still a genius.  It's hard to pin down what makes his music so good beyond base composition.  With Laura Shigihara, it's somewhat easy.  It's clear that her works start from the piano, coupled with her ability to listen and play by ear, which she builds upon for either vocal or symphonic additions.  Alec's work tends to have a synth base, but synth music is a dime a dozen in the world...it's hard to say what makes his special other than it just feels...right.  No matter the piece, it manages to not pull at emotions, but imbue them into others.

            Now, I've built this up enough.  Why do I have a bone to pick with Holowka?  Well, he and Derek Yu ended Aquaria on a To Be Continued that both admitted they had no plans to go back to...sigh...yeah, that's petty of me, but I feel that was petty of them too.  We didn't need that...the story was complete, so...anyway, moving on.

            Following his work on Aquaria, Holowka started up Infinite Ammo, a blog dedicated to the work on his game, Marion.  Marion was eventually scrapped.   AGGGGGHHHHH...Yes, Marion was going to be a spiritual successor to Aquaria with a wonderfully captivating premise of a puppet cutting her strings, using them as weapons, and finding a destiny of her own, free of the manipulations of others.

I can only dream of what could have been...

            Sigh...so, I'm a bit peeved with Holowka.  I can't really blame the guy, though.  He went through a rough patch, trying to find a team, dealing with a cancelled superhero mobile game, and having to rebuild much of Marion from scratch after changing it's art direction.  It's just frustrating to know there's this work of genius that's...never going to be made.

            That being said, it hasn't stopped me from loving his work.  Near the end/middle of Marion's demise, he worked on a game called Paper Moon, which was a free flash game.  It was a cute little title, with a simple, lilting melody that inspired a sort of relaxed pace, despite the game being timed and failure being heavily penalized.  Holowka made the music for this title, as well as the unique mechanic of, since the world is paper, causing the world around you to rapidly fold in or out to create a hectic, but interesting platforming experience.

Trust me...insanely addicting.  This game will eat hours out of your day like minutes.

            Now, this about covers my experience with Holowka's work, but it extends far beyond that.  He wrote music for the interesting little 16-bit throwback, Offspring Fling, featuring a bird-like creature throwing their offspring to solve puzzles, and did both coding and music on an odd title called Planet Punch where...a cloud...punches things...and it's a space based shooter...yeah, that's a weird one.  Either way, both titles showcased more of his talents.  Offspring Fling featured some unique tracks that managed to mimic the 16-bit stylings we grew up with, but with as much flair as the best of Uematsu.  Planet Punch had a different, more harsh style of music not unlike the scratches and beats of a DJ.

Really should give this game a try...

            The game most people might know Holowka for, and yet not know him for, is Towerfall Ascension.  The game where you shoot a limited number of arrows at enemies in an arena, Super Smash Brothers-esque battle for survival.  It was the killer app for the Ouya for a time before it's eventual port to PC and console.  Holowka did the music and by god, is it glorious.  It manages to remind me why I loved the man to begin with, because the tracks are so memorable and so engrossing.

Aright...it's not JUST the music that's got me interesting.

            At present, Holowka appears to be working on three separate projects.  Portico, which is described as a puzzle-trap-defense title, Skytorn, a game that appears to be Metroidvania-esque with a character exploring islands in the sky, and Night in the Woods, an odd little title featuring anthropomorphic animals in a game that seems to be part exploration, part commentary on the state of life, and part trippy as hell visual experience.

            Look, I cannot state enough how amazing Holowka is as both a designer and a composer.  Musician...well, I wouldn't go that far, but he's able to do amazing things with both lines of code and notes on a sheet of paper.  I may have my personal issues with the guy, but check out his work.  All of his games are highly memorable and even if you're not into games, his music is soul rending and soul soothing, all at once.

            Thankfully, Holowka himself has set up links to all his projects, past and present, at his blog, here.  Also, check out his band camp and support him, here.  Aquaria gets its own special mention.  Find it here.

Shine on, Naija.  I miss you.  Maybe someday, we'll get that Aquaria 2.  Eh?  Mr. Holowka...?

            I started off calling him Alec and ended with Holowka because I felt like the man I admired betrayed me, just a little bit.  It's not his fault, really...he doesn't know me and I don't know him.  But still...the man made me feel, with his game and his music.  That's both terrible...and wonderful.  No matter what I may say after, Alec Holowka is one of four composers to make me cry...an honor he shares with the legendary Nobuo Uematsu and the charming Laura Shigihara.  Nothing he does can take that away from him.

            You may frustrate me, but I salute you, Mr. Holowka.