We spoke with AFK Mario, the developer of CatchaDiablos, an indie game designed for the PlayDate.
Coming across a Mexican video game is not a common occurrence. Although Mexico is one of the largest consumers of video games in the world, the presence of locally developed titles is still limited. CatchaDiablos, a game created by Mexican indie studio Amano Games for the emerging console Playdate, is a welcome exception that showcases the talent and creative capacity of a couple of talented Mexican developers in the midst of a local scene plagued by obstacles.
Available as part of Season Two of Playdate, CatchaDiablos is a tiny roguelike where you try to catch as many Diablos as you can using an inventive combination of game mechanics. “It’s like a mix between Vampire Survivors, The Binding of Isaac, and Pokémon”, explained Mario Carballo, aka AFK Mario, game developer and one-half of Amano Games, during our interview.
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“It’s something very different from anything that came before, and especially because of Playdate’s very unique movement mechanics,” explained Mario. One of Playdate’s most interesting features is its crank input to control the game actions, and CatchaDiablos takes full advantage of it.
“We invented this movement system that no other game has, where you press a button, turn the crank, and then you move in a circle, like a compass, and when you don’t press the button, you can rotate the pivot point around the character you have on the screen,” he said.
Through this system, the player has to draw a circle around a Diablo to catch it. There are three levels, but every time you die, you start from scratch (this is a roguelike, after all). Furthermore, there are 60 different Diablos you can catch throughout the game to complete your Diabloario, a bestiary of sorts where you can find information about your catches.
But the road to get here wasn’t easy. After working for HyperBeard Games (the largest mobile game developer in México), facing a life crisis, studying at Stugan (a Swedish non-profit game accelerator), and failing to launch a videogame study in 2020 because of the pandemic, Mario launched Amano Games alongside friend and artist JP (Joven Paul). They started by developing three games on PICO-8, a fantasy console that imitates the limitations of old 8-bit systems, including the successful Pullfrog, a puzzle platformer of a frog playing Tetris. Then, Playdate appeared.
“It was a new platform similar to PICO-8, which we already love, but where we could make slightly bigger things than what we were doing on PICO-8. So moving from one to the other just felt like a natural step forward,” said Mario, who, along with JP, ported Pullfrog to Playdate. The game was a success, and they were soon invited to participate in Season Two.
CatchaDiablos isn’t the only Playdate game developed by Mexicans that is available as part of Season Two. Dig Dig Dino! and Taria & Como were also developed with Mexican talent. Although this was pure “coincidence” (as Mario explained), seeing this amount of Mexican representation is very rare. This is because Mexican game developers often face numerous obstacles in creating games, including economic concerns, a lack of experience, limited connections, and even limited access to hardware.
“For example, to develop for a console, you need the dev kit, that is, the unlocked console to be able to develop for it, and most companies do not send it to Mexico. So what usually happens is you travel to the United States, have it shipped there, and then literally carry it back across the border or on the plane, and you have to explain at customs why you’re carrying something that looks like a half-disassembled computer, when it’s really just an Xbox dev kit.”
To learn more about the difficulties of the video game industry in México, as well as the development of CatchaDiablos and the advantages of Playdate, you can check our full conversation with AFK Mario below:
BUT WHY THO: Why Playdate? What is it about Playdate that made you stay?
AFK Mario: Before making games on PICO-8, we came from developing mobile games, where there’s a ton of competition —countless new games come out every day, the market is tough, and you basically have to release games for free because people aren’t really used to paying for them. So you end up relying on questionable monetization strategies just to make a living. We were getting tired of that. Mainly me —well, JP too, but I’ll speak for myself.
PICO-8 was a platform that let me break away from the mindset of making games for mobile and instead make the kind of games I enjoy creating and playing, without worrying about trying to make a living from them. It was all about the love of making games.
When Playdate came out, it lined up with that same mindset. Playdate games are mostly premium; you pay for a game, and that’s it, you get the complete experience. There’s no DLC, no in-game purchases, no ads. Nothing like that. It’s more like how buying and playing games used to be back in the days of the Game Boy or Super Nintendo, and that really appealed to me.
As a developer, I’m especially drawn to limitations. PICO-8 is a platform with only 16 colors and a 250-by-250 pixel screen, and Playdate has its own great constraints too, like a screen that only displays two colors. It might not sound intuitive, but it truly sparks creativity because you have to solve problems within a tight space.
That means you can focus on what really matters —the game design— instead of, say, worrying about how to make a rock look realistic in a 3D game. When you’re a very small team like JP and I —it’s just the two of us— the Playdate’s limitations are attractive.
We were also really interested in its game distribution system. And above all, it was a new platform similar to PICO-8, which we already loved, but where we could make slightly bigger things than what we were doing on PICO-8. So moving from one to the other just felt like a natural step forward.
BUT WHY THO: Is it profitable to make games for Playdate?
AFK Mario: The easy answer is: no, it’s not profitable. I don’t think that’s a secret or anything. Playdate has shared multiple times how much money developers have made. If you look at their accounts, they have an infographic showing how many games have been sold, how many units, how much money has been generated, etc.
I think for most people making games for Playdate, it’s more like side income. Our game took us six months of part-time work. I couldn’t dedicate full-time to it because then I wouldn’t have enough to get by. We’re also in a bit of a specific situation because Pullfrog was published by Panic, which gave us a lot of visibility. I think the average sales per game are around 1,000 units, and we’ve sold approximately 4,000 units of Pullfrog in one year.
Eventually, they’ll release the numbers for this season, but CatchaDiablos did quite well. It’s a good amount of money that will benefit us a lot and will allow us to dedicate a bit more time to this, but it’s definitely not enough for us to live off of just yet. We’re getting close here in Mexico, but someone, for example, in the United States or Europe, probably couldn’t live on what their games make.
So I can’t say, “Anyone who makes Playdate games can live off this.” But I do think it’s a great platform to learn how to make games, to start making games, and it has this nice aspect that people are willing to buy games. Of course, you’re still competing with other developers.
Every two weeks, about four or five games come out, and it’s becoming a bit more difficult simply because people are learning to make better and better games for Playdate, so it’s becoming more competitive. But if you intend to learn, to join a very welcoming community, I think it’s a great platform for that. But I definitely don’t think it’s something you can live off of. One advantage of Playdate specifically, compared to other platforms like mobile, is that you release your game, and you don’t have to keep updating it.
Famously, there are people who released their game on iOS, and five years later, Apple comes and says, “Hey, we changed something, you have to update your game or we’ll remove it from the store,” which makes it really difficult. If you’re a solo developer and it’s a project from five years ago that you’re not even thinking about anymore. Having to go back and update it is really hard.
BUT WHY THO: What’s your working dynamic with JP like?
AFK Mario: Well, we’ve been working together for ten years now, so it’s something that comes very naturally — it’s kind of hard to explain. Usually, he starts by making a sort of drawing prototype, trying to create what would look like a screenshot from the game.
Like, if you took a screenshot mid-game, what would that look like? It includes all the UI elements, characters, enemies, main mechanics, and so on. We use that as a guide throughout development to try to achieve that final result. I look at that image and I instantly understand what JP needs me to do so he can implement his parts.
His illustration process has evolved a lot over time. For example, he never used to work with 3D, but now he uses Blender a lot when he needs to make a character that rotates frequently or has complex perspective. He first models it in Blender, renders it, and then brings it into Photoshop to draw over it. That’s usually his process.
Then we have this back-and-forth where he’ll say something like, “I want to add 60 characters with these animations and these many frames each,” and together we figure out the tools I need to create to make that possible in the game. That’s pretty much how it goes.
We also both handle the game design, meaning the overall design of the game. What often happens is we talk about what we want to achieve, and eventually, I build the tools that allow both of us to implement that design into the game. For example, CatchaDiablos has 60 different Diablos, each with unique behavior. None of them interacts the same way. So we had to come up with a quick and efficient way for both of us to define their behaviors.
We found a tool based on something called Behavior Trees, which is like a canvas where you can define an enemy’s behavior using a tree structure. I built the entire system so that what we created in that tool would translate directly into the game’s code. That’s pretty much how we worked: once I finished that system, JP could focus on creating the behaviors for those 60 diablos while I moved on to other parts of the game, like the audio system, screen systems, and so on.
BUT WHY THO: Regarding the industry, what is it like to be a video game developer in Mexico in 2025? And how has it changed? Fifteen years ago, it seemed almost impossible. Are there more opportunities now?
AFK Mario: Compared to how things were 10 or 15 years ago, it’s definitely easier now, but it’s still very difficult. Mainly, what has changed is that more people have tried, and more people have gotten further. For example, famously, if you want to release your game on the Switch, you first need to have a connection with someone at Nintendo.
And before, getting that contact at Nintendo was practically impossible. But now that some Mexican games have been released on the Nintendo Switch, it’s a bit easier to ask someone, “Hey, can you share the contact you spoke to at Nintendo so I can see if they’re interested in our game?”
Or, for example, to develop for a console, you need a dev kit, that is, the unlocked console for development, and most companies don’t ship those to Mexico. So what usually happens is you travel to the United States, have it shipped there, and then literally carry it back across the border or on the plane, and you have to explain at customs why you’re carrying something that looks like a half-disassembled computer, when it’s really just an Xbox dev kit.
So yes, it’s still difficult, but it’s a bit easier because there are more people who’ve tried and who have that experience, and they’re also a bit more open to sharing it. Plus, with the Internet, various communities have emerged, and with each generation, more people give it a shot.
There’s also much more content in Spanish now, which used to be a big limitation about 10 years ago. Now there’s more content in Spanish from people teaching you how to make video games. Before, it was like, “Well, how do I even start?”
There are also more schools now, which I guess is a good thing, but the problem is that many private universities have added video game development degrees because it’s an easy way for them to make money, but there isn’t really an industry for graduates to enter.
If 50 people graduate each year ready to make games, who’s going to hire them? There isn’t a big enough ecosystem for that. However, there are now a couple of larger companies that do video game outsourcing, so if you want to gain experience and get your foot in the door somewhere, those options exist, whereas they didn’t before.
BUT WHY THO: Is it better to study on your own rather than enroll in one of these private schools? Is independent self-learning a better path? What would you recommend?
AFK Mario: I think it depends on each person. It’s a difficult topic. I think there’s an issue here because often when you start, you think making video games is one thing, but it probably isn’t what you expect it to be. I used to teach in a video game development program, and the problem was that often students would arrive in their first semester and say, “Well, I like Halo, so I want to make video games.” And it’s very different from that – it’s not easy.
I like listening to podcasts with interviews of game developers, and many of the most successful ones are people who started making games when they were 12 or 13 years old, just for fun or as a hobby. They had a computer, and in their free time they were making games and learning roughly how to do it.
So if you already know you want to make video games, and you know what skills you need and what skills you actually enjoy. For example, if you really like programming or illustration, then it might be worth it to go to a private school, depending on your income level and financial possibilities.
But honestly, I think the best option would be to try to study abroad, because schools abroad often have a clearer path: you study, graduate, and then Ubisoft or Epic comes and hires you. Specialized game development schools are worth it, but again, it’s expensive and it’s hard.
So, in general, if you’re interested in the path of making video games, you need to really understand which part interests you most: the technical side or the artistic side —whether that’s illustration, programming, or 3D modeling. It’s a whole spectrum you can navigate.
But I think if you’re really good at illustration and you want to make games, you could study visual communication and then pivot into games by doing projects in your free time, building your portfolio, and eventually entering the industry. Or if you’re more interested in the technical programming side, you could study Computer Information Systems and then work on game projects in your free time.
BUT WHY THO: You’ve already talked about connections, the lack of companies, and even hardware problems. What other major obstacles do you see for a Mexican developer trying to work in the industry?
AFK Mario: I think the main issue is experience. It has happened many times in Mexico that someone, whether an individual or a company, comes in with money and says, “Okay, I want to invest in making a relatively big video game in Mexico. I want to make an AA or AAA game.”
Well, you need a team of about 10 to 20 people for that, right? It’s very hard to find 10 to 20 people who have the necessary experience to work on a project of the size that investors usually want in order to compete in today’s console or PC market. You could go the indie route and try to make something very small and interesting, but those aren’t usually the types of projects that someone with money wants to invest in.
Recently, there was a game called Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber, about the assassination of Álvaro Obregón. It required a team of about 10 people working for 3 or 4 years. That’s millions of pesos in investment to make that game, and when it launched, it didn’t have much appeal in the international market, partly because it’s a very Mexican story. However, I think it could have been sold internationally, but also partly because of the product’s quality.
Even though it’s very well made and is one of the best Mexican 3D games, international competition is extremely strong. A similar level of production in another country with more experience, with people who’ve done similar projects before, might have turned out differently.
Similarly, there was RKGK / Rakugaki released recently, a great game that came out on all consoles, from a team of about 10 to 20 people. When it launched, it didn’t perform that well in the market because you’re competing in a huge space.
I think it’s the best Mexican 3D game released so far, and it’s a huge achievement, but when you’re measuring yourself against others, perhaps in another country with people who had more experience, they could have made it in one or two years instead of four. That way, the budget wouldn’t have needed to be so big, they wouldn’t have needed to sell as many copies to recoup costs, and it would have been more profitable.
And these are the success stories, right? Projects like these have been attempted many times —15 or 20— and they collapse precisely because there aren’t artists and programmers, which are the core of what you need, but also there’s no producers, directors, or business people who understand everything involved in making a project of that size in this industry.
Someone always comes along and says the same thing: “Mexico is one of the countries that consumes the most video games in the world, how come we haven’t made a successful game?” It’s because they always try to make something on that scale, and it’s very difficult because no one here has that experience.
No one has made a game of that size before, and what ends up happening is that these games come out, they kind of succeed, but the business isn’t profitable, the company dies, and then those people either go work for international studios or leave the industry entirely because they end up burned out from working on video games.
I do think eventually it’s going to happen, and over the years we’ll build up the necessary experience to make bigger projects, but from what I’ve seen, that’s what tends to happen right now.
BUT WHY THO: What’s your take on the industry as a whole right now? You look at the news and there’s talk of crisis, but from your perspective as a developer, how do you see it?
AFK Mario: I think it goes in cycles. Right now, like you said, if you pay attention to the news, the situation is tough. There have been a lot of layoffs, many studios have had to close down, etc. As many people have pointed out, the scope of games is getting out of control.
Projects now require huge teams and a massive amount of time to complete, which means they also require huge amounts of money, and they’re becoming more and more ambitious. Grand Theft Auto VI took something like 12 years to make, with who knows how many people and who knows how many millions of dollars.
So if games cost that much to make, they need to earn that much money back, and companies have tried different ways to achieve that, with DLCs, microtransactions, live service games, and so on. Each approach has its pros and cons.
I think, as many have said, the future lies in making smaller things or reducing scope, trying to do less. I believe that’s what’s going to happen. Like I said, these are cycles. It’s not the first time the video game industry has gone through crashes like this, where many people end up laid off and studios have to shut down.
As a developer, it’s a bit difficult to make games because you start asking yourself: what should I focus on? Should I try to make a lot of money? Should I try to appeal to an algorithm so my game gets visibility? Should I design predatory mechanics so people give me their money?
Personally, my design and product ethos is to try to make a good game. At the end of the day, everything the algorithms and people want is good games —a good product. The problem is, it’s not easy to make a good game, nor is it something that’s well documented. It’s something you learn over time and through practice: understanding what makes a game good, and not just understanding it but also being able to execute it.
I think it takes a lot of practice, constantly making things, finishing them, releasing them to the world, seeing what people think about what you’ve made, and building on that. So what I’m personally focusing on is finding ways to make as many games as possible at the level of quality I like, so that I keep improving little by little, building a community around the games we make, and eventually increasing our scope step by step —making slightly more complex games each time, without suddenly needing millions of pesos in investment for our next project.
The idea is that if one day we want to make a game as big as those, which I doubt, we’ll already have the body of work and experience to reach that point.
Bringing it back to Mexico, what I’ve seen is that many people try to skip that step. They’re like, “I have the money, I have the resources, I’ll hire a team of five people and let’s make this game,” without realizing that such a project requires not just those ingredients, but also experience.
BUT WHY THO: What’s next for Amano Games? Is there something you’d like to work on?
AFK Mario: Right before starting CatchaDiablos, we were working on a pinball game, and honestly, we were obsessed with pinball. Both JP and I watched documentaries and movies about pinball. We visited the only three places in Mexico that have pinball machines. We even went to San Francisco for GDC, and more than attending the conferences, we went to play pinball.
I took a course on physics in video games to build my own physics engine that would run on the Playdate. Our level of obsession was intense. We love pinball. We were working on that game until Panic, the people behind Playdate, asked if we wanted to make a game for the second season. We said yes, but we didn’t want to do pinball because that would have meant rushing the process, and we had little time, so we didn’t want to do it then.
But CatchaDiablos is actually the spiritual prequel to the pinball game. I mean, if CatchaDiablos is like Pokémon, then our pinball game is Pokémon Pinball. They have the same characters, the same diablos from CatchaDiablos will appear in the pinball game, but obviously, the mechanics for catching them are different — one is pinball, and the other uses the mechanic of spinning and catching. That’s our next project. We don’t know yet when it will come out; hopefully this year if all goes well, but you never know. We have a devlog where we talk about it on our website.
You can play ‘CatchaDiablos’ as part of Week 4 of Playdate Season Two. You can check Amano Games’ portfolio on their website, and you can follow them on BlueSky here.
