Your Voice Matters – Interview with Piotr Ruszczak from Mad Bang Bang

At Poznań Game Arena, we had the opportunity to try out many interesting games, one of which was Mad Bang Bang. Developed by Tomorrow Baby team, this 2D fighter attracts attention with its unusual solution – gameplay controlled exclusively by voice. We had the opportunity to talk to Piotr Ruszczak, one of the creators of Mad Bang Bang, about the details of this production. 

Mad Bang Bang is the world’s first game powered entirely by vocal commands. In this fast-paced mage skirmish, every spell, from the humblest water ball to the most devastating meteor shower, is unleashed by your spoken word. Whisper a defensive ward to subtly block an attack, or scream “BANG BANG BANG!” to unleash a screen-filling inferno. Master your incantations, choose your champion, and prepare to scream your way to victory.

In this interview, we asked Piotr about the origin of the idea, the main features of the game, and how it was received by the players so far.

“Let your mouths burn!” – that’s the message greeting players at your booth at PGA. Can you explain what it means?

In our game, Mad Bang Bang, you cast spells. And as we all know, only truly exceptional wizards can do that without speaking, so we have to settle for saying magical formulas out loud. We implemented that mechanic into our game and in this way created the world’s first game controlled entirely by voice.

It’s quite an unusual solution for a game in the style of Mortal Kombat.

That’s true. Mortal Kombat was a big inspiration for us, especially regarding how the tournament system works. But we didn’t want to overcomplicate the gameplay itself, the new control method is meant to be the main focus of the entire game.

How did you come up with the idea of voice controls?

It started when a friend came to me with a totally cliché game idea: Jan Twardowski escapes from hell because Poland is attacked by Nazis. And he keeps talking about Twardowski and goes, “wow, wow, wow, bang, bang, bang, boom, boom, boom.” And I told him that maybe the Twardowski idea won’t work, but I have another one. That was about a year ago, and we’ve been working on the game ever since.

And how are players reacting to your project?

The fact that I’m exhausted after just one day at PGA is a good sign. Earlier we were at Game Fest in Kraków, a much smaller event, and even there a lot of people came to see us. This new control method sparks curiosity, people walk up just to see what it is and end up staying to play.

This is a PvP game, right?

Exactly, it’s a two-player game, something you can enjoy at a party or just scream together for fun. Currently we have a local multiplayer version, but online multiplayer is coming soon.

Since clear pronunciation is important here, did you ever consider that the game could be used as a speech therapy exercise?

I actually have a speech impediment myself, so for me it’s also a kind of test. But I have to admit, after testing the game so many times, I can now speak nonstop for 15 seconds on a single breath. So, I’d say there’s definitely some progress, in both diction and speaking speed.

What about people who experience gaming exclusion because of difficulties with hand-based controls? Did you consider that perspective?

We actually heard that idea during the Game Fest I mentioned earlier, people pointed out that it might be a good alternative for those who, for various reasons, have trouble using traditional controls. So yes, we definitely want to move further in that direction, making the game fully voice-controlled from beginning to end.

You’re planning to release Mad Bang Bang in December this year – what will you be working on until then?

Right now we’re mainly focused on finishing the game, especially the multiplayer system, and then we’ll move into online marketing, for example, by involving streamers. For now we’re presenting the gameplay and collecting feedback so that Mad Bang Bang can soon launch in early access.