EDIT: Thank you to the hundreds of people that applied. We’re going to go through each one of them over the next two weeks.

Mother 4 is facing significant development challenges. We can’t work fast enough. Despite our best efforts, we can’t complete the game by June.

We always prioritize quality over speed. We throw away NPCs. We scrap songs. We redesign the UI until it’s right. We add more content. Work and create, change and edit, toss and delete. Start again. That has been our process and will be until the game is ready.

But because of this, we’ve missed every public deadline we’ve set. It’s always a let down, especially for us. More importantly, it’s unfair to all of you. We’d like to change that, effective immediately.

Starting now, we won’t set a release date until we’re done. Instead, we’ll update every other week with a behind-the-scenes look at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Less secrecy, more transparency. You will receive more updates, and we can continue to work without feeling like we’re cutting corners.

The first update comes next Wednesday. It has something to do with this:

Ramping Up Production

Over the past two years, we’ve been tracking how much time volunteers put into this project. As school ramps up or new jobs begin, productivity plummets. With a rail-thin staff—one developer, five artists and two musicians who are all part-time—things like this sometimes bring us to a halt. We’ve been actively trying to fix this by bringing on more team members.

We recently added James, a PhD candidate in English literature who has made the game’s story and script even better. We’ve also added a spriter, Ollie, to help us perfect our maps. But it’s not enough. We need your help. We want you to join the team.

If you want to help make Mother 4, email finish.it@mother4game.com with the subject “Let’s finish the game - [desired position]”.

You’ll have an impact across the board, from choreographing boss battles to hiding easter eggs. You’ll also get your own staff sprite (plus some extra stuff).

Here are open positions that we’re looking to fill:

SPRITERS

We’re looking for pixel artists who are comfortable duplicating and elaborating Brownie Brown’s pixel art style, artists who are big fans of the Mother series (you’ve played a few times, just for fun) and can create assets from scratch using simple sketches and reference photos.

Wondering if you’re a good fit? Do you have good aesthetic sense and a solid grasp of color? Have you made intricate pixel art before? Would you like PM'ing our Slack robot, Starman Deluxe, philosophical questions about your life? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Don’t forget to link or attach your portfolio.

DEVELOPERS

Want to make a game? OK! Just go ahead and apply. Have experience with C# and Mono? Great! You will need that. Familiar with SFML, FMOD, or GLSL? Also great! Please include portfolios and/or code samples. Starman Deluxe, our Slack bot, welcomes you with open arms.