Relocating from Montreal to Vancouver (and now to Vancouver Island) is a big change on its own, without the additional aspect of transitioning to the liveaboard life. How did the idea for a roaming-at-sea game development studio come about?
It emerged from discussion on how to join our two passions together, traveling and arts, and our interest in a more tactile lifestyle.
What were you both doing for work while in Montreal?
Devine was making a living developing mobile applications for iOS, and I was working as a game artist and children books illustrator.
How long did you spend discussing, considering, and refining the plan before actually committing yourselves to doing it?
It had been a recurring topic for a few years, but it only really became a viable option upon coming back to Montreal from Tokyo, when a small window opened and we could sell everything we had for one last time.
What, if anything, worried you most about the prospect of moving across the country to set up shop on a boat?
The prospect of learning how to sell by ourselves was daunting, but most common fears that arrises in this sort of situation, we faced moved abroad in the past.
What's the meaning of the name "100 Rabbits"?
It's a reference to the wind-powered vessel in the anime series Ergo Proxy.
You've been pretty transparent about the financial aspects of the project, posting costs and expenses on your website. At the same time, it's clear that the Patreon funds do not cover all your monthly expenses and that both you and Devine have other sources of income to draw on. Do you consider the support you're receiving through Patreon as being necessary for you to make ends meet each month? Or is it more along the lines of supplementary income that enables you to devote more time to documenting your lifestyle, making travelogues, etc?
At the moment, the Patreon support is meant to allow us some flexibility in creating richer content to, hopefully, inspire others who are looking into alternative lifestyles. It is not our main source of revenue.
Is it your hope that 100 Rabbits will turn into a full-time gig, or do you anticipate that it'll remain a project that you do part-time among other freelance work?
We aren't sure where we want to take this, we would love to be able to evolve this into a better formed subscribtion-based content creation platform. We're not sure.
Were you both freelancing while in Montreal? I've seen it mentioned that you're also a freelance illustrator, while Devine is a developer - how would you describe the type of work you do for clients?
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How long does it generally take you to create a new game or app?
It varies, Oquonie was mostly created in the span of 6 months, but Devine's latest, Verreciel, has been in the works for over 2 years as a side-project.
I noticed in your FAQ that your marina has reliable, fast wifi to use while in port. What about when travelling - will the boat be set up to have an internet connection when at sea? If not, will that affect your ability to do work while travelling?
Most of our work can be done offline, website maintenance might become complicated if we spend long periods of time away from hotspots. In that case, we might have to look into satellite internet options.