The Tiniest Shark is a tiny developer of videogames and other playful webthings, based in the UK. That is, Mitu Khandaker is the (currently) one-woman development team, with the shark as her tiny mascot. The tiniest of mascots, in fact.
Mitu’s Nineties R&B Mantra: Quite simply, as Queen Pen said, in Blackstreet’s 1996 hit single ‘No Diggity’, the mantra on which things operate around here is: “Stay kickin’ game with a capital G. Ask the peoples on my block, I’m as real as can be.” Thanks for the wisdom, Queen Pen.
The Tiniest Mission
The mission of The Tiniest Shark is two-fold. Firstly, there is breadth, and secondly, there is discovery.
Breadth
The scope of what games can be is rapidly expanding; a concept that Will Wright has referred to as akin to the Cambrian Explosion of evolution. (A sidenote: I write a column, pun-ingly named Gambrian Explosion, over at GameSetWatch.) It’s all about this diversification, and the way we can get there is through happy accidents. The Tiniest Shark therefore seeks to make games of all kinds, in all formats, for all different people. The way towards more interesting games is one of experimentation. Games are art, but they are also science.
Discovery
Indeed, science relates to part two of the mission: discovery. As humans, we do science so that we may better understand our universe, and better understand ourselves. We have a wonderful natural sense of curiosity, of discovery. We use both art and science to model parts of how our world works, so that we may better understand it. Videogames can work similarly; they are excellent tools by which we can explore what it means to be human. They can help us to explore, unravel, and discover our subjective, complicated selves. The ways in which they can do this are as diverse as our emotional spectrum itself, whether through evoking wonder, romance, or humour. These are the games that The Tiniest Shark seeks to make.
Why ‘The Tiniest Shark’?
Solo indie game development can be a lonely, difficult sort of endeavour. That’s why mascots are important; especially when they are imaginary sharks. Additionally, when one is but a tiny fish in the huge pond of indie games development, it is important to keep in mind the wisdom of a once-great philosopher – “There’s always a bigger fish.” (Qui-Gon Jinn, 32 BBY)