Consume Us

The year is 2025. At the annual Independent Games Festival awards, held as a part of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson (along with Jie En Lee) take to the stage to accept the Seumas McNally Grand Prize for their game Consume Me. A year later, at that same awards ceremony, Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson are somehow both on stage for the presentation of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, but this time, Jiao Hsia is handing it to Thomson for his upcoming game, Titanium Court. It sends a simple, powerful message to fans of indie games: you should be paying attention to these two.

After reaching out to each developer individually, hoping not to focus the interview on one over the other, they coordinate in private and ask to do the call at the same time. I don’t mind at all, and once we’re talking, I can see why they wanted to do the call together and why they make such a good duo. Jiao Hsia has a lot to say about Consume Me and her time working on it, and she speaks very openly and honestly. In contrast, Thomson is reserved and analytical, enhancing Jiao Hsia’s retelling of events with the occasional correction or additional detail. Perhaps unsurprisingly, their skills and personalities also reflect their respective games.