Mean Girls: The Game - an Interview with the Makers of this Queen Bee Movie Tie-In
It’s the 10th anniversary of the modern classic teen comedy Mean Girls, and what better way to reach out to young fans of the film than on the mobile devices they are constantly staring it. After proving just how fabulous they could be with their RuPaul mobile games, So Much Drama Studios is now preparing to launch a new tower defense Mean Girls game. We spoke with Jeff Meador, head of the studio, about surviving the high school jungle on the go.
148Apps: How did the studio first get involved with making a Mean Girls game? Were there fans on staff that wanted to do it? Did it seem like a good fit for the studio after the RuPaul games?
Jeff Meador (JM): We were thrilled at the opportunity to work on a Mean Girls game. Who wouldn't be? It's such an amazing movie. When the possibility came up, we buckled down and made sure we had a really strong concept for the game so that we could do the project.
Working on the RuPaul games definitely worked in our favor for this. We had worked with licensed content and licensed talent before, and Paramount saw how we took the spirit of that show and really made it shine in Dragopolis. They were excited to see how we could do the same for Mean Girls.
148Apps: The game celebrates the 10th anniversary of the movie. Did the studio work with anyone from the movie while making the game?
JM: We worked very closely with Paramount throughout the process, and they've been great partners. They handled all of the communications with the talent that appears in the game.
The characters in Mean Girls are so iconic and well-loved. We wanted to make sure that when we were using them, we were staying true to their personalities. One of the hardest parts of creating the game was ensuring the dialog and scenarios were on-point. In the end, we think we’ve been able to capture the spirit of the movie in this game. It’s fun, it’s funny, and, to quote Gretchen, “so fetch!"
148Apps: Of all the genres to choose from, why did the team decide to make a tower defense game based on Mean Girls?
JM: We did a lot of internal brainstorming on different ways that we could use Mean Girls in a game. The movie set us up for a great jumping off point with its final lines of dialog: "And if any freshman tried to disturb that peace... Well, let's just say we knew how to take care of it."
We started by looking at a lot of the different characters in the game. We knew up front that we had access to a lot of the likenesses, so we wanted to make sure that these people were front and center. We kept coming back to Janis’ map of North Shore High School and really wanted to bring all of the Cliques into play. The game that we came up with really lets us show each Clique’s personality. We brought in characters like Cady and Regina who, in our original design, gave a fairly passive bonus to the Cliques. However, in early play testing we discovered that we could really use those characters more, so now you need to move folks like Gretchen around the play field to answer questions about the movie and deliver a bonus to the Cliques. It’s a really fun layer that we’ve created on top of a more traditional game style.
148Apps: Many people probably don't think a movie like Mean Girls and a video games go well together. Why should fans of the movie check out the game?
JM: Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they should check out the game!
But seriously, this is a game that’s made by some huge Mean Girls fans. The game has a lot of memorable lines and moments that pop up, but with an added twist. Being able to recognize things like Regina’s mom’s dog or Karen’s Halloween costume gives you a small boost in the game. We’ve spent a lot of time crafting different aspects of the game to really reflect the Mean Girls spirit.
Mean Girls: The Game will be launching soon. Thanks again to Jeff Meador for his time.