After spending numerous hours working in a studio, game designer Jason Behr escapes outdoors to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery.

The confluence of ocean, mountains and forests are what inspire the former Nintendo designer on a daily basis. This passion in turn has led him to create the game “Buddy & Me.”

Behr is the founder of Sunbreak Games, an independent studio in Kirkland with a mission to “create responsibly small-scale but high-quality, unique, accessible, and positive gameplay experiences.” This belief can be linked to Behr’s personal preferences in games.

“Entertainment for entertainment’s sake is fine, but being able to take away from it a new perspective, insight, or otherwise constructive feelings and values, is even better,” said Behr.

Sunbreak’s first project, “Buddy & Me,” is a single player game that falls under the “endless runner” genre. It is about a boy who goes on enchanted journeys with his magical friend “Buddy,” running, jumping and gliding through an enchanted forest. It is no surprise that the game’s magnificent environments are based on Behr’s firsthand experience with the Northwest’s scenery and wildlife.

Behr knew this was a perfect choice for the studio, hoping to invoke nostalgic childhood adventures as well as emotional themes like companionship in prospective buyers.

“While there were quite a few influences that formed ‘Buddy & Me,’ the most important was the realization that in other games of its type, players are usually stressed out and alone,” Behr explained. Adding a loyal friend for the main character not only solves that problem, but it also makes the gameplay more interesting.

A lot of Behr’s core values in gaming can be attributed to his earlier days at Nintendo, where he learned the intricacies of game design. Working as a game designer for the big-name gaming company, Behr began to appreciate why classic Nintendo games were so appealing – “not by luck or magic, but by specific, deliberate choices by thoughtful people.”

With those aspirations in mind, Behr worked on award-winning combat games such as “HALO 4” and “Metroid Prime.” Even so, he has always been more interested in the exploration aspect of the projects, creating compelling visual stories from how we see things every day.

“In life, the reward at the end of a long hike might be the powerful feeling to look back and enjoy the landscape from a different perspective and reflect on the journey. … In games it’s not different,” said Behr.

Shifting focus to Sunbreak Games, Behr believes that solid entertainment can also have positive social impact. However, the biggest challenge as an indie developer is to find the funding necessary to keep the quality, innovation and creative identity of their games intact.

Behr launched a KickStarter campaign for “Buddy & Me” on March 21, hoping to reach a $40,000 pledge by April 20.  Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative startups, which has the potential to give indie projects like “Buddy & Me” a boost to reach their goal. For Sunbreak Games, it means being able to complete the basic gameplay and core features for its game on select iOS and Android devices.

“My greatest ambition for Sunbreak is to be able to create interactive experiences that aren’t just discussed as ‘fun,’ but are remembered as unique, meaningful, positive influences on both gamers and the industry as a whole,” said Behr.

For more information about Sunbreak Games, visit sunbreakgames.com/projects/. To donate to Kickstarter, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/1644707178/buddy-and-me

Kevin Lee is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.