Celso Riva Explained

Celso Riva (born c. 1974) is an Italian independent video game designer of several critically acclaimed games, including The Goalkeeper, Universal Boxing Manager, Magic Stones, the Heileen and Vera Blanc series, Bionic Heart, and the Loren the Amazon Princess.

Life and game design career

At the age of twenty, Riva began his career, designing small-scale games for the Italian market. He took a seven-year sabbatical until 2003, when he discovered the shareware distribution model and created the sports management video game Universal Soccer Manager using BlitzBasic.

He moved to C/C++ language and published 10 more games under the Winter Wolves label, then opened a new company, Tycoon Games, on which he has published 6 games: the space war game Supernova 2: Spacewar, the dating sim game Summer Session, the visual novels Heileen and Bionic Heart, College Romance: Rise Of The Little Brother, and Spirited Heart. For the games Summer Session and Heileen, he moved away from C/C++ to embrace Python programming language and in particular the tool Ren'Py.

The stories of The Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook and The Flower Shop: Winter in Fairbrook were written by Ayu Sakata from sakevisual. Starting from 2020, some of his games were ported and published to consoles by Ratalaika Games.

Awards

In 2004, both his games The Goalkeeper and Universal Boxing Manager were nominated among the 5 top Sports Games of the Year [1] by the online magazine Gametunnel. In the 2011 Best Ofs from VNs Now!, Winter Wolves was named "Studio/EVN Circle of the Year".

Games

Release DateTitle(s)Genre(s)Platform(s)
2003Universal Soccer ManagerSports managementMac OS, Microsoft Windows
2004Spin AroundPuzzle gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
Ignazio The FrogPac-Man cloneMac OS, Microsoft Windows
Universal Boxing ManagerSports managementMac OS, Microsoft Windows
QuizlandQuiz gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
The GoalkeeperSimulation video gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
Supernova: Galactic WarsStrategy video gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
2005Magic StonesCard game, Role-playing video gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
2006Universal Soccer Manager 2Sports managementMac OS, Microsoft Windows
2007TV Station ManagerSimulation video gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
2008Supernova 2: SpacewarStrategy video gameMac OS, Microsoft Windows
Summer SessionVisual novel, dating simLinux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Heileen: Sail AwayVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2009College Romance: Rise Of The Little BrotherVisual novel, dating simLinux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Spirited HeartVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Bionic HeartVisual novelAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Heileen 2: The Hands of FateVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2010Card SweetheartsCard gameLinux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
The Flower Shop - Summer In FairbrookVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Vera Blanc: Full MoonVisual novel, detective gameAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Vera Blanc: Ghost In The CastleVisual novel, detective gameAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2011Love & Order with Christine LoveVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Planet StrongholdRole-playing video game, visual novelAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Always Remember MeVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Spirited Heart Girl's LoveExpansionAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
The Flower Shop - Winter In FairbrookVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2012Loren The Amazon PrincessRole-playing video game, visual novelAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Loren The Amazon Princess: The Castle of N'marExpansionAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Heileen 3: New HorizonsVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2013Heileen 3: Sea MaidensExpansionAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Bionic Heart 2Visual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
NicoleVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2014RoommatesVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Role-playing-game, visual novelAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2015Bad BloodExpansionAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2016Planet Stronghold: Colonial DefenseVisual novel, card game video gameAndroid, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
C14 DatingVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Heirs And GracesVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Queen of ThievesVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Never Forget MeVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2017Amber's Magic ShopVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2018Cursed LandsRole-playing video gameAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Love BitesVisual novel, dating simAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2019Corona BorealisVisual novel, dating simLinux, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
2020Planet Stronghold 2Role-playing video game, visual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows
Volleyball HeavenVisual novel, dating simLinux, Microsoft Windows
2021Tales From The Under-Realm: HazelVisual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows
At Your FeetVisual novel, dating simLinux, Microsoft Windows
Summer In TrigueVisual novel, dating simLinux, Microsoft Windows
Love NotesVisual novel, dating simLinux, Microsoft Windows
2022The Curse Of MantrasCard game, role-playing video gameLinux, Microsoft Windows
Tales From The Under-Realm: After MidnightVisual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows
2023The Beastmaster PrincessVisual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows
Save The WorldVisual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows
Tales Of Aravorn: An Elven MarriageRole-playing video game, visual novelLinux, Microsoft Windows

References

  1. http://www.gametunnel.com/articles.php?id=358 2004 Sports Games of the Year Awards

Interviews

External links