The design director of Kirby wants to make a non-action spin-off

Hal Laboratory's Riki Furmann imagines a different future for Nintendo's Kirby franchise.

Speaking to Famitsu (via Nintendo Everything), the design director was joined by fellow Kirby developers, lead action programmer Katsuyoshi Sumitomo and general director Shinya Kumazaki, to discuss their future plans for the series.

While much of it is essentially marketing waffle - "I really want the next thing we create to be called the pinnacle of Kirby games," says Sumitomo. "I’m positive the Kirby series can become even more fun!" - it is Furmann's comment which is really intriguing.

"For me, personally, I’d really like to make a non-action Kirby spin-off game," he says. "…We’re going to have a wide variety of Kirby coming out in the future."

Super Kirby Clash, the most recent Kirby game in the franchise, released to the Nintendo Switch eShop last year. Like previous entries in the franchise, Super Kirby Clash featured the classic Kirby gameplay while introducing action-centered multiplayer boss battles.