Hello, Borja! Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Luto had a huge impact on me when I played the demo a few years ago, and now the final version has surprised me even more — could you share a little about the game’s design process, where some of the ideas came from?

Borja Corvo Santana: Thank you so much! I’m really glad that Luto resonated with you in such a positive way. Since this is basically our very first video game in every sense, it’s probably no surprise to anyone that development was pure chaos. Luto started back in 2020 as a curricular project where the goal was to “imitate” the P.T. (Silent Hills) formula, mostly because it seemed like the simplest option in terms of mechanics. It was more about triggers than interactions, which felt ideal for beginners. But little by little, we turned it into something a bit more personal, which ended up becoming Luto Demo: The Choice. That was really the turning point, because the demo was received much better than we expected. And that made us want to take advantage of the momentum and turn Luto into something more ambitious, instead of just making a “bigger demo”. So in 2023 we kind of “restarted” the project, which eventually became the game we’ve just released. In short, it’s been a huge learning process from 2020 until now, with several different versions of Luto coexisting before we finally found the right one.

Luto seemed like a very personal project to me, in addition to being the studio’s first game. What was it like starting with something so dense, so intense, and dealing with such a heavy theme?

Borja Corvo Santana: The truth is that it’s a very personal project, because the idea came after my father passed away, a very confusing time when I felt a kind of “fear” I had never experienced before. Luto was almost like a catharsis for me, first during development, but especially now, seeing that so many people have connected with what we created.

Cyclical horror, which mixes common routine with anomalies and bizarreness, is difficult to balance, to know exactly where to insert such an element and how to communicate it to the player. How difficult is it to convey the message and the idea through a game, to be sure it will reach the other side?

Borja Corvo Santana: I agree, it’s something pretty hard to express well, and we went through a lot of iterations on that idea before reaching the final result, which honestly wasn’t even fully clear to us haha.

The concept of the “loop” in Luto goes hand in hand with the idea of being trapped in a routine, something that has a big narrative impact on the story. It represents different stages of the protagonist’s depression, to the point where there’s even some intention behind it feeling “boring”, especially in one particular chapter where you’re forced to repeat the same thing over and over again.

We were partly worried about how players would perceive that, but we felt it worked best on a symbolic level, so we decided to go for a slower kind of gameplay and just take the risk…

Luto manages to blend extremely everyday elements with metalanguages and oddities that make you rethink a lot about your own existence. What was that entire creation process like?

Borja Corvo Santana: Personally, I love when a work plays with its own format, so it’s no surprise that two big inspirations in that sense were House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and The Stanley Parable. And if you add a complex narrative with a slightly “extravagant” touch, well, I’m sold haha.

This has been a key part of Luto pretty much from the start, and little by little it grew into a narrative necessity. We wanted to express that even if everything feels “broken”, you have to keep moving forward, and let’s just say we ended up doing that almost literally!

And well, the creative process followed the same pattern as the whole development: trial and error, pure learning.

By the way, I loved the name of the game (which works in both Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese) — is there any purpose in not translating the name into English, as is the case most of the time in video games?

Borja Corvo Santana: We see “Luto” as a word full of meaning and impact regardless of the language. We never thought about localizing it into other languages, because it also carries a narrative weight within the game, where Spanish is part of the family’s story, especially in relation to the mother, Eva.

One of the game’s most difficult puzzles is found right in the opening moments — was the idea to communicate to the player that the game is about something like this? How to balance frustration with a sense of achievement, especially in a dense horror atmosphere?

Borja Corvo Santana: There was definitely some intention behind putting a complex puzzle right at the start of the game, because even after solving it, the first thing you hear is “you can consider what just happened as a kind of test”, and that’s exactly what it is, both for Samuel and for the player.

Normally, puzzles get progressively harder as the player learns, so there’s always a challenge and a sense of achievement when overcoming them. However, in Luto we also wanted to use puzzles as a symbolic resource within the narrative.

So yes, we didn’t want the player to feel like the game was getting harder as it went on. Quite the opposite, we wanted it to feel “easier”, just like grief itself, where little by little it becomes more… bearable.

Honestly, this is the point where we’ve seen the biggest split in opinions. Quite a few people understood it and thought it was an interesting way of talking about “overcoming”, but many others saw it as a design flaw that hurt the game, especially since we also intentionally toned down the horror bit by bit. We get that for players expecting a purely scary game it didn’t fully click. Either way, we understand all the criticism and really appreciate it. At the end of the day, this is our first video game, and we’ll take all of this into account for future projects.

One of the most discussed points: the interlocutor. Was he present from the beginning of development? The voice becomes and transforms as the game progresses, but is it also another difficult element to include in Luto?

Borja Corvo Santana: For us, the narrator was kind of the “glue” that made Luto come together. It was an idea that came in relatively late, but when it did, it turned out to be exactly the narrative solution we needed.

And well, the whole game itself is a “difficult element” haha. I feel like I keep repeating myself, but it really all comes down to the fact that we had no idea how to do almost anything!

Now, about the ghosts in the sheets: could you talk a little more about this symbolism? And how does the game handle this issue, so naive and even childish at first?

Borja Corvo Santana: Interestingly, it came about because we realized we could make a realistic simulation of fabrics, and just that alone would catch some attention since it wasn’t very common. That layer of “realism” in the animation contrasted really well with the childish idea we had of these “ghosts”, creating an ambiguous feeling between comedy and horror, which I love.

However, thanks to the movie A Ghost Story, we understood that it practically carries a universal symbolism, and we started shaping it until it became very important in Luto’s narrative.

Luto had a huge impact on me, in so many ways — thank you for that! Art truly is this externalization of the self, reaching other souls in the process. And you succeeded. Absolutely. Would you like to leave a message for horror fans who played Luto?

Borja Corvo Santana: I don’t really know what message to give, other than to say thank you.

Luto is a very personal project that gave us both really good and really tough moments during development. Just completing it was a success in itself, and we’re very proud. But knowing that Luto has impacted so many players in this way is an incredible satisfaction and honor, and it’s made us appreciate our work even more, especially after years of development when we weren’t sure if it would turn out well or not.

So that’s it, just a big thank you to everyone who played. We hope our next project lives up to it!

Hi, Jesse! It’s always a pleasure to talk to you, my friend. We’ve been in touch since the days of Silence of the Sleep and I’ve been following your work eagerly — congratulations on Without a Dawn! Would you like to introduce us to the game, please?

Jesse Makkone: Hi, Makson! The pleasure is all mine. And thank you! Without a Dawn is a very dark, mature, psychological, and even philosophical dive into the human psyche. It’s a visual horror novel, so it’s more of an experience than a game and lasts for around 50 minutes. But the style and length allowed me to spend more time refining the little details, and I’m super happy everything turned out well.

Why the visual novel format and why this particular artistic style, ASCII? Did the form and content communicate or was it kind of inevitable?

Jesse Makkone: Honestly, I burned myself out with Afterdream and felt overwhelmed starting something big. So I started planning something smaller, and initially, Without a Dawn was going to be around 20 minutes, but I couldn’t tell the story I wanted to tell in so little time, so it expanded quite a bit. I started the project by creating pixel art and writing a few parts. At some point, I started experimenting with the art, and after countless experiments, something clicked. The sub-pixel numbers texture on pixel art looked fantastic, and worked really well with the limited color palette and low number of pixels. I had to recreate the art, though, for it to work fully with the style, but at that point, I knew that was the style I would be going for. And yes, I feel the art perfectly communicates with the atmosphere and the story as well!

Like all of your past games, mental illnesses, grief, loss, pain, are current themes, but they seem to be even more of an emphasis this time around — perhaps because of the style the game fits into? What was it like to approach these themes (and what else?) in Without a Dawn?

Jesse Makkonen: I guess I’m somewhat drawn to these themes. The world has been pretty nasty for years, and I think a lot of this “darkness” went into Without a Dawn. Maybe the game acts as a vessel where I could put most of these dark thoughts. Well, that said, developing Without a Dawn certainly was rough. The writing required me to be in the right state of mind, so I spent most of that time in a dark place. I think it was worth it, though, as Without a Dawn is something I haven’t seen any game handle so delicately.

Compared to Afterdream and the Distraint franchise, how challenging was Without a Dawn? And how personal is the game to you?

Jesse Makkonen: Mentally, very challenging. Tec-wise, likely easier as I had pretty strict “rules” for the art, writing, and audio. I mean, it took tons of trial and error and rewrites to create the game, but everything was clearer to me. There’s a lot of me in the game. It’s a very personal game.

During the development process of Without a Dawn, what kind of horror fiction permeated your life? Be it books, comics, other games? What impact did it have on you in these last few years?

Jesse Makkonen: Oh man, it’s difficult to remember what media I’ve consumed while developing. I played Silent Hill 2 Remake. I’ve been watching Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Tons and tons of prog metal! There must be more, but… sorry I can’t seem to remember.

Would talking about the metalinguistic aspect of Without a Dawn be revealing too many surprises? I was very impacted by this in the game, I admit!

Jesse Makkonen: Interesting question! You made me Google what “metalinguistic” means. I must admit I struggle to grasp the question. But if I understood what you asked, then yes, I think explaining the writing and its angles and tones could be too revealing for players.

You’ve been developing horror games for over 10 years — what has that life been like? What is it like to dedicate yourself to the genre?

Jesse Makkonen: Ups and downs, for sure! I love horror stories, especially psychological ones. I love telling these stories and expressing myself. Sometimes, though, they sort of drag me with them. I mean, it’s hard to create something dark and thought-provoking without feeling it while creating. I don’t think I’m gloomy, but sometimes, in the middle of the creation, there’s no other way.

There’s also the financial side of being an entrepreneur, and it pains me to see what kind of horror is more popular. Sometimes, I feel down knowing that I work incredibly hard, and I keep creating games that try to challenge players emotionally, knowing that there’s very little chance for my games to go viral. But, at the same time, essentially, I’ve been creating games for myself, and I’ve been able to do that for over ten years for a living. That’s a pretty neat achievement!

And still on this subject — what are your future plans? Could you share a little more about your next venture?

Jesse Makkonen: I hope to get Without a Dawn on consoles, so I will likely start contacting some publishers. After that… I’ve no idea! I guess how Without a Dawn is doing financially also affects what I’m doing next. It’s possible I create something entirely different in any way. Making something colorful and happy and composing adventurous music would be fun! But, as I said, I’ve no idea yet.

Hello there Frankie! Thank you very much for granting us this interview! Look Outside is already a huge success among horror fans — how has this journey been for you, from the initial launch of the game via itch.io until now, with the involvement of Devolver?

Francis Coulombe: The game started out as an entry in a month-long, horror-themed game jam in October 2024. The result was a fun but somewhat incomplete game- a lot of promise, but it wasn’t quite there yet. The game’s unfinished prototype received a lot of attention online however. I asked Devolver what they think, I was already in contact with them for two other projects, and they agreed this seemed like it had potential. I got together with a lot of my indie dev friends to try and polish this into a proper commercial game. I was hoping we could wrap this up within one month or two, but unfortunately, it ended up taking 5 months, so by the time we were ready to launch, the early surge of interest had mostly died down. The game’s reception was still great however, and it has been doing quite well despite missing that ideal launch window.

Why Look Outside among all your other games? Do you think about giving the same treatment to any other creations from the past? Evolving and expanding the concept?

Francis Coulombe: The attention that the initial prototype got seemed like a great opportunity. I thought that, if I could hurry and finish the game up before that wave of attention died down, it could do really well. This project also has a lot of overlap with my main project — a more ambitious horror RPG called Malison: The Cursed City. Any success this smaller project got would be great news for the larger one. Not only would it introduce my kind of game design and story to a larger public and possibly start building an audience for it early, but Look Outside’s profits could also help fund the rest of that projects’ development.

As for evolving and expanding past concepts, of course! It’s hard to let old projects go, and I always think of what I could do with them. I have a tense, horror-themed, non-linear first person shooter called Deathless Hyperion that I’d love to revisit into a commercial project someday.

A turn-based RPG game, in the best Dragon Quest or Mother style, mixed with survival horror is something quite rare — where did the desire and inspiration to make this come from?

Francis Coulombe: A big inspiration for me is the famicom game Sweet Home. A haunted house you explore with a small team of characters, fighting ghosts and ghouls with dragon quest-like RPG combat, managing resources like healing tonics and solving puzzles, different members of your team having various abilities you can use to explore. They were going to remake the game in 3d for the playstation, switching the turn based combat for real time action, but they lost the rights to the horror movie the original game was an adaptation of, and had to rebuild the whole story during pre-production. They changed the haunted house story into a more science fiction one with zombies and bioengineered mutants, and the Resident Evil series was born.

I like to think about what the survival horror genre could have been in an alternate timeline of the games industry, where the genre had kept going in the direction of RPG games. You can kind of think of Look Outside and Malison: The Cursed City as games from that alternate history.

Fitting the idea of a post-apocalyptic routine into the game, with all its variables and ramifications, seems like something really complex to implement. Could you share a little more about this process?

Francis Coulombe: Setting up this routine back home was more important as a way to set the games’ tone and rhythm than as a tricky resource management puzzle, so I actually kept this pretty simple! It was more about making the player feel at home, feel safe and comfortable in one place, and very unsafe and wary outside of it by contrast. Feeling like you are holding your breath whenever you explore out there, and can finally breathe again at your return. Initially, there was more: you had chores like cleaning up and washing the dishes, but it felt like it became a distraction, became too tedious, so I cut some of it.

And the pixel art? Absolutely grotesque, with disgusting creatures, total physical and personal degradation — how do you translate this into such a peculiar graphic style?

Francis Coulombe: Drawing gnarly pixel art monsters is something I have a lot of experience with at this point! 10 years ago, I was working on a game with a lot of animation, and where most creatures and characters had to be drawn facing multiple directions. Most things I drew for it had to be kept very simple to keep the workload manageable, as you might imagine. I started a side-project at the time with the working title “weekend RPG” — a creative outlet to have fun drawing very detailed monsters, in contrast to my main job. It got way out of hand, the simple RPG growing more complex, and a few dozen monsters turned into a hundred, then two hundred…four hundred… and “weekend RPG” became Malison, The Cursed city, and has over twelve hundred grotesque monsters in it! So in short, drawing weird monsters is kind of my comfort zone, I see that as an end in itself!

Did anything particularly grotesque disturb you in the game? I could mention so many things that I even feel a little dizzy, I admit!

Francis Coulombe: It’s hard to disturb yourself with your own art or your own writing, the act of making it kinda deflates the horror, like how explaining a joke ruins it. But obviously, when you write horror, you take inspiration from things that do disturb you in some way. I think the kind of horror that gets to me the most is when something terrifying and horrible is just out of sight. When you can barely make out its shape. Narrowly avoiding a horrible fate, or being very thinly protected from it. Observing the terrible, sublime thing indirectly, seeing only glimpses. I think you can see traces of this all over the game.

Could you share a little more about your inspirations? And not only in terms of video games, but also favorite movies, comics, books? What disturbs and excites your mind?

Francis Coulombe: Sure! For video games to start, I like exploration-centric games the most, especially when that exploration feels tense and dangerous. I love metroidvania style games for that reason, like the open-ended Castlevania games like Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow especially, La Mulana, Hollow Knight and Super Metroid. Survival horror games of course like the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series, Clock Tower, Lone Survivor. CRPGs like Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Pathfinder: Kingmaker ,the early Fallout games. JRPGs like Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, Chrono trigger, and more recently the indie game Crystal Project was amazing. Immersive sims like the Thief games, Ultima Underworld, Deus Ex and Prey 2016. Dungeon Crawlers like the Wizardry series, the King’s Field series, the more recent Lunacid, Legend of Grimrock. Classic first person shooters like Doom, Heretic and Hexen, and some recent indie games like those from New Blood- Dusk and Amid Evil. The souls games have had a wonderful feeling of tense exploration, so I have really loved those, especially Dark Souls 1 with its almost metroidvania-like interconnected world design. Outside of these genres, I loved Subnautica and Outer Wilds as exploration games too.
My favorite horror movie is Braindead, the grotesquely gory 1992 Peter Jackson horror-comedy.

I love the discworld series of fantasy novels, Ive read almost all of it, though I’ve struggled to keep going after Terry Pratchett died, it just hits different now. It’s probably had quite a bit of influence over how I write, but I’d imagine that influence is more visible with Malison than with Look Outside.

A huge influence on my art is the franco-belgian comic series Philémon, an absurd, colorful, surreal, psychedelic adventure series from the 70s following the travels of a young man and his donkey exploring a series of letter-shaped islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, those letter-shaped islands just so happen to spell out the words “Atlantic Ocean”, which people often mistake for a label on world maps. I grew up reading franco-belgian comics, so I likely take a lot of my art style from them, like Asterix, Tintin, Spirou, Achille Talon, Lucky Luke, Isabelle, Docteur Poche.

Pixel art wise, Castlevania 3 for the NES and the fleshy monster-planet scrolling shooter Abadox are some of my fondest early gaming memories for being immersed in a colorful pixel world.

Hi there Jesse! How are you? Thank you very much for granting us this interview! It’s been a long time since we last spoke, hasn’t it? It was on your very first project, Silence of the Sleep. And a lot of time — and many games — have passed between then and now — do you want to tell us a little bit about your journey? What has life been like as a developer (almost exclusively) of horror games?

Jesse Makkonen, creator of AFTERDREAM: Hey there, long time no talk indeed! I’m alright, I hope you’re well, too. Yes, it has been around ten years now I believe since I first started. Time truly flies. As for my journey, it’s been alright. Even though Silence of the Sleep wasn’t a big hit or even a small hit, it was still enough to fully transform me into creating games. I’ve been able to create games for a living since then. Well, the industry is definitely changing, and making it these days is a lot harder.

Being a solo developer is quite tricky, to be honest. I love the freedom it offers, but then I have to take care of everything myself so at times it’s incredibly overwhelming. Top that with games that handle deep, dark themes… well it can be quite tough to stay mentally positive at times, haha. But still, I don’t know what else I’d do, or how else I could express myself, so I wouldn’t change a thing. Not yet, at least.

Afterdream is a kind of technical and narrative evolution of your past projects, like Distraint or Heal. Or am I mistaken? How do your games talk to each other and how does one influence the other, premeditatedly or not?

Jesse Makkonen: It truly is! All my games so far take place in the same universe. There are characters that are connected, for example, in Heal, you play as Mr. Goodwin. The mysterious psychologist, named Clifford, appears in Silence of the Sleep, DISTRAINT 2, and Afterdream. Everything is connected, and there’s lots of room for theories and speculation. Technically, I think people can see the progression of the art style evolving into what it is in Afterdream.

Afterdream seemed to me to be an even more intimate project than your past games — perhaps I concluded that because we were, at its core, in a therapy session. Could you talk a little more about what it was like to transform these conversations about the mind and life into a horror game?

Jesse Makkonen: I’m a metalhead, progressive metal for the win! However, when I write dialogue I usually put some ambient and atmospheric music in the background, such as Hammond or Slow Meadow. Music like that helps me to “close” myself in this little bubble, where I can hear my thoughts better and then convey them as words and text.

Afterdream deals, among so many issues, with a kind of unresolved grief, which is very fertile ground for horror. What was it like using this narrative resource to create your game? And where (or when) did the camera become an elementary factor in the whole thing?

Jesse Makkonen: Initially, when I started creating Afterdream, I tried very hard to avoid the usual horror game themes. I noticed that approach limited me in so many ways I had to give it up and accept the fact I couldn’t write a touching story that way. So, I started forming the story in my head. Similar to my past games, I didn’t have everything thought out before starting. Instead, I create parts of the game, play and feel them, and then decide where to take the story next. The dreamlike setting of Afterdream definitely helped with this way of working. Since my games are quite simple gameplay-wise, I wanted to have something more for Afterdream, and thought of different mechanics I could use. I went through a couple of different ideas, and quickly demoed a camera. Not very original, but I feel it worked great for Afterdream and brought that needed variety for gameplay. I decided to use it. At this point, I didn’t have the story thought out, so I had to write the camera into the story as well.

It’s already routine in your projects, but Afterdream took even more care with the dose of bizarre creatures, highly representative of the character’s condition at that specific time. Could you talk more about your creative process in this regard?

Jesse Makkonen: I do lots of trial and error. That also takes lots of time, but I usually end up doing something good and fitting this way. I think my creative process is mostly trying something to see if it works. If not, I’ll try something else until it feels right. Then I start polishing and adding more detail. I’m not sure where the inspiration comes from, though!

It is often difficult to distinguish what is reality and what is a dream in Afterdream. And I congratulate you for that, because the feeling of discomfort is constant (and also because of the soundscape). How difficult was it to create something like this?

Jesse Makkonen: Thank you! In essence, I think it’s the audio and the gritty art style that sets the mood. I love creating audio, it’s likely my favorite part of the development and something I feel quite comfortable doing. I feel that for me personally, creating the atmosphere I aim for comes naturally. Maybe it’s one of the perks of being a solo dev. I don’t know, really!

I would like you to talk a little more about the characters in the game: the protagonist, the therapist, and bizarre and sinister figures that we encounter during the real regressions that take place. Would you, please?

Jesse Makkonen: Oh yes! As I mentioned, my games take place in the same universe. There are connections between the games and even the characters. There are even some subtle hints that tie the protagonist of Afterdream to the DISTRAINT -series. My favorite character must be the psychologist, though. Every game he appears in brings something more out of him. Who is he really? I’m not sure how much I can explain stuff here not to spoil the game, though! Anyhow, I had lots of fun writing the characters of Afterdream.

It’s going to be quite difficult to leave Afterdream out of my personal list of favorite horror games of the year — the ending, in particular, was too devastating. Congratulations on the work, Jesse! I’ve been a long-time fan of your work and consider Afterdream your most complex and refined work to date!

Jesse Makkonen: Well, thank you again! I agree the ending is pretty harsh but very human, and thus can have a strong impact on players. A great, great deal of effort went into creating Afterdream and I’m a bit sad to say the release wen’t quite under the radar. I truly hope people will find the game during the spooky months and upcoming seasonal sales and give it a go.

Would you like to leave a message for anyone who ventures (or wants to venture) into the world of creating independent horror games? And thank you very much for giving us this interview!

I always tell solo devs to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses. Try to design the game around your strengths and maximize that aspect in your game and design. Oh, and create awesome horror games and try to enjoy the process. That’s it, I guess! :)

Thank you very much for interviewing me, always a pleasure!

Olá, Vikintor! Muito obrigado por essa entrevista. E digo isso como fã de longa data de seu trabalho — Tamashii foi uma experiência absurdamente bizarra e marcante, daquelas que perturbam a cabeça (e é justamente o que procuro no terror). E é incrível acompanhar sua evolução com Teocida, passando por Estigma. Poderia contar um pouco mais sobre você? Como nasceu esse gosto pelo bizarro e como é trabalhar com isso no Brasil?

Vikintor, criador de TAMASHI, ESTIGMA E TEOCIDA: O interesse começou na infância; minha família tinha o costume de se reunir para jogar Resident Evil noite adentro, as vezes com a presença dos meus tios (e das revistinhas de “detonado” da época). Quando não eram os jogos, eram os filmes e séries de terror e mistério (tema do arquivo X ficou gravado na mente por causa dessa época).

Ainda criança, nunca tinha ouvido falar sobre ferramentas de desenvolvimento, só fui conhecer internet uma década depois, mas ainda assim eu tinha cadernos repletos de design de fases e mapas próprios.

Só fui descobrir que podia fazer jogos na pré-adolescência. Quando achei uma revista da PC-Expert à venda. A revistinha acompanhava um CD e algo escrito sobre “faça seus jogos”. Pode se dizer que foi ali que comecei, com um disco com o instalador do Game Maker 4, alguns joguinhos de exemplos e sem internet até anos depois (lembro que o software ainda era assinado pelo Mark Overmars, criador do Game Maker, muito antes da empresa se tornar Yoyogames e ser comprada pela Opera)

Já a ideia de focar no horror veio na vida adulta. Eu estava obcecado na busca por jogos de terror, e assim redescobri ParanoiaScape, talvez o jogo que me deixou mais perturbado na infância, e agora minha maior inspiração. Depois sai numa busca por jogos esquisitos que não conhecia. Fui parar na “toca de coelho” das creepypastas e dos supostos jogos amaldiçoados, animações bizarras de youtube e tantas outras coisas esquisitas de mentira que tanta gente criativa cria.

Nunca tive muito interesse pelo horror da vida real, fora alguns temas sobre cultos, meu estilo estava apontado na fabricação da fantasia. Eu queria consumir o tipo de obra de horror que não poderia existir, que não tivesse lógica.

Nem sei como expressar com precisão como foi entrar no mercado de jogos, é uma loucura quando penso nisso. Eu trabalhava numa empresa no ramo de termoplásticos, fiquei lá por oito anos. No tempo livre eu estava retornando de um hiato, anos sem estudar videogame, voltei aos jogos sem muita pretensão.

Até que a filial da empresa encerrou as atividades no Brasil. Resolvi arriscar usar parte do dinheiro que recebi dos meus direitos pra bancar o lançamento do Tamashii e a compra de licenças de software. Eu não acreditava que daria certo ao ponto de o jogo aparecer nos consoles. Contudo, minha família concordava com a decisão, eles diziam que eu iria trabalhar com isso, eu negava dizendo que era muito difícil e tal. Quando percebi já estava 5 anos trabalhando nesse ramo louco.

Ocultismo, simbolismo, esse terror carnal e corporal, fazem parte da estética de todos os seus trabalhos — além da mistura de técnicas e estilos. E o impacto inicial que isso causa é um quase sem precedentes. Como isso tudo surgiu em sua vida e porque resolveu seguir por esse caminho em suas obras? Você tem um certo envolvimento com isso na vida real?

Vikintor: Diria que é uma mistura que vem sendo preparada aos poucos. O meu gosto pelo horror corporal vem em parte por ele seguir uma “vertente” surrealista. O filme “Cries From Within” (À cris perdus) de 1972 foi também uma grande influência; ele busca documentar a dinâmica interna de vários grupos que rejeitaram o pensamento ortodoxo e buscavam conforto em seitas da época ( além das duvidosas figuras de autoridade). Também assisti a documentários e matérias sobre Heaven’s Gate, Jin Jones, Zen Master Rama, Rajneeshpuram, Buddhafield, e até mesmo em como o cinema aborda esses temas; claro que meu interesse também se estende na mitologia a qual esses cultos se apegam, e os arquétipos comuns que são compartilhados entre elas.

Alguns vilões dos meus jogos, os conhecidos como “Ícones de domínio”, foram inspirados em líderes de culto de modo geral. E a dinâmica entre protagonista e antagonista em Teocida foi diretamente inspirada em lendas gnósticas.

Quanto a mim, embora eu passe a minha vida em meio a relatos mediúnicos, tenho uma adoração divina dividida entre gatos e filmes musicais cafonas, contudo tenho bastante livros sobre religião e mitologia, alguns herdados, outros comprados, não tenho espaço dentro da casa para colocar eles. Não gosto de ler nada online.

Para você, o que torna um jogo de terror algo assustador? Qual a sua percepção para abordagem de terror em videogame? E o quanto outras mídias, em especial literatura, quadrinhos e cinema, convergem e conversam entre si nesse aspecto?

Vikintor: A sensação de insegurança me deixa apreensivo, e como o terror é trabalhado vai fazer com que essa sensação seja mais ou menos efetiva para mim. É tão subjetivo que não descarto que uma pré-disposição ajude, como por exemplo; Outer Wilds, que é um jogo de aventura, me deixou perturbado por semanas pelo modo com que ele aborda temas existenciais.

Infelizmente não tive tanto contato com o cinema e literatura de terror quanto deveria, mas assim como os jogos, creio que o terror pode buscar transmitir várias outras sensações desagradáveis, já que vejo o perturbador ser uma consequência de fatores, e não algo que dá pra apontar como objetivo de modo isolado. Filmes como “Mad God” e “When Black Birds Fly” são feitos para causar repulsa; o primeiro como um stop-motion que se mistura ao live-action, o ultimo como uma experiencia ainda mais psicodélica e abstrata; são os recortes de cenas, o som, o que é permitido enxergar e o que fica na subjetividade, esses elementos acabam tornando essas obras assustadoras, e quando não são, ainda tem o valor alto pela construção da atmosfera repulsiva e sufocante.

De Tamashii para Teocida, muita coisa mudou na sua forma de abordar terror? Quanto aos jogos, é perceptível a evolução visual, os novos aspectos de gameplay e até a profundidade das temáticas e apelo gráfico — poderia desenvolver mais sobre isso, por gentileza?

Vikintor: Quando comecei não haviam muitos planos para Tamashii além de que seria o tipo de jogo que alguém leria sobre numa creepypasta. Essa era a ideia; Um pouco da quebra da quarta parede, um “pé” entre o real e virtual, um ar “satânico” à primeira vista, Ele foi uma representação do meu gosto por essas lendas de internet.

Já para Teocida eu tinha certeza do propósito: Em vez das muitas referências aleatórias (comparadas ao antecessor), Teocida envolveria um único tema enquanto outros elementos estariam em sua órbita, ainda apresentados de modo abstrato em boa parte do tempo. Toda a área da creepypasta ganhou mais camadas, e a “toca de coelho” do ARG complementaria a experiência. Talvez seja um horror ainda mais nichado. Em sua breve duração, Teocida deveria passar a sensação de que sempre haveria algo escondido para ser descoberto, e que de fato há muita coisa.

Até onde lembro Tamashii era inteiramente desenhado em pixel-art (usando o próprio editor de sprites do Game Maker), além de ser monocromático na maior parte do tempo, e no outro, usava a paleta do Splaterhouse.

Já para Teocida eu decidi usar pixelart, fotografia, 3D pré-renderizado e modelagem em porcelana fria (biscuit).

Antes de ser um jogo de terror, Teocida, Tamashii e até mesmo Estigma, são jogos de plataforma, ou, no último exemplo, “QBERT + Pac-Man”, nas suas palavras, certo? Teocida foi ainda mais fundo nesse buraco de coelho (morto-vivo). É possível que qualquer gênero de videogame abrace o terror? Como forma e conteúdo conversam para você?

Vikintor: Creio que aspectos do terror possam ser explorados em todo tipo de mídia que não seja explicitamente do gênero. Tivemos os exemplos do terror abordado em jogos rítmicos, golfe, pesca, até jogos de direção. Eu particularmente tenho algumas ideais para combinações do tipo, e sei que basta eu atrasar mais um pouco que esse jogo vai sair por outra pessoa. Desenvolvedores independentes no geral adquiriram uma sensibilidade para extrair o horror do local mais insólito, coisa que é mais difícil ver um estúdio AAA fazendo.

Você trabalhou sozinho em todos os seus jogos? Como é isso para você? E se houve algum tipo de parceria em algum momento, poderia contar mais sobre isso?

Vikintor: Acho que dá para dizer que Tamashii foi produzido de modo solo, e quando terminado comissionei uma correção da tradução para inglês.

Já em Teocida; além da tradução ser sido contratada, tive a colaboração da Luna Ay, minha irmã. Ela fez a ilustração de capa da versão de consoles e teve a ideia de usar a endoscopia para manipulação de algumas texturas.

Luna Ay é artista lowbrow (pop-surrealismo). E tem um estilo de fazer terror que particularmente é um dos meus favoritos. Só não estamos partindo para o que julgamos como ideal porque não achamos boas ferramentas para animação 2D que caibam em nosso orçamento e que sejam compatíveis com as engines que usamos.

Algumas artes da Luna Ay:

Atualmente estamos em um período de transição e adaptação: Linguagem de programação nova, muitos testes em perspectiva 2D e 3D, ferramentas para aprender e computadores novos (o meu antigo não aguentava mais e o da minha irmã queimou durante um trabalho). É bem difícil dizer quando virá coisa nova, mas é bem capaz que o próximo jogo possa ter uma presença conjunta mais equilibrada.

Estou neste momento experimentando com 3D, apesar de que ainda acho a perspectiva 2D muito mais adequada para alguns tipos de jogos. Já faz um bom tempo que discutimos em como conciliar a arte visual e o formato do jogo e sua perspectiva (2D ou 3D), algo que estamos fazendo com calma enquanto experimentamos.

Algumas imagens dos testes 3D e pequenos projetos não lançados, desenvolvidos ao longo dos estudos na nova engine:

A trilha sonora de seus jogos são extremamente marcantes — um EBM industrial infernal, coisa finíssima. Você é o compositor? Poderia desenvolver um pouco mais quanto a isso?

Vikintor: Até o momento eu sou o compositor nos meus jogos. Chu Ishikawa é uma das minhas inspirações para ter arriscado na área; Ele e a banda Der Eisenrost foram meu primeiro contato com um industrial mais denso (Tão barulhento que Ishikawa usava uma serra circular durante os shows, daquelas serras de bancada mesmo). Eu busquei reproduzir mais desse “barulho” ao mesmo tempo que tentei uma abordagem mais minimalista (levando em consideração minhas limitações). Há também outros compositores que me inspiram como Akira Yamaoka, Michiru Yamane e as assinadas pelo estúdio do Tommy Talarico (digo assinadas porq é difícil encontrar os nomes dos compositores reais quando só o selo do estúdio Talarico aparece em alguns dos créditos).

A dificuldade em seus jogos são brutais — tanto na plataforma, quanto nos quebra-cabeças, na mistura dos dois (meu jogo favorito de terror da vida, Siren, é também um dos jogos mais difíceis que já consegui terminar). Como é dosar esse alto desafio com frustração?

Vikintor: O mais difícil para mim é dosar a dificuldade dos quebra cabeças. Algumas salas em Teocida vão se tornando ligeiramente mais fáceis há medida que o jogador falha, seja retirando algum espinho do caminho quanto alterando minimamente a velocidade de algumas armadilhas.

Claro que há também uma filosofia de design que vai sendo aprimorada com a minha experiência ao longo do tempo, como pequenas regras: Eu começo apresentando o objetivo e uma mecânica para alcançá-lo, tento assegurar que ela seja compreendida em diferentes situações, propondo experimentação até então trazer outra mecânica. Evito criar salas enormes quando o puzzle parece complexo demais, imaginando que essa combinação em primeira vista pode cansar de imediato, etc. Quando o jogador falha, em boa parte, é mais uma falta minha que dele.

Equilibrar isso tudo é muito difícil, não é atoa que ambos jogos (Teocida e Tamashii) possuem muitas salas alternativas que nunca foram usadas. Creio também que essa criação de pequenas regrinhas pessoais no design, quando organizadas, podem fazer o jogador perceber um padrão, sendo assim, fica ainda mais fácil subverter as essas regras e arriscar algum impacto em quem joga.

Falando sobre referências, sei o quanto admira o trabalho de Screaming Mad George, mas gostaria de ir mais fundo nisso. Poderia compartilhar conosco? Quais são as obras de terror clássicas e atuais, sejam lá em quais mídias, que mais o impactaram e tem influência em seu trabalho?

Vikintor: Sou muito influenciado por artistas como PiroPito, Jimmy Screamerclauz, Yuko Tatsushima, H.R Giger, Junji Ito e Tomomi Sakuba.

Meu interesse em ARG’s (Alternate reality games) e nos seus quebra cabeças dificílimos, além do gosto pelo formato de creepypasta de jogos, com destaque para Petscop, Ben Drowned e em parte a lenda do NES Godzilla. Até creepypasta ruim eu tenho certo respeito.

Dos jogos de horror que mais me influenciaram (além de ParanoiaScape e dos clássicos) foram Dream emulator, Yume Niki, Spider: The videogame, Shadowman, Akuji the Heartless, Splatterhouse e Monster Party.

Além dos filmes que citei anteriormente, incluiria Society (Sociedade dos amigos do Diabo), Tetsuo the Iron Man, Repo! The Genetic Opera e When Black Birds fly Como filmes que dê alguma maneira influenciaram meu estilo.

Muito obrigado pelo papo! E parabéns pelo trabalho! E para finalizar, gostaria de deixar alguma mensagem para quem almeja ou está começando a desenvolver jogos de terror de forma independente?

Vikintor: Terror é um nicho muito especial por si só, do tipo que quanto mais melhor. Eu diria para alguém entrando nessa loucura que divulgar-se como artista e desenvolvedor vem antes mesmo de divulgar o jogo. É um processo de construir uma audiência interessada, não apenas no seu trabalho, mas nas suas inspirações.

Hi there Michele, how are you? Thank you so much for granting us this interview! I’m really looking forward to the new Daymare, as a fan of the original game and also a fan of the studio whose first project was a remake of Resident Evil 2, right? Could you tell us a little more about that period and how was Capcom’s contact with you?

Michele Giannone (Co-Founder andCreative Director atInvader Studios) — Thank you for your interest in us and in our game. Yes, several years ago we worked on an unofficial Resident Evil 2 remake while we were just a group of friends and not a software house. We had great success with some gameplay videos until we received a call from Capcom asking to stop our work and fly them to Japan.

It has been a great experience and useful to learn so much about game development. After that meeting, we founded the company and started working on Daymare: 1998. We’re so proud of our friendship with Capcom and to be present in the official Resident Evil 2 remake game credits.

How did the transformation happen? How did Daymare 1998 come to be from what you created as a Resident Evil fan project?

Michele Giannone — It has been a natural process. We just decided to put all our ideas in our game instead of an unofficial remake, and we’re happy about this decision now. Daymare: 1998 has been a great success for a small company like us!

And how does Daymare 1994 evolve from what we were presented with in the original game? What are the most outstanding features of this new game, in your opinion?

Michele Giannone — If Daymare: 1998 was more like a classic title of the survival horror genre, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle is a complete evolution of the formula. The game is still a third-person survival horror, but we add so many original features that make it unique. Starting from the Frost Grip, the device you can use to freeze the enemies and manage the fight like with a crowd control system or solve environmental puzzles, and arriving at the enemies, able to appear from nowhere and empower the other creatures with their vital energy, if not bring to life corpses scattered around in the maps. So many new ideas make this game different from the first one and other titles of the genre in our opinion.

What’s it like to create horror these days, with a market so full of amazing games, be it independent productions from a single person, be it multi-million productions?

Michele Giannone — Hard to say, we were a small group a few years ago and a small company now, but we’re slowly getting bigger. If you have a big publisher behind you, you have money, but probably also a lot of pressure. If you’re smaller, you have less pressure but also less money to spend for the production.

What, in your opinion, makes Daymare 1994 unique? How does Daymare 1994 contribute to the horror genre in terms of bringing new scares, new experiences?

Michele Giannone — As I said, we wanted an evolution. This was the chance to show our ideas and creativity once again. As I said, there’s the Frost Grip, this special device that you can upgrade and useful to solve environmental puzzles or fight and kill all the different creatures you will face. At the same time, the enemies are something really original and unique in the genre, animated by this electromagnetic vitality which lets them bring back to life other corpses or empower other creatures and make them stronger. We presented the scanner, which is useful for finding secrets and information hidden in the maps. Not to mention a totally new controller and inventory system compared to Daymare: 1998.

Could you share a bit about what the horror game development scene is like in your country — Italy is huge regarding horror movie!

Michele Giannone — Honestly, I’m not sure if there are other projects of the same genre produced in Italy, but I really hope that together with us, more and more studios will work on the same titles. Would be great to have some kind of horror Italian movement like it was for the movies in the past.

After Daymare 1994, do Invader Studio’s plans include a new franchise? Or keep on expanding the Daymare universe even further, with its unscrupulous megacorporations and terrifying monsters?

Michele Giannone — We always thought of Daymare as a trilogy, so we created the story of the first game by putting a lot of connections with a background past of some characters and events. These connections are now present in this new game, and more will connect everything with the third chapter of the saga, which is already pretty clear in our minds. That’s our main plan and goal, work on the third one in the near future.

Speaking of monsters, these are an integral part of a good horror game — how was the creation of creatures in the new Daymare? By the demo, I know they are really persistant and resistant!

Michele Giannone — We wanted something original, scary and smart in this game. That’s how we planned them, something never seen before and able to give to the player fun and challenge satisfaction. We also decided to create different creatures with different abilities to make the fights more varied and enjoyable. It’s all about AI and the visual side, both have to coexist at the best.

While the original game brought us 3 protagonists, Daymare 1994 will be led by a single character, Dalila Reyes. Right? Why only her this time? Or am I missing something here?

Michele Giannone — This time we wanted to focus the attention on one protagonist, a female soldier with a really deep background. In the first game, our goal was to present the game events in different times and places, in this case, all we want is to bond the connection and empathy between Reyes and the player from the beginning to the end of the experience.

And we know Daymare’s biggest influence is the horror games of the late 1990s, early 2000s, but what scares you the most at Invader Studio? What most impacted you in video games, cinema, literature, comics, while you were making this new game?

Michele Giannone — I would add from the 80’s too. So many movies, videogames and books or comics influenced us and shaped our lives. That’s probably thanks to them if we’re doing this job now and we feel like making nostalgic products full of tributes and connections that the people love.

In this new game, we add so many of them and I do prefer to not anticipate anything and let you and the players find them all!

Thank you very much for granting us this interview! Would you like to leave a message for those who are just starting out in the world of creating horror video games? And much success for Daymare 1994!

Michele Giannone — Make videogames with passion, and together with people who share the same feelings. Itì’s important to create a strong group, work hard and never give up. Only with the right determination you can get what you are working for! That’s what we feel to share from the beginning of our story. Thank you so much for your interest in our games!

Hi there! Thank you so much for granting us this interview and congratulations on the release of The Backrooms 1998! What if we talk about game development for this VHS kinda horror? How long until it’s ready?

Steelkrill: Thank you very much! It’s an honor to do a interview with you. I plan to have this game in early access for a couple of months till I can add some planned features that I have in mind and also in the mean time, get suggestions and feedbacks from players so I can improve the game — as in my opinion that is the best way to improve a game by hearing from your audiance.

What is it like to compete with so many other games within this backroom theme that is increasingly popular among horror fans?And why do you think the found footage language still didn’t find its place among videogames?

Steelkrill: I don’t really mind the competition, I just love seeing all games and enjoying them. At first though, I was a bit hesitate to start the development of The Backrooms 1998 — because there are so many other great backrooms game out there but in the end I wanted to try my own style with the backrooms with my own twist. This mostly started when I watched a video about ‘The backrooms’ and I thought it would make a great horror game! I knew that I read about it on some other site before, so I wanted to make a game related to that — however I wanted to make it in my own style instead of following its original lore of the story so I started developing this game.

I think found footage is a very immersive style if done right, and it’s one of my favorites in games to be honest. Outlast does this best in my opinion, even though the found footage style may not be that popular I think recently it’s getting it’s fair share as more games are adapting to this kind of style.

The FMV mix is ​​certainly one of the game’s highlights. The transition between real footage and game really hit me hard. Even more is the brutal ending! Will your game be in anthological format? Is early access coming to test the ground, the audience?

Steelkrill: Yes! I always wanted to do that kind of realistic style blend mix with real footage and the game and this was the perfect chance! Haha. I am a big horror fan, and whenever I see movies that show some “real” footages or kind of that format I go crazy as I love them so much. The movie sinister does this best IMO, where it shows disturbing footages through-out the movie with found VHS tapes and also The 4TH Kind.

Yes, I love to release my games as early-access so I can get feedbacks and suggestions from the audience and that way I can improve my game.

Still on the idea of ​​early access: could this end up mitigating theplayer’s horror experience in the medium term? How do you intend to deliver new content? Or will we only have the full game now? And finally, do you already have an estimate of when it will be ready?

Steelkrill: Unforauntly I do not have an estimate for the moment as I have some planned features that I wish to add first then I will see from there, probably it will be for a couple of several months. I wish to also add different languages localization, new type of levels, more features, generated levels, randomized triggers, re-playablility and much more.

Can you talk a little bit about where the actual content of the tapes comes from? How was the filming process and reconciling it with the gameplay, the plot, the creature and the concept of the escape room, in addition to the backroom?

Steelkrill: The actual content is me and my family! Hehe. They are all real VHS footages from the 1990s. Some footages are also from @KoolSkaters (which is a group that does great VHS footages style movies) which was taken with their permission to blend in the footages.

I wanted everything to be connected, and as a big horror fan that watched a lot of movies I love the type of movies that are disturbing, plot twists and the type of movies that makes the hair on your neck stand up, so I tried my best creativity to impliment that in the game.

We targeted mostly people who are horror fans, people that don’t like happy endings and people that want to get scared haha.

Any chance of other creepy pasta being exploited? And still on the backroom idea: what was the short movie or the story that you read that really got you, that really messed with your mind?

Steelkrill: Yes, currently I also have a pending project based on another creepypasta.

I read so many stories and watched so many movies that I forget sometimes, but one that really sticks with me would be the real life crime documentaries — which really messes with your mind to think that there are so many monsters in human forms roaming around the world and this is the message we wanted to tell in the game, that sometimes real life can be more disturbing then any scary fictional story.

What are the biggest difficulties in creating a game entirely by yourself? And more: at some point, did your creation scare you in anyway?

Steelkrill: Being a sole developer have it’s difficulties as you would need to do everything on your own. That means the design, models, story, optimizations, fixes, programming, sound design, graphics, textures and everything else that is needed. This may take time, however I would say the biggest diffculties would be not when you are developing the game, but after the game will be released — because then you will see many different people playing it and that is when you will start seeing glitches, bugs, errors and such being reported by players and it is the most difficult because you have to do everything in a hurry to try and fix the problems yourself, and sometimes fixing one problem will lead to another one showing up.

For example, the launch of The Backrooms 1998 had a bug where the objects were not being saved, so if you loaded the game — then the game will be screwed up and the game may early or not end at all. This was a big headace for me as I spent over 2 days without any sleep on trying to fix the issue. At the end, it was fixed but it was very stressful trying to do your best to fix the issues as soon as possible before more players experence it.

As for your other question — I think I am immune to horror at this point haha, so not really.

The FMV manages to create this immediate strangeness, this almost instantaneous approximation. Is there some kind of personal escapism in The Backrooms 1998?

Steelkrill: Yes, I love creating games as for me it makes me feel happy. I have been a fan of games (and horror haha) since an early age and there is nothing in the world that makes me more happy then making my own creations and seeing them take form. It’s really a great moment especially when you see people appreciating your work that you took time and sacrifice to do.

And finally: what is your ultimate terror, no matter the media? Congratulations on the game’s release! It’s certainly among the scariest of the year so far. Looking forward to the next tapes!

Steelkrill: My ultimate terror is not monsters, ghosts or the paranormal but it would be real life because IMO that is scarier then fiction.

Thank you so much once again! Sorry if I did not understand some questions and sorry about the typos. English is not my first language so I am trying my best hehe J

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the interview.

Hello! Thank you very much for granting us this interview! Before we talk about Remorse, I’d like to know a little more about what the game’s creation process was like — how long until completion? Lots of changes along the way? Was the end result exactly as expected?

Péter Ifju (game creator): Hello and thank you for the opportunity! The game was developed for about 5 years, with occasional breaks mainly due to life events such as moving, house renovations, etc. We usually create our games by starting with a basic idea and then continuously expanding it based on the underlying conflict. Since I believe game development is an organic process, nothing is set in stone during the development, and we always find something worth improving or changing. Additionally, this approach contributes to making the game and its story somewhat chaotic, so those who enjoy gathering fragments of information can spend more time with the game

How did the idea for Remorse: The List come about? And how and why was the backdrop of a neighborhood in Hungary chosen, being even more specific, Hidegpuszta? Is this a real place, and if so, are you guys from there?

Péter Ifju: A game set in Hungary provided a great opportunity to immerse the player in a slightly more exotic Eastern European environment. It was exciting for me as well to gather references for the levels, visit abandoned buildings in my surroundings, or even incorporate parts of the urban hospital. The city itself is not a real location but rather a mix of my hometown and the capital, blending some downtown and suburban styles. Playing the game feels somewhat like starting from my home and trying to make your way to the city center.

Urban legends from Hungary permeate the world of Remorse: The Line? Is there anything real there?

Péter Ifju: I wouldn’t say that we specifically relied on such legends during the game’s development. Our goal was rather to convey the sense of hopelessness and abandonment prevalent in certain parts of the country. Most of these legends are mainly represented in the environment, in the inscriptions. There are many things that Hungarian players can relate to and recognize, which may catch their attention.

How difficult is it to mix this urban setting, very recognizable and ordinary, with the supernatural, with those monsters and dark places, like the ones that mold and twist reality?

Péter Ifju: I think every part of this city fits perfectly with the kind of horror we represent. The enclosed spaces are ideal for this purpose, as everyone knows that feeling of having to find their way home through a dark alley or underpass at night, where anything can happen. But even the sight of unknown creatures’ silhouettes moving in the distance on a wide open street can be terrifying too. In short, we see opportunities in everything to create a good, unnerving, or frightening situation.

Still about the creatures: they are among the scariest, most aggressive and loudest I’ve ever seen in a game. In addition to having a very disturbing and different design. Could you tell us more about your creation process for them? And what’s your favorite monster? Mine, in particular, is that creature attached to a keyboard!

Péter Ifju: Yes, I always strive to make the enemies as deadly and terrifying as possible. It’s much scarier to fight against a monster that literally does everything it can to kill the player. It constantly tests us with the fastest possible movements, taking the shortest path, and its speed makes escaping more difficult. By the way, my favorite enemy is the keyboard-attacking, teleporting monster too. We managed to create something truly unique and deadly there, something the player surely wouldn’t expect.

Remorse has a semi-open sense of progression, with a convulsive, complex story. Could you go a little deeper regarding the plot of the game, please?
How difficult is it to create a horror environment in a game like Remorse? What’s it like balancing how offensive the character can be, to confront creatures, and the difficulty of obstacles in general?

Péter Ifju: It was important for the game’s storyline to bring together all the threads in one place, which is a weird puzzle in front of a family house. To solve this puzzle, the player needs to go through the significant events in the protagonist’s life and make certain decisions related to the story. The biggest challenge was the three optional paths, as regardless of which one the player chooses, it had to be appropriately challenging in every aspect. We had to balance the game in such a way that there were challenges in every direction, with proper provision of weapons and first aid kits. The rest depended on the numbers, determining the damage dealt and the amount of health an enemy has, and we also needed to fine-tune the inventory size a bit. From this, we learned a lot, as many players believe, for example, that puzzle items should not take up space in the inventory but should be handled separately. Some streamers encountered issues with these aspects, so we worked on fixing them extensively in the first few days.

The soundtrack in Remorse is just as sinister and macabre as the rest of the game, with that constant sense of terror: how was your composition process?

Péter Ifju: The music was composed by KAON, and the process began with reviewing in-game and real-life references for the music. Like everywhere else, the main goal here was to achieve the appropriate atmosphere, which we successfully accomplished. Whether it’s an abandoned street, a park, or a boss fight, the music perfectly captures the underlying mood and can either calm or make the player anxious.

Remorse: The List clearly tries to rescue much of the horror of the 2000s in video games, fleeing the idea of the helpless protagonist. What do you think of this new, growing wave of retro horror?

Péter Ifju: I’m extremely glad to see this genre rising again, as I myself grew up during this era. We played a lot of great games and mods back then, such as Cry of Fear, Nightmare House 2, Condemned: Criminal Origins, FEAR, but now we have seen the emergence of good titles like Outlast, Dead Space, and the new Resident Evil episodes. I hope many will take inspiration from Capcom, and we will see the return of big titles like Silent Hill as well.

What are the biggest influences on Remorse: The List? In literature, cinema, comics… and has something more recent really impacted you? And are there any plans for future projects?

Péter Ifju: There is a small tribute to this in one of the secret levels, but I would mainly mention the movie Jacob’s Ladder, the early Silent Hill games, and mods like “Afraid of Monsters.” I think the last impactful game for me was RE7; it was perhaps the perfect horror experience so far. Even months after playing through it, I could still discover new interesting elements related to the story, and I really liked how they successfully redesigned the entire franchise. They managed to surprise us once with RE4, but it seems that even after all this time, they are still capable of renewal.

Thank you very much for granting us this interview! Would you like to leave a message for anyone thinking of developing a horror game?

Péter Ifju: Thank you for the opportunity, and I would like to encourage everyone to delve into game development if they have an interest in it. It’s a tremendous experience to let creativity soar and create your own world, to craft stories that wouldn’t even cross others’ minds!

Hi Aaron! Thank you so much for granting us this interview! As a big fan of The X-Files since childhood and everything that involves extra-terrestrial beings, it’s an honor to talk to you! Could you tell us how the idea for Greyhill Incident came about?

Aaron Roller, director of GREYHILL INCIDENT: Hi Makson, thank you too. I appreciate the interview opportunity. The idea came while I was thinking about what my first game could be after a lot of testing and playing around with ideas. As a fan of sci-fi, I wanted to do something about an Alien Invasion.

I imagine you are also a big fan of The X-Files and works of science fiction and horror in general, right? What were your biggest influences while producing this project?

Aaron Roller: That’s right, the biggest influences except the X-Files came from the Movies “Signs”, “Fire in the Sky” and “McPherson Tape”.

Is there something personal for you about this game? Is there anything true? How much is the truth out there and how much should we not believe anyone?

Aaron Roller: The Game is completely fictional, except some inspirations on people’s “encounter stories”. I actually don’t know, but I hope no one was ever abducted and became an experiment victim.

In your opinion, why don’t we have that many horror games focused on the alien invasion theme? ETs have always been present in games, but more like monstrous beings, bullet sponges.

Aaron Roller: I don’t know to be honest. For me, it was very hard to make a Gray Alien AI behaviour that works well in a game, mostly because of the lack of references.

However, many other horror-themed games are in the pipeline, such as They Are Here and The Peterson Case! Looking forward to these? Why is it that, only now, we will have so many games like this?

Aaron Roller: Yeah I’m really looking forward to these games, and I’m very happy that more alien games are coming.

Would you share with us your favorite horror game, movie and book? Or science fiction? That one that irreversibly impacted you…

Aaron Roller: My favorite Movie related to that topic is definitely “Signs”, and as I mentioned before, it was a big inspiration while creating Greyhill Incident.

Thank you very much for granting us this interview! Would you like to leave a message for anyone thinking of starting to develop a horror game?

Aaron Roller: Yes of course! I would recommend keeping it small in case it’s pretty much their first game, and having most important things written down before starting.

Thank you so much, it’s my pleasure!

Olá, Thiago! Muito obrigado por esse papo e meus mais sinceros parabéns pelo lançamento de Fobia — St. Dinfna Hotel! Só posso imaginar como a jornada foi longa e difícil, e gostaria de começar perguntando justamente sobre isso: como foi realizar este que, sem dúvida nenhuma, é o jogo de terror mais ambicioso já criado em nosso país?

Thiago Matheus: Foi desafiador! Desde o começo tomamos a decisão de fazermos um jogo que se tornasse um marco no mercado nacional de games dentro do gênero, e com isso vieram muitos desafios, desde técnicos até burocráticos. Mas no final valeu à pena e estamos bastante satisfeitos e orgulhosos com o produto final!

Ainda na ideia de terror nacional, como você vê essa manifestação artística nesses últimos anos? O terror ptBR, seja lá em qual mídia, tem ganhado mais espaço? Como é fazer terror em ficção no Brasil?

Thiago Matheus: Para nós o terror Br sempre esteve presente em nossas vidas, desde o saudoso José Mojica e até filmes mais recentes. No geral enxergamos que o gênero ainda não tem a recepção que merece e conta com um grande potencial de crescimento. Esperamos que pelo menos no espectro de jogos, Fobia sirva de inspiração para mais pessoas produzirem obras de terror que tanto gostamos.

De sua gênese até o bem-sucedido financiamento coletivo, como nasceu Fobia? Você esteve lá desde o princípio, como diretor?

Thiago Matheus: O Fobia no princípio surgiu como uma ideia que tive para um projeto de portifólio pessoal. No início não tinha a pretensão que se tornasse um jogo completo, muito menos um jogo que seria comercializado. No entanto logo que apresentei a ideia para mais pessoas notei uma recepção muito boa, e a partir daí acendeu uma luz na minha cabeça de que esse jogo teria futuro. O tempo foi passando e mais pessoas foram se juntado ao projeto, ideias foram surgindo, melhorias foram aplicadas, até que chegamos ao jogo que temos hoje.

Como já tive o privilégio de finalizar Fobia, concluo com todas as letras: trata-se do Resident Evil ptBR! Poderia falar mais sobre suas inspirações, e não só nos videogames?

Thiago Matheus: O projeto é fruto de um emaranhado de inspirações das mais variadas mídias! Desde as câmeras de Fatal Frame e Outlast, ambientação e cenários de O Iluminado, séries como Dark e, as mais óbvias, Resident Evil e Silent Hill.

Fanatismo religioso, cultismo, descobertas ancestrais, cidadezinhas isoladas… tudo isso conversa com o terror em muitas épocas, em muitos locais, mas vocês conseguiram fazer com que tudo tivesse um ar muito próprio — Treze Trilhas tem raízes brasileiras?

Thiago Matheus: Treze Trilhas é inspirada na cidade Catarinense de Treze Tílias, mas apenas como um pano de fundo para justificar as decisões estéticas de cenário e arquitetura urbana, além de colaborar com o pretexto de ser uma cidade longe das grandes metrópoles.

Fobia é tecnicamente muitíssimo impressionante, da arquitetura do hotel as texturas e cada pintura! Gostaria que comentasse um pouco sobre esses aspectos mais técnicos (e sigo impressionado com a quantidade de pinturas! Poderia comentar um pouco também sobre elas?

Thiago Matheus: Como comentado anteriormente, o nosso hotel é fortemente influenciado pelo hotel de O Iluminado. Desde a estrutura dos corredores, carpetes, pinturas e estatuas. Esperamos que mais pessoas notem as semelhanças pois nossa intenção chega ser uma homenagem a esse clássico!

As pinturas foram escolhidas a mão em acervos de pinturas produzidas em diversos períodos da nossa história. Tentamos repetir o mínimo possível, criando uma experiência única ao admirar as obras de arte exportas nos corredores e salões do hotel. Algumas inclusive fazem referências a outras grandes obras de terror como o poema “O Corvo” de Edgar Allan Poe.

Queria falar um pouco sobre dublagem: como aconteceu todo processo para o nosso idioma? Como foi ter grandes nomes da dublagem nacional envolvidos, como Carol Valença?

Thiago Matheus: Diferente do que ocorre na maioria dos casos da indústria, o Fobia foi inteiramente pensado na língua portuguesa inicialmente. Então todo o texto já estava pronto e localizado, não necessitando de nenhuma adaptação. Isso possibilitou também que fossem escolhidas as vozes que mais se adequassem a cada personagem dentro da nossa visão. Para nós foi uma honra trabalhar com nomes como a Carol Valença, Alexandre Marconato E Larissa Cardoso!

São grandes profissionais que facilitaram muito o nosso trabalho. Com certeza é um dos aspectos do jogo em que mais ficamos satisfeitos com o resultado.

Estruturalmente falando, Fobia segue a linha Alone in the Dark/Resident Evil, quanto a progressão, a disposição dos quebra-cabeças, as idas e vindas, inventário limitado, baús e tudo mais — tais mecânicas de jogo nasceram junto com Fobia, ou foram implementadas pouco a pouco?

Thiago Matheus: Desde o começo sempre tivemos a intenção de implementar essas mecânicas pois elas fazem parte do core das nossas principais inspirações. Algumas deram um pouco de mais trabalho, enquanto outras precisaram ser adaptadas.

Como tem sido a recepção de Fobia aqui no nosso país? E internacionalmente? Sei que o jogo já é sucesso por conta do financiamento coletivo, mas como a repercussão em redes sociais afetou a equipe durante o desenvolvimento?

Thiago Matheus: Cada dia ficamos mais impressionados com a recepção que estamos tendo, tanto nacional quanto internacional! Com certeza as redes sociais, ainda mais no período de pandemia, colaboraram bastante com o impulso que tivemos. Todos os dias recebemos inúmeras menções de pessoas do mundo mostrando que estão jogando nossa demo, compartilhando screenshots e teorias do enredo, streamers e youtubers jogando. É uma grande satisfação ver como hoje em dia nós desenvolvedores indies conseguimos impactar pessoas tão distantes com o nosso jogo.

St Dinfna Hotel seria só o começo para a franquia Fobia? Quais são seus planos para o futuro?

Thiago Matheus: A história do Fobia foi pensada para ter mais de um jogo. Temos material para pelo menos uma sequência, além de ideias para possíveis DLCs ou spin offs. Mas claro que tudo isso depende da recepção que teremos agora do jogo final. Esperamos que as pessoas saiam do Fobia com um gostinho de “quero mais”.