Q: Your work beautifully fuses horror with profound narratives and ambiance. I'm intrigued by what ignites your creative spark and how you sustain inspiration across such a broad spectrum of projects.

A: This will probably sound weird, but I try not to get inspired by outside things. When I'm creating a game, I want to make something my own, something unique, or at least something that comes from my own interests and not something that I saw in another piece of art and felt inspired only to recreate the same thing. I have a lot of ideas and keep coming up with new ones all the time. When it comes to developing a small idea into a whole project, it usually takes some time to properly plan everything, bring in new ideas, combine them, as well as build the game assets, play-test, and walk in the environments of my games to think about what would be interesting, what could be better. I think creativity is always there for me, but at the same time, it takes some time and effort to make it presentable, to make it playable as a game. I tend to jump from one thing to another with a variety of my games, so it's always exciting to try different challenges as a game developer.

From Composition to Game Design:

Q: Music and game development are intrinsically linked in your projects. As someone who shares a deep connection with both music and gaming, I'm keen to learn about your method for weaving music into game design. How do you navigate the harmonization of these two creative expressions?

A: I think I create games the way I like them and for myself to enjoy; that way, I can express whatever it is that I want to put into each project. And I noticed that this also applies to how I create music. A lot of the time, it's something for me to enjoy, not trying to think about what other people would expect to hear, and not even thinking about what the game would need as a soundtrack. That's why if you open a horror game of mine, often you don't hear a haunting ambiance mix in the menu but instead a metal, melodic, and creepy soundtrack. Usually, I come up with something weird and something that explores unusual sounds, but I also like to make my music catchy to listen to. I've noticed it surprises a lot of players in the first few seconds, but then the drums kick in, and it makes people move, jam out, headbang, etc. (good examples would be Sorrow Asylum, Sorrow Asylum 2, Umbra Halloween, Theater Unrest, Timore Redo, Timore 6, Planeta 55…). I think I'm more of a musician than a game developer in a lot of ways, so this "let's enjoy the music and then play the game" concept is very fulfilling for me to see coming from the players. The music itself is present in the menus of my games. I create at least one song for almost every game I create, and those soundtrack pieces can also be heard throughout the game: in the cutscenes, calm and melodic in atmospheric places where appropriate, heavier and catchier parts in boss fights, etc. The game and the music are almost two separate things, not exactly created while keeping each other in mind in my case, but I think they end up complimenting each other when the music is all around the game. Not everything always works, and I tend to change things up until I find what fits. Sometimes the music in certain areas of a game makes it less scary, or it could change the mood too much, so then I replace it with sounds or just silence, but in general, my games are full of music.

Crafting Horror Through Sound:

Q: The essence of horror in games is often amplified by their soundscapes. Could you unveil your approach to sound composition for horror games and how you use music to enhance the immersive fear factor?

A: Yes, sound is very important in horror games. I use FL Studio when I work with sound design, employing a lot of various synthesizers, messing with all the options they have to offer until I find what I'm looking for for a specific area of a game. I think I use this approach a lot, even for sound effects that are usually expected to be realistic sound recordings, but instead, you hear a game-like sound. I'm sure many horror fans are familiar with something like Silent Hill or Resident Evil's "item pick up" type of sound, which is not a sound of a hand grabbing an item that you would hear in real life if you picked something up, but instead, it's some sort of a synthesizer sound effect. I find that very interesting and think it makes the whole game experience more unique and charming. I'd say almost anything can be used as a sound to create horror; it just has to be at the right time, with the right pace, volume, etc. Scary sounds can be quiet or loud, very low bass-like or annoying scratching sounds; the spectrum is very wide. So, I think the developer's job is to put themselves into the game's protagonist's shoes and think about what's appropriate, what's scary, and then work on creating that. I believe music enhances the emotional moments. Horror games are usually telling sad, tragic, and unfortunate stories, so sad, melancholic melodies can serve really well in a horror game.

Creative Challenges and Synergy:

Q: Juggling game development and music composition is a unique challenge. How do you balance these dual passions, and have you found that one creatively fuels the other in surprising ways?

A: Yes, I'd say so. When I was working on Sorrow Asylum, I was focusing on making that game as scary as possible, from the long ambient build-ups to loud and weird scares, to unusual gameplay interactions. And since the game is so unapologetic about its ways of trying to make you scared, I thought I'd step it up even further with the soundtrack. The song "Chained Letter" has metal guitar, clean melodic guitar, bass, drums, symphonic-type instruments, all kinds of things. But the interesting part for me to discover was making this aggressive synthesizer that shows up in short parts in between melodies and gets progressively more apparent as the song goes on until, in the very end, its glitchy sound takes over the creepiness, in melodies and sound effects, complimenting other instruments. I'm pretty sure the end of that song is too crazy for a lot of people, but I just went with it because I like it, and it pushes the game forward with a new type of feel. Besides this very specific example, I usually take a day or two, or a few days, to create music and not think about the rest of the game and all its moving parts. I'm simply focusing on creating the best new soundtrack I can, which sometimes happens pretty quickly, or sometimes it takes some time, and I go back to making other game assets, but it always works out in the end for me, I'd say.

Interactive Narratives and Player Engagement:

Q: Your games captivate with their stories, pulling players into each world you create. How do you approach game design to ensure both the narrative and gameplay deeply engage players?

A: I think there are many ways to tell a story. Sometimes a long intro with characters, cutscenes, and events happening is a strong start, and sometimes I just drop the player into the world and explain nothing. I imagine what I'll be making, and if I like that, then I proceed with it, and if it's not good enough, then I keep thinking, replanning, changing the story, characters, horrors, etc., until it's something that's exciting, interesting, or even particularly strongly depressing that's worth creating and worth experiencing. I think it's quite a challenge to make a horror game with appropriate gameplay because if the gameplay is too much fun, then it might not be scary anymore. And if there's too little gameplay, then the story has to carry the game; otherwise, it might be boring. I think coming up with unique gameplay elements is important, or even if it's not something new, you could create some sort of a new way to approach an inventory system or interactions with the world, or even combat. Whatever it is, in a horror setting, I find it interesting to mess with the things I've established. In a game of mine, Planeta 55, there's a moment where the player's health points keep rising up beyond its limit, and the text on the screen that says how many bullets the player has changes to words that say "Spill it, more blood." That only happens for a second, but I think that touches on some gameplay elements that the player trusts to simply display FPS game's information, but then suddenly it changes to something that not only belongs to the story part of the game but also is a little bit of a fourth wall break. In general, I think I've done a lot of gameplay-story surprises in my games where the game develops some rules for its world just so you'd trust it enough, and then you see it all break. Another example that comes to mind is Timore Redo. There's a moment where your whole inventory is replaced with creepy images, or another part where the protagonist's head is being chopped off, but suddenly this head wakes up, and I let the player play as the head, roll around. You can't use your inventory or combat items anymore in that section until you find the rest of your body. These are crazy moments, but they can be done by just having normal gameplay elements that players are used to. So, what if you start with some unique gameplay and then mess with that? That would probably be even more unique and crazy, haha!

Dye The Bunny 2 Gameplay Video:

Feedback and Evolution:

Q: How does feedback from players of your existing games influence the development of your new projects, considering they are likely to be the audience for your upcoming releases as well?

A: I always watch gameplay videos, streams, and dive into all kinds of feedback that players share with me. Over the years of making games, it has helped me more easily realize what is good and what is bad, or at least what would need improvement on a technical level. I do like creating sequels to my games. It lets me explore the established story with new ideas, new creativity, continue what's been started, and when the audience is particularly interested in a certain game, then it's easier and more satisfying to create a new game in that series. People are already excited and sharing their support and encouragement for this project. I think I'm mostly established in a horror niche, so when I make a horror genre game, that gets the most interest from the audience. Even if I'm making a game that's a completely new title, I can use the feedback I got from the previous games and don't repeat my mistakes. Back in 2014, when I made my first game, Timore, I had no experience or knowledge about the genre or game development. I watched YouTube: PewDiePie and Markiplier scream at indie horror games. So, my first games weren't very deep story-or-other-wise. I noticed players saying, "Oh, I wonder what the story is going to be in this game," and my reaction was almost like, "Wait, do I need to have a story in my game?" haha. The journey since then had a lot of audience feedback, steering me one way or the other until I developed more of myself, and now I create what I like and can trust myself with what I make. But I'm sure this isn't the end of improvement for me yet, so in a few years, my work can be radically different, improved with some new player feedback.

Collaboration in Game Development:

Q: In the realm of game development, collaboration between developers, sound engineers, voice actors, and other creatives is often key to bringing a vision to life. Could you share your experiences with collaboration in your projects? Are there any individuals or roles you'd particularly like to highlight for their contributions to the creation of your games?

A: I've been collaborating with quite a few talents. With some of them, it was a big step up for me in the quality of my games. The first one that comes to mind is Abbey 'Scruncho' Smith. We worked on many games together, combining different designs, ideas, and we made quite a lot of music for the games together too. I play guitar, and she played flute as well as brought vocal melodies to the songs. It was also a big step up in the games because she voiced the characters, and I hadn't been adding much voice work to the games before then. We also got to make a couple of games for Dread X Collection 2 and Dread X Collection: The Hunt. These were big collaborations of many developers, each creating unique horror games with a specific theme. I've been working with my game developer friend Matt Reeves in creating horror games from time to time. I was also working on a roguelite FPS game called A Dream For Aaron (I stopped developing that game, but now years later I'm going back to create more content). It was such a huge project for me to work on, and I had some soundtracks offered by another music composer, RGX (or Rannument), so that was one time when I collaborated with someone who had their music in my game instead of me working with someone on the same songs. I've been working with more and more voice actors over time. I had Derek voicing in my games, who you talked to recently as well. I think his role in Theater Unrest created a big impact for the fans of that game, and I kept asking for his help again and again after that to voice more games. These days in my games, you can hear voices of Kwirkee and Cheshire Jack doing some incredible voice acting work, bending their voices to different characters with every game, and it's also amazing to hear praises for them from the players themselves. I've learned that collaborating with others might be challenging when everyone involved might have a slightly different vision for the project, but in the end, the game ends up being more interesting, unique, and special when it combines these different visions and designs. Besides the direct collaboration on the game's story, design, assets, etc., I also started to translate my games to other languages, which led to collaborating with people who can speak various languages. My girlfriend Anna is very kind to help me with German translations; friends around the world are very helpful and supportive with that too, so I'd like to give them a shoutout as well: Perla Rivas – ChicaHorror (Spanish), Tor Ekman (Swedish), Grabbit (Korean). It was really amazing to see how this brought the games to people who don't speak English, or even if they do, now they have more options for languages.

The Indie Game Landscape:

Q: You've carved a niche within the indie game world with your unique horror games. What challenges and opportunities do you perceive in the indie game landscape today?

A: The challenges are definitely getting bigger as time goes on. There are more and more developers, games, and the gaming community as a whole is getting bigger, which is really great. There are so many options for everyone's gaming needs, but at the same time, it's a huge competition for game developers. I see a lot of stories and/or jokes about indie game marketing issues, but I also think there are a lot of opportunities too. The publishing platforms are available more easily, the game engines and all kinds of software are free to use these days with new updates and the latest improvements coming out and available for everyone. The possibilities are quite endless, but the challenge is high too, so it is definitely exciting! I think there are a lot of opportunities to try game development and have your game played by a lot of people. You can get feedback, you can improve, and eventually, you can try making something bigger and try to sell your games - Steam, consoles, phone games, etc. And I think it's probably the most exciting for players to have such a huge variety of games to choose from.

Creative Collaborations:

Q: Your collaborative projects have resulted in some fascinating games. How do these creative partnerships form, and what do they bring to the development process?

A: For me, it happens quite casually. I'm interested in horror games, I create horror games, so I happen to find other developers with similar interests. Sometimes friendships form, and then all it takes is for someone to say, "Hey, wanna make a game together?" I think when it comes to solo game developers getting together, it's pretty much about finding an idea to work on and deciding who's responsible for what in the development process, and then just keep talking, planning, adding more ideas, and working until the project is done. At least with small game projects, it's simple enough like that, I'd say.

Defining Success:

Q: With such a diverse game portfolio, how do you define success? Does it lie in the completion, the reception, or something more personal?

A: That's a good question. I'm sure every creator has a different answer to that. It's very easy to measure success in sales or in game downloads; that's important, but for me personally, yes, the sales are important because I'm a person and I have bills to pay. But mostly, I look at success from the art and creativity perspective. I found out that even if a game isn't doing well in popularity or sales or any of those numbers, but it was meaningful for me to create that, to tell that story, to work crazy hours, and look back at it and think, "Yeah, it was worth it," then I think it creates that sense of success personally. And also, there will be someone out there who will find that project and connect with it just the way you intended, and that will give a great experience for them. Maybe that creates a great sense of "meaning" for the creator, instead of "success." But I think if you create something that is successful financially but you don't like it or approve of it, then I'm not sure it makes you fulfilled as an artist.

A Personal Touch:

Q: Among the myriad games you've created, is there one that holds a special place in your heart or marks a significant milestone in your creative journey?

A: There were a few that were bringing my journey into the next step again and again. If I had to choose one, it's probably Timore as a series. Timore is the first game I ever made, and I've been making many sequels after that. It's been a learning journey for me with these games, as well as I think it's my most popular title in the audience too. The first Timore games took off really well in the YouTube scene, brought a lot of attention, and the first games were free to play. That was the beginning, and the first milestone after that was to start selling my games, which started with Timore Inferno in 2016. That was going well enough, and I explored different genres over time. The next big step was starting to work with Abbey, as I mentioned before. It was a big improvement in quality with Timore 6 and Dia, and going forward with Cave of Illusions, and so on. Then years later, Timore Redo was a significant moment. I managed to make a survival horror game that is over 4 hours long, with so much in it. While not being perfect, I still don't know how I managed that huge of a project with many voice actors involved and just so much going on, and it ended up being one of the favorite games in the audience too. Since then, I've been exploring genres, ideas, and I think the next milestone is going to be when I make a new Timore game.