It’s been a while, but it’s time for another Indie Dev Interview! This time with the developers behind Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature.
Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature is an upcoming game that will feature emotion-driven interactions, environmental puzzles, and a touching storyline about friendship and self-discovery. You’ll journey through vibrant, diverse landscapes and the Golem you control on your journey will reflect your progress through blooming flowers on its back.
Sounds intriguing, so let’s talk to Dominik Gygax of Dreamhunt Studio!
Dreamhunt Studio
How did Dreamhunt Studio start out, and what’s behind the name of your studio?
I started the studio back in 2020 together with my co-founder Mat (Matthias Thomann). We began working on Saturday afternoons on an early game prototype, brainstorming game mechanic ideas, and learning our way around Unity. The gaming landscape was (and still is) dominated by violent games. The idea was always to create something different, something innovative, something new.
For the studio name, we brainstormed so many names and finally came up with “Dreamhunt”, which is, I think, still a cool name!
Looking at the website for Dreamhunt studio, I can see you are very diverse in what you offer. After all, consulting, business software and gamification sound like very different services. Can you tell us how this combination came to be?
Mat and I have a very strong background in business software. We have both been creating various business software for a combined 30 years. It only makes sense to combine this know-how with game development, but we also still like doing business software projects.
This is also a strength we bring to “Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature”. The game is technically solid and thought through in terms of software design, architecture, and maintainability.
Can you tell us a bit more about Gamification projects that you did?
We do not offer off-the-shelf solutions for our customers. Everything is tailored to the pain points and the needs of the customer. We also strive to bring innovation into our gamification projects.
You can check out some of the projects we did on our website!
In the About Us section of your website, I can see which games are the favourites of your team members. They seem very different from the wholesome narrative game that Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature is. Who was the creative brain behind this game?
I am glad that we have such diverse interests in games on the team. That is also where the best ideas came from. Mat and I laid the cornerstones for the game, but the entire team shaped the game into what it is today.
Zooming in on Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature
Unpetrified has had a Kickstarter campaign. 730 backers pledged CHF 32,600, so with a goal of CHF 15,000. Are you happy with the results?
We had our Kickstarter campaign a while back, in March 2023. The campaign started off with quite a few followers and then went well throughout the weeks. We got many new Discord members at that time, which I highly appreciate. So yes, I am very happy with the results!
I want to thank our backers for their patience and their ongoing support. I just hope we didn’t make people wait too long to get their hands on the game.
First, Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature will come to Steam. Is Steam Deck compatibility something you specifically work on?
We have not looked into Steam Deck specifically, but there is a possibility to explore this in the future for sure! I would love to bring the game to Steam Deck.
Do you think the game will eventually come to Switch as well?
We are always exploring ways to bring “Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature” to more platforms and, therefore, to more people. So stay tuned!
I saw you were inspired by the Ghibli movie “Castle in the Sky”, and games like “RiME”, “Journey” and “A Short Hike”. I love Castle in the Sky, and I’m curious if the Golem is based on the Laputa Gardener Robot?
Good guess, but actually no 🙂 The Golem character is specifically designed to be a unique as possible. A main character that you don’t get to play every day. I hope we achieved that with our Golem design 🙂
The Journey of Making Unpetrified
What was the biggest challenge in making Unpetrified? How did you overcome it?
There were and still are so many challenges, I would not know where to start. From the scope of the game becoming too big, to finding funds to make the game a reality, all the way to finding the right people and partners to pull off this project.
One of the biggest challenges was combining the technical aspect of such a project with the creative side. We always had to balance how to make a technical system work and how good we could make the game look and feel.
What did early versions/prototypes of Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature look like?
Very different but yet the same as today. Let me explain. We decided on the art style very early on, also the game inspirations like “RiME” did not change. So we had solid pillars from the beginning.
We had this idea of creating a game that is something different. We wanted to achieve four primary things with “Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature”:
- A non-violent story and gaming experience
- A unique playable character
- As much innovation as we could come up with for our game mechanics
- Meaningful collectibles
I hope we achieved all that with the game!
An interesting story is that we started out building our first full region in the game: the forest. We came back to this region so many times over the years and changed it, I lost count. Over time, we also created more of our own assets and thus created the look that you see in the game today.
What part of making Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature sparks the most joy for you?
Despite the stress and pressure from working on the project, I still wake up every day with excitement and passion. I always loved working on this game together with so many creative people.
Advice for Aspiring Developers
Your team has already surpassed the first stages of starting out as game developers. But looking back at your own journey, what advice would you offer aspiring developers working alone or in a tiny team?
You may hear this a lot, but I absolutely mean it: keep the scope of the game small. As small as possible, actually. Focus on one game mechanic, make it good, then build the game around it. Try to keep things focused and manageable – limit environments, levels, and story elements so that you can polish what you have created.
We expect a playtime of around 7-8 hours for “Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature“. For the last 6 months, we have been stabilising and polishing the game and will continue to do so until release. The game is just that big.
We ask this last question in all our interviews; we all have a joint passion after all, playing video games. So, if you could be a character in a game, which one would it be and why?
I thought about this for quite some time, and it is not that easy to answer. As we are in the final stretch before the release of the game, I have to say our Golem character 🙂 With all the current stress and pressure, I would love to just be in this beautiful world, exploring, and finding cute animals to observe.
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