This month on Indie-Ana Co-Op we've chatted up developer Inglenook Games, the masterminds behind the four-player pixelated RPG romp, Witchmarsh. While this is the studio's first shot at making a fully featured product, everything we've seen from Witchmarsh has looked nothing less than stellar. I've spoken to Luciano Sgarbi, Lead Writer and Game Designer down at Inglenook for some more details about their exciting, Jazz Age take on old school RPGs.
Co-Optimus: How did you folks get into Games Development?
Inglenook: I guess we first caught the bug through map editors and RPG maker; we would meet up after college and jam on games as a hobby. Three of the team studied games development at university but at the time those courses were really just media studies with a few game related modules tacked on.
Last year, in our spare time we started posting assets and ideas to tumblr, eventually Indiestatik came across our blog and decided to run a feature on us. Thanks to the article we suddenly had an active online community, and a few months after that we launched on Kickstarter. Being first time developers with a crowdfunding success is sobering to say the least, we're extremely grateful for the trust people have placed in us.
Co-Optimus: Tell us about your new game, Witchmarsh.
Inglenook: Witchmarsh is an RPG set in 1920s America. Players assemble a team of private detectives and and sleuth their way through Jazz Era Massachusetts.
Co-Optimus: What was your inspiration for the game? Why set it during the 1920's, and in America?
Inglenook: We knew right off the bat that we wanted to do a non-fantasy RPG with supernatural elements, and Massachusetts in the 1920s seemed a perfect fit. By the time the project began to take shape we were discovering F. Scott Fitzgerald and Boardwalk Empire, which helped to frame the narrative and setting.
Co-Optimus: Who are the staff's favorite characters?
Inglenook: Depending on who you ask probably either the Bard or the Alchemist, which is why we're so excited to have passed the 90k stretch goal. We're secretly in love with all of our characters, and in particular with the diversity and inclusivity of the game's cast.
Co-Optimus: The trailer begins rather ominous, but early on, we're watching characters jumping across trains to some swanky jazz beats. How would you describe the tone of the game?
Inglenook: We're aiming for private eye detective fiction meets Lovecraftian horror meets P. G. Wodehouse-style misadventures. You'll find yourself gatecrashing -- a term coined in the 20s -- cocktail parties and society meetings, in addition to unearthing lost catacombs deep in the woods. To ensure that everything fits in with the era we've had to do a lot of research, for me that's been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the project so far.