Interview: Lucky Pause On Their Stunning Indie Adventure Game, Homesick

Welcome back to another eGamer interview where we had the opportunity to chat to the developers of an extremely exciting project, Homesick, an in-development adventure game from indie developers Lucky Pause. We spoke to the team, which consists of two people, Barrett Meeker and Morgan Wyenn, and got an exclusive look into their very promising game. They’re doing pretty well in their Kickstarter campaign for the project right now, but through this interview we want to get you enthusiastic about the game as well, and encourage you to take a closer look if it manages to capture your interest.

Right then, that’s all that needs to be said by means of an introduction, so let’s get into it.

 

eGamer: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us. We’d first like to ask you to tell us a bit about yourselves and your studio.

LP: Lucky Pause is made up of two people and one dog.  Barrett Meeker is our creative director – he is doing all the art, programming, and gameplay development.  Morgan Wyenn is our communications director – she is helping get the word out about the game and doing some game development.  Argon the dog is our office manager – he takes lots of naps.

eGamer: I’ll have you know I voted for your game on Steam Greenlight, where I first found it. It’s looking quite exciting! Tell us, what is Homesick about?

LP: Thank you!  That is great!  Homesick is an adventure game, set in an abandoned building.  Through puzzles and exploring the space, you figure out who you are and what happened.

eGamer: I enjoy ripping the bandage off quickly, so I can’t help but ask straight up, what is the biggest reason to play Homesick?

LP: To have a good time on a fun adventure, enjoying engaging puzzles, a beautiful environment, moving music, and a compelling story.

eGamer: Are you able to tell us anything about the story?

LP: We don’t want to say too much, because we really want the player to discover major aspects of the story while playing the game.  But we can say that the player experiences a daytime world, that is seemingly peaceful, filled with puzzles and exploration, and also a nightmare world, that is more frantic and dark.  Through the nightmares, the player acts out what is troubling them.

eGamer: You’ve said that there will be optional side puzzles that expand the story. Could you elaborate on how this works?

LP: Through the side puzzles, you can learn more about the world and the story, and have a bit more puzzle fun, but they are optional, and you would still be very immersed in the story without them.

eGamer: Can you give us an overview of the gameplay?

LP: Homesick is a first person perspective game, with challenging but straightforward puzzles.  We think the puzzles will be super fun.

eGamer: What can you tell us about the Nightmare World featured in the game? Specifically, what are the kind of gameplay differences between the “Day Time” World and the “Nightmare” world that we can expect?

LP: One difference is that you can do things in the nightmare world that you cannot do during the daytime world.  One example of that is that you have an axe in the nightmares, that you do not have during the daytime.

eGamer: I noticed that you teased that in the game you’ll be able to learn new abilities to unlock puzzles. Are you able to tell us anything about this?

LP: One example is that you will need to learn how to decipher texts, and these texts will reveal important information about the story and the puzzles.

eGamer: The game is looking beautiful, I love the use of bright whites and lush greens. Could you tell us what inspired the game, its concept and/or art direction?

LP: We have both been fascinated with how the natural world takes over a human-made structure once it is allowed to do so.  We also are drawn to how the natural world and plant life can be a force for healing.

eGamer: This is a point of interest for me personally, and it may be to others as well. I don’t want to come across the wrong way at all, but I noticed that Homesick and another indie game submitted to Greenlight, entitled “The Light”, an interactive story game, share similarities in art direction. Particularly with the uses of white and green, and capturing a clean, peaceful and serene setting. Do you know about The Light? Could you perhaps comment on these similarities?

LP: That is a totally fair question, as there are some similarities in how the two games look.  We first saw The Light on Greenlight once we had already done most of the art that you have seen for Homesick. Both games involve an abandoned, decaying building with plant life growing up through them. The two games are very different though.  The style of the art in Homesick is more of a surreal, slightly painterly style.  We don’t know that much about The Light’s story and gameplay, but their Greenlight page says it is “an interactive philosophical story,” and doesnt seem to have puzzles.  Homesick is a story-driven puzzle game.  The themes in the two games are also really different from each other.

eGamer: Could you tell us what’s happening in development right now? Where are you with the game?

LP: We are chin deep in asset creation, making all the art that will flesh out the game.  Most of our levels are done being laid out, and our core mechanics that drive the level design are done.

eGamer: How long will Homesick be?

LP: 1 to 2 hours for the main story.

eGamer: Your Steam Greenlight page indicates an “early summer 2013″ release date, and a price point below $15. Do you know when you’ll have more information on this?

LP: When we are Greenlit we will be able to get more information on when we can sell on steam and what price they recommend.  We want it to be affordable, accessible for a lot of people.

eGamer: Are you considering releasing a playable demo of the game in future?

LP: We probably will not do an open demo, but we might do a beta for backers.

eGamer: As gamers, what would you do if you discovered that one of your team members was really an alien?

LP: Argon might be an alien…. he definitely is not a normal dog.  If we were able to confirm he is an alien, we might want to visit his home planet.  A world full of Argons sounds really fun.  I wonder what video games they play on Planet Argon.

 

Homesick right now is looking like an extremely exciting addition to the adventure genre, particularly with its gameplay concepts and gorgeous art direction. It’s still early days for development, but I’m already looking forward to it. I’d like to wish Lucky Pause all the best for the rest of development, and once again extend my gratitude to them for taking the time to do this interview with us.