Rather than writing about every single game in one big post that is way too long, I wanted to highlight a few posts in individual posts that I’m really looking forward to. This time around, we’re talking about…
We Stay Behind
This year, I got to talk to Matthias Nikutta from Backwoods Entertainment again.
Their dev team and publishers were showcasing a new demo for We Stay Behind (formerly known as Resort), a short narrative experience about buried secrets and trauma.
You step into the shoes of a reporter who wants to figure out why the people of Laburnum Creek want to stay behind in their town even with a comet heading straight towards this place.
I’ve been excited about this release for quite some time now. In fact, we did an interview back in 2019.
At the time, Matthias told me about how the story has been inspired by TV shows like Twin Peaks, X-Files, and Fargo; whereas the style is inspired by games like Firewatch, Dead Static Drive, and Kentucky Road Zero, as well as a lot of those 60s/70s nature park/resort posters.
The latter there, Matthias said back then, were used for fictive world-building of some places and the setting in the game, which people at their booth could see in the form of postcards and posters.
One of those posters is still hanging at my wall, in fact, constantly reminding me that this game will eventually be out there, ready for me to play it.
This year, they even brought a magazine for promo purposes called the “CreekLife Magazine” which is all about Laburnum Creek National Park, featuring a few commercials for in-universe companies as well as a story about a comet-hunter and the mysterious case of fishes dying due to some unnatural phenomena.
Incredibly cool and you wouldn’t think it’s for a game based on the posters, postcards and magazines I have!
When friends come over to my place, they sometimes ask what that place is… and it’s not a place. It’s a game.
During this year’s Gamescom, we also talked a bit about the new demo which is much more open and has many cool new features inside of it. Check it out on Steam if you haven’t yet!
On top of that, there is also an already-funded Kickstarter campaign to check out if you wanna help achieve some stretch goals!
Something the devs still wanna add, alongside more of the story and planned content, is fully voiced dialogues, which I’m quite excited about!
During my time at the booth, Matthias and I also talked about the craziest bugs and weird little features that games add sometimes.
For instance, the funniest/craziest bug that Matthias experienced during bug-squishing and development was a cutscene in which a table (that gets kicked) has physics for a brief moment and ends up either getting catapulted into the distance or sometimes it would actually yeet the protagonist of the story across the map… this would then cause the player to be in areas previously not accessible that you’re supposed to walk around at a much, much later time.
Another instance of weird physics was a bug that would cause your van that you’re driving around in to get flown off across the lake present in the game.
This reminded me of a bug I encountered in Lake, so we naturally talked about the similar vibes of those two games and Matthias had a few things to say there.
While both games feature a lot of Driving and talking, Lake (here’s my review of that game) is much more about self-discovery and romance whereas We Stay Behind is an interactive mystery narrative experience where you try to figure out what’s happening and what nobody is talking about.
When the developers were still working on their game, suddenly, Lake came out and it’s incredibly crazy to see a game so similar suddenly release, Matthias said, especially because of similarities in the setting and time it’s set in. That said, neither of the developers appears to have strong feelings on the matter. Stuff like that happens all the time in game dev and other industries.
Overall, though, it’s been amazing to talk to Matthias Nikutta again. As I previously mentioned, I’ve made visiting their booth a ritual at this point, with me talking to the devs each time I’m at the Gamescom. So, it’s super cool that I got to see the changes and growth of the game in 2019, 2022 and this year!
What’s even better is that despite moving studio locations, they’re still chugging away at development, planning ahead for a release, although no date is out just yet.
They’re also incredibly receptive to feedback and criticisms, and they were incredibly open to hearing my thoughts on improvements, like customizable subtitles and high-contrast options to increase accessibility. That’s rather rare in the industry, so it was lovely to hear them actually take this seriously!
If you wanna learn more about the game, check out the website over here where you can also check out the Kickstarter, join the newsletter, or wishlist the game on Steam and GOG. Alternatively, I highly recommend checking out this article here written by Kim from Later Levels (an amazing friend of mine)!
This post was originally written by Dan Dicere from Indiecator.
If you see this article anywhere else other than Indiecator.org… then this article has been stolen. Please let me know of this via E-Mail. Other than that, feel free to stop by my Twitch streams!
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