We Interviewed Game Dev Chattercap!

We had the pleasure of chatting with Chattercap all about being a solo dev and their work! Be sure to check out their work and games!

1. What initially inspired you to become a creator, and how has that inspiration evolved throughout your creative journey?

When I was little, my dream career was to be a novelist; then when I got a little older, I wanted to be a comic artist. When I realized there was a genre of game called “visual novel,” everything clicked! I could be as wordy as I wanted AND I could draw pretty pictures, haha! 

In general I make a lot of games with mental health themes, such as anxiety, depression, trust, and grief; I hope that these stories can strike a chord with someone. I’m fascinated by the romance genre specifically because I really love telling stories that are about “connections” – about two people bonding and overcoming their shared problems through the connection they have with each other. 

2. Can you share a specific moment or experience that fueled your passion for your current creative project?

I’m currently working on two projects! I wouldn’t say that either of them were inspired by a particular moment or experience, rather a cumulation of different things.

The Deepwater Witch is a post-apocalyptic, romantic retelling of The Little Mermaid set in a world devastated by the destruction of the environment. I grew up with a great love for the outdoors and the beauty of nature. This work is heavily inspired by my personal feelings about the environment, particularly pollution. The setting/world is based on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as well as the Smokey Mountain/the Payatas dumpsite in the Philippines. 

Kanau is a romance/horror project that’s a follow-up to a game that I released last year, “Karamu.” “Karamu” is about a girl’s uncomfortable encounter with her ex-boyfriend who really can’t accept the break-up (and the secrets both of them keep). “Kanau” is about the girl’s first meeting with her ex-boyfriend, taking place 11 years before “Karamu.” 

When I was originally making Karamu, I intended it to be a short, pulpy game mainly centered around surprising the player with its plot twists. However, while I was very satisfied with the game after it was made, I kept thinking about the characters. Their story seemed unfinished to me. And as I kept thinking about their arcs, I realized that they perfectly suited a story about abuse, healing, and trust. The more that I outlined, the more attached to the story I got…so here we are! A single game became a trilogy, heavily based on my own struggles with trust and forming connections. 

3. What challenges have you encountered as an indie creator, and how have they shaped your approach to your work?

As an indie creator…there are way too many challenges to count, haha! Especially as a solo game dev, every small hiccup can lead to weeks of work/delay (writing block, bugs that you didn’t anticipate, art that takes longer than you thought, etc. etc.). I’ve learned to become pretty organized and disciplined about my workflow (don’t ask how many spreadsheets I keep). I’ve also learned that my time isn’t infinite, so I’ve become a bit more judicious about the scope of my projects (and cut things if I don’t think it’ll significantly add to the experience). 

4. Are there any particular creators who have significantly influenced your style or approach? How do you incorporate those influences into your own unique voice?

I was in love with Ghibli as a kid, so Miyazaki basically imprinted on my brain. The gentle protagonists, the uplifting messages, and the strong bonds between people are all things that I love about the Ghibli films. Other than that, I’m really enamored by people who can build lush worlds, like Tolkien and Ryoko Kui (the creator of Dungeon Meshi), but I also like horror creators like Edgar Allen Poe and Junji Ito. 

It’s an odd mix of inspirations! So in general I think that my works combine my various inspirations to “toe the line” between darkness and light, portraying both a cynical world view and an optimistic one. 

5. How do you navigate the balance between staying true to your artistic vision and adapting to feedback from your audience or collaborators?

If I’m being honest, I don’t really compromise! At the end of the day I make games because I love making them; if I get too bogged down in “designing a game because I want it to be popular,” then if the game isn’t popular it becomes a failure. So early on in my game dev pursuits I decided that I would make games as I wanted to make them. This way, simply making the game and sharing it with others is a success, no matter the reception.

That said, I am very open to audience feedback, particularly for quality of life changes! I do want my games to be easy and fun to play. And when I receive feedback (for instance, some players wanting more customizable MCs), I keep that feedback in the back of my mind and try to incorporate it into future projects if it fits the game.

When it comes to working with collaborators, I’m of the view that everyone should have an equal say. If there’s a point of contention, I’d like to discuss it so that everyone feels heard.

6. Can you recall a memorable success story or milestone in your indie creator journey that stands out as a turning point for you?

I feel as if I improve quite a bit with each new project (at least so far), so every game release feels like a memorable milestone! However, I think the most memorable one was the release of “Karamu” last year. That was the first time I’ve worked with voice actors, and it was also the first time that I’ve collaborated with anyone on one of my projects. It was a really lovely experience, and as I was listening to my own script, I was like, “Whoa! I wrote that?” Voice acting really does so much to bring your game to life! 

7. What role do setbacks or failures play in your creative process, and how do you overcome them to keep moving forward?

I’m a pretty stubborn person, so I try not to let things become “failures.” Instead, I continue working at them until I’m satisfied with the result. Usually if something isn’t going the way that I want, I leave it for a week or so and then revisit it with fresh eyes, deliberately trying to do it differently than I did it before. 

8. How do you manage your time and energy to sustain a consistent creative output while juggling other aspects of life?

Admittedly, this is something that I struggle with! I try to make dedicated schedules with times where I specifically don’t work on game development. And overall, I try to be easy on myself. If I miss a deadline or don’t meet my goals for the week, I don’t berate myself for it; I just say, “It’s a new week!” and get up and try again. 

I also have a number of different projects and tasks that I can work on so I never feel too “bogged down.” If I’m tired of doing art, I can write, and if I’m tired of that, I can code. It adds a good bit of variety that helps with burnout. 

9. Have you found any unexpected joys or rewards in the indie creator community, and how has it contributed to your overall experience?

I worked on my first project solo for a really long time, and during that time I didn’t really use social media or interact with anyone in the community. It was fun, but by the time I released a demo I was pretty burnt out. Getting to know other people in the VN dev space has been incredibly fun and inspiring; everyone in the community really has a lot of passion for what they do, and there’s so much creativity and individuality in each of their projects. Seeing other people working hard for their passion projects really made me want to work hard on my passion projects, too! 

10. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring creators, what would it be based on your own lessons learned?

I don’t know if it will apply to everyone, but I would tell the old me, “You’re not perfect now. You’re going to improve, and that’s okay.” I spent a very long time on my first project because I wanted it to be perfect. I didn’t want to release anything that wasn’t flawless. I wanted my first project to be the absolute best thing that I could ever produce (and for any subsequent projects to have the same standard). 

But I realized now that was incredibly unrealistic. Looking back on it, my first project was very rough. You’re going to improve and change, no matter what happens. Don’t be afraid of making (and releasing) something imperfect! 

11. What are your thoughts on All Ages of Geek? What are some things we should change/do? What are something you enjoy about our website?

All Ages of Geek is a really lovely site with a huge breadth of topics that they cover. I also really appreciate the time that they take for interviews like this one, giving voices to smaller creators, ranging from comic artists to game devs to animators to voice actors. 

12. Goals for 2024?

My goal for 2024 is to…make games? Haha! But seriously, I do just want to continue making games…a lot of games, this year. Although I’ve been in game dev for a few years at this point I feel like I’m just starting to get into the groove of making them. This year I’d like to focus on making more games, experimenting with different artstyles/genres/writing styles, and adding more QOL features so that people can enjoy my stories more easily. 

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