For our 5th developer interview, we had the chance to speak with Zephy and Elysian of Miniversal Games! They are the developers of MimiCries–a narrative-driven escape room pixel graphics game. I’m a little sensitive to horror, so my horror-loving team mate Minimal took up this game for her indie game feature segment on Day 2 of Doujima! Big thank you again to the developers who’ve taken the time to answer these questions with so much heart. Support them by following their socials and checking out MimiCries before reading on!
1. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer this interview! Could we get a quick introduction to you and what you do at Miniversal Games?
Zephy: Hi, I’m Zephy. My role at Miniversal Games is as its Technical Director while working on MimiCries.
Elysian: I’m Elysian, the Creative Director for Miniversal Games. Thank you for having us.
2. What is Miniversal Games’ founding story? How did the team come together?
Elysian: We started Miniversal Games as a group of three friends sharing a common passion for video games, who then set our sights on the mutual goal of creating one together.
Zephy: Throughout the development of our maiden title MimiCries, we also enlisted the help of other friends for the art, music and playtesting of the game.
3. What are the strengths and/or limitations of creating a game using pixel graphics?
Zephy: For me, pixel art has been something I grew up with while playing various games such as Digimon and Pokemon since young. While pixel graphics may lack details, there’s a certain charm to it when looking at moving sprites.
Elysian: Being the one who prepared the visual assets for MimiCries, one of the immediate challenges of using pixel graphics is conveying details within a limited number of pixels. However, I believe the strength of pixel graphics can be derived from this limitation, as well-designed characters and areas in this style can be just as, or potentially more memorable and endearing to players.
4. What are some of the team’s favourite games? And did any of them have a strong influence on MimiCries?
Elysian: My favourite games are mainly JRPGs. Although there were not any in particular that had a strong influence on MimiCries, I thought back on the experiences I had playing them for the portrayal of the narrative in our game. Another video game subgenre I greatly enjoy is escape rooms, so as you may guess, the puzzles in MimiCries emulate the ‘finding your way out’ appeal of such games.
Zephy: I really enjoy single player games. One of my favourite games to date is Monster Hunter, due to the diverse interactions and beautiful world. Some games that strongly influenced us to create MimiCries were Ib and Madfather, which are classic pixel games beloved by many.
5. What game engine is MimiCries designed on and why?
Elysian: RPG Maker. Having to undertake the majority of developmental work for MimiCries (despite knowing very little about coding), it was the most suitable engine of choice to design this game at that time.
Zephy: As mentioned in the previous question, there are many classic pixel art games made using RPG Maker MZ, which made our choice most suitable at the time.
6. What are the team’s thoughts on the rise of escape room genre games?
Zephy: I feel that it is due to the love of mystery and horror games, where players have to interact and explore areas while solving puzzles, with there being an element of suspense.
Elysian: As a fan of this type of games, it makes me glad to know that more people are discovering and playing them… and as someone who made a game with escape-room-style puzzles, I hope this interest leads to a rise in players for MimiCries. *laughs*
7. What are key features in MimiCries that sets it apart from other psychological horror/escape room games?
Elysian: I believe the key features of MimiCries that make it distinct from other video games of these genres is its keen focus on accuracy in every aspect of the game’s universe, from the appearance of places to the way characters present themselves.
Zephy: To put it in a way that avoids spoilers, another distinction is how the horror aspect of this game evolves to defy players’ expectations throughout the course of their playthroughs.
8. What benefits and/or challenges come with being an indie game dev studio in Singapore?
Zephy: As a full-time software developer working during the day, I have to put in my after hours to contribute to the development of the game. Like many in Singapore, there were times when there was a need to prioritise stability and income over making our games. However, at the end of the day, I feel accomplished and happy that I am able to do what I can for a hobby that I love.
Elysian: While there exists many challenges for indie game studios here, one benefit that I think tends to be understated is our language access to most of the largest markets around the world. With video games becoming ever more accessible internationally, the ability to present experiences without the added difficulty to localise and translate them for English and Mandarin-speaking audiences is a huge advantage.
9. Now that MimiCries has been released, what responses have come in that were expected and unexpected?
Zephy: There were different responses from friends and streamers. What
was unexpected were players coming to us to let us know they felt nostalgic while playing our games. Additionally, there was also a Steam user who put in over 20 hours to complete the game for all achievements, which felt unbelievable and amazing.
Elysian: Responses that have been unexpected thus far have been about some of the game puzzles being too tough, as the Miniversal Games team had been very meticulous in balancing the difficulty… but fairly speaking, there is one puzzle around the middle of MimiCries that has always been notoriously hard to solve. *laughs*
10. Where can we subscribe to updates from the Miniversal Games team?
Zephy: You can follow our X, Instagram, and we’re also going to be setting up a Discord Community channel sometime soon. Do keep a lookout!
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Please continue supporting our passionate local developers! It was inspiring hearing about their dedication to this craft and please look out for more from Mniversal Games!