Dec 17, 2018
Graveyard Keeper - possum lord
Hey there! We are back in touch and open a series of materials on our studio and the games we create.
Four months have passed since the release of Graveyard Keeper and all this time we spent on optimization of the project and correcting errors that players have reported to us. Also we have developed first major DLC called “Breaking Dead” and released it right on Halloween.
We have a little bit more time at the moment and we decided to return to the format of the developer diaries, as it means a closer connection with our players. Let’s see what happened three years ago after success of the Punch Club, what ideas were born and how we have decided to develop Graveyard Keeper.
Our first PC project was created in a small room by the efforts of three people. We had three tables and three chairs, but we were full of enthusiasm. The success of the Punch Club excited us unexpectedly and immediately turned our lives around, only heating our desire to create games. And we wanted to develop games that we would like. So that is our main point now.
Inspired by the success, we decided to invite to a team two or three people in order to work simultaneously on several projects. Of course, we immediately decided to start developing the sequel of the Punch Club, as well as construct few concept ideas for possible games.
So we came up with the idea of a tavern manager simulator, which was supposed to be a mixture of Majesty and classic tycoon. This idea was nice, until our dreams were destroyed by Kickstarter. The fact is that on it, one after another, a couple of projects appeared with a similar concept and an earlier release date, so that is the point where we have decided to abandon this concept.
Other idea was about post-apocalyptic game with last train on Earth that travels through the desolated lands. The game had to be very simple and elegant in its mechanics, and we perceived it as a small project for half a year or a year. In fact, we plan to return to it as soon as we can allow time to develop it. This idea most likely to be released than two years ago :)
We also had an idea about an RPG, where a player becomes ... a sword. However, we were not able to clarify how key game mechanics would work, and we abandoned this idea.
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So here we returned to the idea of a tycoon, changing the setting towards the graveyard, but even that was not that easy. As I noticed before, we are trying to make games that we would like to play. And it would be easy if the team had one person. As a result, we constantly had to compromise with each other, inventing mechanics and implementations that would fit the vision of each of us. Sometimes something cool comes out of it, sometimes something grindy, but always something unusual. It happened to Graveyard Keeper.
Considering simple graveyard tycoon, everything becomes boring too quickly: someone is digging graves, and someone is making coffins, so it all comes down to the usual logistics and workers management. Boring, right? That is why the game gradually began to acquire mystical and magical outlines, and at one point we acquired a bearded hero. And we did not just find him, this event turned the game upside down! Tycoon suddenly turned into an adventure fairytale that reveals the story of our hero.
To some extent, the adventures of a bearded buddy influenced us too. It is impossible to create a game about the cemetery for two years and remain the same person. Many of our own experiences and reflections on human nature, life, death, about what is good and what is evil, we tried to transfer to our game. And along with the hero, experiencing his epic adventure, we also tried to figure out something. We did this primarily for ourselves and tried to hide all philosophical and complicated moral topics behind humor, relaxing-meditative gameplay and nice graphics. As a result, Graveyard Keeper turned out to be completely different than it was originally intended. The project lived its own life, which is closely intertwined with our lives. We could even create it for five years more. There were still a lot of ideas to include. But it happens that one chapter of life ends and it was necessary to put an end. A week before the release of the game I became a father, and our hero reached a very important stage in his adventure. I am pretty sure we would see more than one chapter ahead. We will support the game, making world deep and interesting. Our hero has yet to unravel the many secrets of the mysterious world of Graveyard Keeper. We may even add a City someday, but that’s not our primary objective.
And that’s how our studio has changed:
_____________
Nikita
Lazy Bear Games co-founder
Four months have passed since the release of Graveyard Keeper and all this time we spent on optimization of the project and correcting errors that players have reported to us. Also we have developed first major DLC called “Breaking Dead” and released it right on Halloween.
We have a little bit more time at the moment and we decided to return to the format of the developer diaries, as it means a closer connection with our players. Let’s see what happened three years ago after success of the Punch Club, what ideas were born and how we have decided to develop Graveyard Keeper.
Our first PC project was created in a small room by the efforts of three people. We had three tables and three chairs, but we were full of enthusiasm. The success of the Punch Club excited us unexpectedly and immediately turned our lives around, only heating our desire to create games. And we wanted to develop games that we would like. So that is our main point now.
Inspired by the success, we decided to invite to a team two or three people in order to work simultaneously on several projects. Of course, we immediately decided to start developing the sequel of the Punch Club, as well as construct few concept ideas for possible games.
So we came up with the idea of a tavern manager simulator, which was supposed to be a mixture of Majesty and classic tycoon. This idea was nice, until our dreams were destroyed by Kickstarter. The fact is that on it, one after another, a couple of projects appeared with a similar concept and an earlier release date, so that is the point where we have decided to abandon this concept.
Other idea was about post-apocalyptic game with last train on Earth that travels through the desolated lands. The game had to be very simple and elegant in its mechanics, and we perceived it as a small project for half a year or a year. In fact, we plan to return to it as soon as we can allow time to develop it. This idea most likely to be released than two years ago :)
We also had an idea about an RPG, where a player becomes ... a sword. However, we were not able to clarify how key game mechanics would work, and we abandoned this idea.
[/imgSo here we returned to the idea of a tycoon, changing the setting towards the graveyard, but even that was not that easy. As I noticed before, we are trying to make games that we would like to play. And it would be easy if the team had one person. As a result, we constantly had to compromise with each other, inventing mechanics and implementations that would fit the vision of each of us. Sometimes something cool comes out of it, sometimes something grindy, but always something unusual. It happened to Graveyard Keeper.
Considering simple graveyard tycoon, everything becomes boring too quickly: someone is digging graves, and someone is making coffins, so it all comes down to the usual logistics and workers management. Boring, right? That is why the game gradually began to acquire mystical and magical outlines, and at one point we acquired a bearded hero. And we did not just find him, this event turned the game upside down! Tycoon suddenly turned into an adventure fairytale that reveals the story of our hero.
To some extent, the adventures of a bearded buddy influenced us too. It is impossible to create a game about the cemetery for two years and remain the same person. Many of our own experiences and reflections on human nature, life, death, about what is good and what is evil, we tried to transfer to our game. And along with the hero, experiencing his epic adventure, we also tried to figure out something. We did this primarily for ourselves and tried to hide all philosophical and complicated moral topics behind humor, relaxing-meditative gameplay and nice graphics. As a result, Graveyard Keeper turned out to be completely different than it was originally intended. The project lived its own life, which is closely intertwined with our lives. We could even create it for five years more. There were still a lot of ideas to include. But it happens that one chapter of life ends and it was necessary to put an end. A week before the release of the game I became a father, and our hero reached a very important stage in his adventure. I am pretty sure we would see more than one chapter ahead. We will support the game, making world deep and interesting. Our hero has yet to unravel the many secrets of the mysterious world of Graveyard Keeper. We may even add a City someday, but that’s not our primary objective.
And that’s how our studio has changed:
_____________
Nikita
Lazy Bear Games co-founder
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