Dev Interview for Puzzledorf + New Game??

If you like getting into the minds of video games developers and seeing how they tick, Stuart from SPG, developer of Puzzledorf, was just interviewed by Atari Fanguy Ballistik Coffee Boy. They delve into why Stuart got started making video games, what makes retro video games so interesting, inspirations behind Puzzledorf and what’s new in the latest Puzzledorf update. You can watch the full interview below.

Puzzledorf is a block-pushing puzzle game from SPG, where you need to push coloured blocks onto matching coloured targets (colour blind modes included). Puzzledorf recently had a massive update adding improved graphics and new, immersive nature sounds. In the interview, Stuart talks about some of his inspirations, which include early Sonic the Hedgehog games, Mario All Stars and also Metroid Prime.

Graphically, Sonic the Hedgehog was a big inspiration, with the bright pixel art and tropical vibes of Greenhill Zone. Metroid Prime particularly inspired Stuart with regards to the sound track, with the deep ambient sounds and the way it created atmosphere. He says Phendrana Drifts was of particular inspiration, which can be seen clearly in the worlds Snow Fields and Myra from the Classic Puzzles. You’ll have to watch the interview if you want to learn more about what went on behind the scenes of Puzzledorf.

Along with the new graphics, a free Steam Demo was recently released for Puzzledorf, letting you try before you buy. Of note, Steam recently enabled developers to have a standalone store page for their demo’s, where they are treated more like free games in the store. This means you can review demos, which affects how they get promoted by the store algorithm. So if you like the Puzzledorf Demo, a review will help the game stand out.

It’s also worth mentioning for the first few days of the demo’s launch, while the full game had Mac and Linux versions enabled, there was a hitch with the demo that stopped Mac and Linux versions from being available. That has now been fixed, so if you want to try the demo on Mac or Linux, now’s your chance.

In the interview, Stuart also talks about plans for future games. He reveals Shigeru Miyamoto, and his devotion to solid game mechanics, has been a huge inspiration for him, and that he plans to take this mindset into his next game. As a new development, today Stuart decided to set himself the challenge of making a game in 30 days for mobile, likely a sort of dungeon crawler with random generation.

Today was day 1, where he started a quick mock-up of what the graphics could look like. He wants to keep the sprites and colours simple so he can try and knock out the game fast. He’s not used to designing games in such a tight timeline so thinks it could be a fun challenge. The next few days will revolve around ironing out core gameplay mechanics and finalizing the art style. Below is the first concept of the hero and a dungeon, made and animated in Photoshop.

Puzzledorf currently has demo’s available on Steam, Atari VCS and Xbox. You can buy it for $9.99 USD on Steam and Atari right now, with Xbox (and later Nintendo Switch) coming soon.

If you liked this article, please check out Puzzledorf to show your support. If you enjoy playing, leaving a review helps the games visibility on Steam.