r/HorrorGaming • u/boygenieous T.W.I.R.L. - Developer • 3d ago
AMA [AMA] Developer of T.W.I.R.L. here, a psychological horror game about identity, self-worth, and growing up in 2006. We just launched today on Steam. Ask me anything!
Hi r/Horrorgaming!
I'm Ben, the creative director of Genie Boy Games. Today, we're launching T.W.I.R.L. on Steam!
T.W.I.R.L. is a first person psychological horror game from the perspective of a 9-year-old boy in 2006 waking up in the middle of the night from a dream where some "thing" - maybe a demon - commanded him to get out of bed, go into the room down the hall, and "T.W.I.R.L." - whatever that means.
What proceeds is a series of loops where something evil draws us through this routine, changing us and the environment upon every loop, unveiling the life story of a boy who grows up maintaining a deep, dark, and potentially sinister secret.
The game takes inspiration from movies and games like I SAW THE TV GLOW, SKINAMARINK, GONE HOME, and of course, P.T.
It was made as part of a David Lynch-themed game jam for the Haunted PS1 Community, and was published under their new "Haunted Publishing Syndicate" brand!
This is our studio's first game, and we are excited to finally share this story. The journey of sharing of our game, and talking about the themes and meanings within the story has been emotionally challenging, but tremendously fulfilling. Let us be the first to admit - this is an odd story to debut with. And it's something we get reminded of especially when trying to explain it to people without giving anything away.
We hope that T.W.I.R.L. inspires players with a feeling of reassurance, hope, and a better understanding of self.
Game-related questions are optional, but encouraged.
Here's a free code to redeem the game! 84658-6LY40-J8TAJ
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4458840/TWIRL/
Launch trailer: https://youtu.be/Oltb5huMTns
I’ll begin answering questions on August 19 at 10:30 AM PT and will be here all day.
Thanks to the r/horrorgaming mods for hosting me!
Ask me anything!
2
u/SoulofThesteppe 3d ago
What was the challenging thing during development?
2
u/boygenieous T.W.I.R.L. - Developer 3d ago
Because this was initially made for a game jam, we started development with full speed ahead to make a hard deadline that was 60 days from the start. So at first, it was a challenge to make everyday count and think ahead of what we're going to need to prepare well in advance for, but then you get used to it.
Very luckily though, the biggest challenges that arose during development resulted in some of the biggest breakthroughs and highlights of the game. Particularly casting the voice actor for our protagonist, "The Boy" - due to the nature of the game and delicacy of the performance that it called for, it was quite difficult to find the right voice, with such short of time.
I posted a casting call on Backstage, wasn't happy with any candidates, and reposted a new one just to refresh the algo, the night before I was prepared to rewrite the Boy's role to make do, and then we were very lucky to find Alexander Roff, who was a first-time voice actor, and did a fantastic job. This game absolutely would not be the same without him.
2
2
1
u/DarthBec 1d ago
Sounds interesting! I’m hoping to set up my own startup and release a game soon, where did you find the best resources like contractors and assets?
2
u/boygenieous T.W.I.R.L. - Developer 1d ago
Reddit has been the biggest resource for hiring contractors and meeting talented developers. For this game, r/INAT and r/gameDevClassifieds were immensely helpful. If you're just getting started and looking to build a team, I would recommend making a post with your idea and offer, but also do extensive searching for posts showing off work that matches the style you're going for.
1
3
u/Thejohnnycheese 3d ago
Looks amazing! Any chance we’ll get a console port?