A BRAND new video game developer based in Reading is launching its first ever title, Batho[tel].
The single-player horror puzzle experience is the first full release from Bronze Box Interactive, an independent development team founded by Mylo Hopper and John Brockman.
Mylo says that the pair lived together at university before they had the idea of starting their own development company.
“We started together first, kind of unofficially, but as projects became more and more complete, we decided to register as a company.
“Aside from projects that were half-way through production which we realised weren’t working, which,” he jokes, “happens a lot in game development.”
“But Batho[tel] is the first one that’s got to the point where we feel like it is sellable.”
The game is set in the world of Batho[tel], which is described as ever-changing and claustrophobic.
The world is populated with puzzles, as well as other guests, which detail the narrative.
The game has “some quite dark themes,” which Mylo says is usual of his writing, including allusions to accidents and threat, with some profanity.
“It’s about a guy who wakes up in a hotel hallway, he doesn’t really know why he’s there,
“The hallway doesn’t stay as it is, though, and it has a subtle kind of level structure and plays in a fluid way.”
The focus on the setting of the game is something that was picked up from the developers’ influences, he explains.
“The PT demo that Hideo Kojima brought out was a big influence with that repeating hallway, and where things would move down through levels as you solve puzzles,
“We knew how they’d done that, having seen interviews with Kojima, so we wanted to try a similar concept in a way that they didn’t.”
He says also that development can be difficult, but that the Bronze Box Interactive partnership makes things easier.
“Programming and all that is my bad side, it’s my short straw, so working with John has made the process a lot easier,
“We work in a way where we’ll pitch concepts to each other, he takes the technical lead and I’ll take the creative lead, and whoever has picked the concept gives it focus in a particular direction.”
Regarding the pair’s next project, Mylo says only: “While I guess this one was mine, the one we’re planning on coming up next will be very much John’s focus.”
Bronze Box Interactive’s Batho[tel] is available on Steam for Windows from Wednesday, June 15, for £4.
For more information, including system specification requirements, visit: store.steampowered.com
