Today we have an interview with the creators of Teslagrad, Rain Games!


8 Bit Forward: Just to start off, what is Teslagrad, for those that may not know?

Rain Games: Teslagrad is an action puzzle-platformer where magnetism and other electromagnetic forces are the key to go throughout the game, and thereby discover the secrets kept in the long abandoned Tesla Tower.

8BF: How do you believe the game has been received so far on Steam?

Rain: We've been really well received, as you can check here:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/249590/

77/100 from press, 80/100 user metascore, and lots of recommendations in Steam. Which is awesome!

8BF: Will there be any special features exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, and do you have a set release date yet, or a timeframe for release?

Rain: Regarding the release date, we set this very month of April. However, the release date depends on external factors and certification by Nintendo, so it's not written in stone yet. But it will be soon, I can guarantee . As for the special features, the game will include offscreen play, and the interface (map, secret cards) will take advantage of the touch controls.

8BF: How has working with Nintendo been? What has your experience developing with Wii U been like?

Rain: Really exciting, and not without its technical problems and challenges (as in any other platform, for sure). We're really happy and grateful to Nintendo. Not only for they allowing us (we indie devs, as a whole) to join their platforms, which is a dream for us. But also because they are providing us with advice and help, and doing their best to adapt Nintendo's philosophy to a new wave of smaller developers. It's a great experience, and they have fully supported us both remotely and at every event we've been together (we were a couple of days at the Nintendo booth the last GDC!).  

8BF: From what did you get the idea for Teslagrad? Were there any games that inspired the creation of Teslagrad?

Rain: Every single member of the team would reply differently to that question . We are all seasoned players, keen on games of many different genres: the old Legend of Zeldas, Battletoads, Metroid, even Atari 2600 games. You can find many of us today playing League of Legends or Hearthstone, and definitely we love so many different kind of games... But well, let's say that 16-bits era and other classic videogames have had a really relevant role while creating Teslagrad. They are part of us.

Now, regarding Teslagrad's world (Elektropia is the country, from the world of Chroma), it has its roots in another different game, an unreleased game called Minute Mayhem. That game, which was the first project of the newly created Rain Games, was set in a four-nation world, each of them with a different brand of strongly steampunk inspired technology. Teslagrad takes place in Elektropia. At certain point the magnetism and electromagnetic forces that featured that nation inspired us to envision a really different game—Minute Mayhem was kind of a top-down view multiplayer/casual game—. An that's how Teslagrad project was born. Needless to say, we're also fans of Nikola Tesla. And the Oatmeal, too .  

8BF: What kind of challenges have you faced in the development of Teslagrad?

Rain: The usual. Making games is an incredibly complex, long, difficult and risky process. We are a pretty small team. As many of the indie devs out there, we've had to keep an eye on the company's numbers, and work out countless small problems for which we weren't ready. We've been growing and learning while making Teslagrad, and we didn't have the resources or support that many bigger game developers have. Also, it's incredible the tremendous amount of outstanding indie games being made for the last years. That's a blessing of course, but it's getting more and more difficult to gain some exposure. And of course, we indies have no big budget to spend on advertising. Still, we think it totally worths it when the goal is to do what we really want to: creating cool games.

8BF: Moving to you, Rain Games itself, how did you get started?

Rain: We started in a tiny shared office, in a small artist collective in Bergen, Norway. Back then Rain Games were only two people. A grant by the Norwegian Film Institute give us the support to really start working on Teslagrad. We're around 10 people now.  

8BF: Is the 2D puzzle platformer genre one you intend to stick with for other games?

Rain: There's no reason not to allow ourselves envisioning other kind of games, certainly.

8BF: Do you have any plans for the future, game-wise or studio-wise?

Rain: Right now the plans are really simple: finish console versions of Teslagrad. Once everything is up and rolling, we'll start moving to other games. Time will tell!

8BF: Is there anything else you'd like to tell the readers today?

Rain: We'd like to thank everyone for all the support we receive daily. Indie games are becoming more and more popular, and that's mainly because of every player talking about our games, sharing them with their friends and encouraging us, supporting us to make more "small", unique games. That's why this community around independent games is so great. Also, we'd invite you all to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and stuff. We love to be in contact with our players .

8BF: Thank you for allowing us to interview you. We truly appreciate it.

Rain: Thank you, it's been our pleasure.


You can also see what Rain Games is up to on their website, and see more about Teslagrad here.

Good luck to Rain Games with Teslagrad and their future endeavors!