How TUNIC weaves wondrous worlds inspired by inscrutable NES manuals
This interview is part of our Road to the IGF series. The IGF (Independent Games Festival) aims to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize independent game developers advancing the medium. Every year, Game Developer sits down with the finalists for the IGF ahead of GDC to explore the themes, design decisions, and tools behind each entry.
TUNIC follows a heroic fox on a grand adventure—one where they will have to unravel an unknown world though a quirky in-game manual.
Game Developer had a chat with Andrew Shouldice, the Primary Developer for the Seumas McNally and Excellence in Audio-nominated experience, to discuss how they worked to create a sense of exploring a world that you didn't understand, how lighting work would be one of the first details that really captured the game's emotional feel, and how the developer's childhood difficulties reading NES game manuals would lead to this wonderful journey.
Who are you, and what was your role in developing TUNIC ?
I’m Andrew Shouldice, and I was the primary developer on TUNIC. I started the project in 2015 as Secret Legend and handled the majority of the design, programming, art, and animation.
What's your background in making games?
I’ve been making video games since I found out our family 386 had something called QBASIC on it, and I had been making non-video games before that. I’ve participated in a handful of jams like Ludum Dare and Train Jam, and worked at a casual games studio before starting work on TUNIC.
How did you come up with the concept for TUNIC?
The game evolved a lot over development, but the core idea centered around evoking a specific feeling: that of exploring a world you don’t understand—one full of systems and
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