In Valley of Shadow, Synersteel Games Developer Battles Trauma with Therapy, Puzzles, and Magic
Anthony and Nicholas Vaccaro, co-founders and owners of Synersteel Games, are working on a maiden voyage called Valley of Shadow that occupies the center of a triple Venn diagram around fantasy, narrative puzzle, and autobiographical genres. Even among indie creators, the Vaccaros are putting more of themselves into their passion project than most. Rather than simply telling the story of an intimate family tragedy, Synersteel aims to create an experience that grapples with trauma and ultimately allows the player to heal from those wounds.
Valley of Shadow is by no means the only example of a game that examines trauma, but few games foreground the healing process as part of the player's mission, rather than presenting closure as a byproduct of the narrative. Instead of «time healing all wounds,» players have to put in the work associated with recovery. Anthony spoke with Game Rant about the unique challenges of developing a game that wrestles with real-world demons through fanciful mechanics.
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Like many games, both independent and AAA, Valley of Shadow went through several distinct development stages before arriving at its current incarnation. The Vaccaro brothers began development on an open-world title late in 2017, with the aim of creating a colorful fantasy RPG.
«I didn’t realize I was grieving the family trauma until well into the development process of this open-world title. But everything I was putting into this — creatively, artistically, and narratively — was going into this other direction that was darker, and deeper, and more real than that colorful, open-world game.»
Anthony's brother, Nicholas was a countervailing influence, pushing him to incorporate spells from
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