The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Survival Horror Story: Catequesis
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What's your game called and what's it about?
Survival Horror Story: Catequesis tells the story of Daniel, meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time. His girlfriend, Sophie, confesses to him that her father suffers from an incurable disease and the only way to save him is to perform a religious rite led by her neighbour Isabel. Something turns out badly, weird creatures seize the building and Sophie and Isabel disappear. Fate makes Daniel walk along the floors of that old structure and its core, facing different horrors on his attempt to rescue Sophie and end the curse.
What's the meaning behind the game's name? Do you worry an unfamiliar name might prevent fans from talking about it?
Catequesis is the Spanish word for "catechesis," which in the Catholic religion is education in the faith and doctrine. So imagine how interesting the catechesis can be in a different, horrible and hideous new religion. Anyway, I wanted to put a complete name, more explicit and clear, with "Survival Horror Story," a great definition of our game.
Do you see a large market for 90s-inspired, 8-bit RPG games?
I don't think so – it isn't a big market. 8-bit lovers are not a majority amongst the gamers and survival-horror lovers are even fewer. So, yes, we probably won't get rich with this game.
What inspired you to make Catequesis?
I am a cinema lover: the strangest, surreal, independent and terror films (David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Alain Resnais). I have always been an enthusiast of Japanese culture (Suehiro Maruo, Junji Ito, Ju-on, Ringu) and a video game fan since I had an Atari 2600 as a child. I really like as well the history and culture of my country, Spain, and its close connection to Catholic religion in all spheres. Therefore, we could state that Catequesis is an eclectic work, rich in references and styles very different than each other.
What's the coolest aspect of Catequesis?
Catequesis has several strong points. On one side, its retro style will delight more than one player who has nostalgia for pixels. On the other side, we have created a little universe with interesting characters and awful creatures where a strong and deep story can flow. We have also chosen simple, agile and precise playability, perfect for any platform. All of this may mean a well-defined and unique game experience.
Is Catequesis coming to Ouya? Steam? Why no iOS plans right now?
We are in conversations with the Ouya team, to have a version for their new platform. And we will try to enter in Steam through Greenlight. It will be great for us have the visibility of Steam for our game.
The game is coded in Java, which allows us to target the three major desktop computer OSes, Android, and it could even lead to a WebGl port. The iOS version could come later, but it'll be a full port, a full rewrite of the code.
Why develop independently, rather than work for an established company?
Well, basically the freedom to do exactly what we want, when we want and the way we want.
Do you see yourself as part of a larger indie movement?
Totally. We started to make games a year ago because we saw all these indie people doing awesome things and we wanted it too. Now is the time of the video games; it is our moment, so we want to be there.
Sell Catequesis in one sentence:
Catequesis is the 8-bit survival horror that you always wanted to play when you were child.
Survival Horror Story: Catequesis is scheduled to haunt PC, Mac, Linux and Android this fall, possibly on Steam, but with more information here.
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