Interview with Isaías Arrué R the Music Composer of Colorbound

It’s that time of year again! The Six One Indie Showcase is in full swing and that means loads of amazing indies being shown off and, of course, we’ve got more developer interviews for you. The music composer and CEO/found of Panpipe Studio SpA, the team behind upcoming puzzle adventure Colorbound, was kind enough to answer our questions about the game.

A huge thank you to Isaías, for not only answering my questions, but being a part of our September showcase.

• Can you tell me a little bit about the team behind Colorbound?

  The game is being developed by Panpipe Studio SpA, which is my company as a solo developer. After securing a deal with our publisher Whitethorn Games, I assembled a four-person team.

  In the team we are: Neko Crocodile and Kosena, two artists from the Dominican Republic, who met at a game jam which I will talk about later. Estefania from Chile, who helped us with the game's narrative, and myself as a programmer, music composer, and game designer, also from Chile.

• How did the idea for the game come about? Were there any notable sources of inspiration?

  This game was born from a Game Jam, specifically the Latin American Game Showcase Game Jam held in April 2025.

  The theme was "What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel," so I interpreted it as meaning that the player can only interact with visible objects, and they must play with that visibility to solve puzzles.

  I participated in this game jam as a solo developer, and at first, I tossed around several ideas. One was to use lights and shadows to change the visibility of things, but it was complex to program. So, after some thought, I came up with the idea of using colors. Combining them with flat objects made it simple to make the mechanics work.

  And so, the main concept was born. With this idea, all that was left was to start creating creative and challenging puzzles for the player. The goal was always to make something simple that was original and creative, as much as possible.

  I had the privilege of winning that game jam, and as a prize, the organization took the winners to Gamescom in Brazil, where I met the artists I work with now, and where I was able to present my plan to expand the idea and seek funding.

  I took inspiration mainly from Baba is You, for their creativity and puzzle design. I have also been inspired by games like The Old Man's Journey, for its narrative style, and Chicory for its graphic style and color mechanics.

• Colorbound looks to be a unique puzzle game with an endearing story. How were you able to balance these two elements within the game?

  Well, it's something we're still working on, haha.

  The game's focus is really on its puzzles and gameplay, the narrative is a bit more subtle, it's a story told more through its images and actions than through its dialogue.

  But we're actually working on balancing the narrative with the gameplay. It's quite complex to actually unify things so they make sense, but we're achieving it by giving the story a more minimalist approach, allowing us to tell a tender and simple story in a few words.

• What lessons have you learned from your previous projects that you applied to Colorbound?

  Colorbound is actually our first commercial project, but at least for me, based on several small projects and video games made for game jams, I've learned to keep ideas simple and try to get the most out of them before adding new things.

  For me, nothing works very well when I start with several ideas and mechanics for a single project. On the other hand, if I start with something very small and grow over time, it works much better, and people end up liking it more.

• How is the game development scene in Chile?

  There's a lot of video game development in Chile, from companies, small teams, and solo developers. It's a scene that has been growing significantly in recent years.

  But we still need to give the local industry more visibility, and for the state to allocate more funding to video games. This would help the scene grow even more, because many good projects end up disappearing due to lack of funding.

  But, well, third-world problems.

• Have you noticed any differences or trends since you’ve started?

  On a global level, I don't think so, but I've personally met a lot of people in the industry since I won the game jam and started this project, and it has also helped me better understand the videogame industry in my country.

• What does “indie” mean to you?

  For me, indie refers to any type of artist who doesn't work for a huge company. But in the case of videogames, I'd say an indie project should be made by a "small" studio, working on its own creative terms, even if it receives external funding.

Colorbound does not yet have a release date. You can wishlist the game on Steam now to stay up to date on future announcements.