Interview with the Developer of Video Ghastlies
We didn’t know much about Video Ghastlies when we first watched the trailer that they submitted for the showcase, but in just a few seconds we were completely captivated. It’s the type of horror game that we didn’t know we needed until we saw it.
Thank you so much to the dev for giving us a chance to ask some questions about a game that we’re already deeply in love with.
Can you tell me more about yourself and how the idea for Video Ghastlies came about?
As a teen in the late 90s I would rent as many horror films as I could, often selected for the most incredible cover art! The game was originally going to be about a video store owner renting banned horror tapes to customers but I quickly realised it was more exciting from the customer perspective. I really wanted this project to have a similar feeling of escaping into each of these strange forbidden worlds like I did renting tapes.
What are some of the “iconic eras” that players will be able to travel to in the game?
The game is set in the late 90s so all the horror eras are from then and before. It will have 20/30s era silent/gothic horror, 70s Italian Giallo, 80s body horror and 90s found footage.
Can you go into more detail about what gameplay is like? Does it involve a lot of exploration or will there be secrets/puzzles involved as well?
Exploration will be a big part of the game, along with a balance of puzzles and combat and resource management. It's a bit of first person survival horror with a central safe room of the flat and slowly expanding into the other worlds as you solve puzzles and find new items. I adore secrets in games and I would love to include the many ideas I already have but as a solo dev it's a balancing act to make sure I'm spending my time in the places that most people will see.
There are various weapons in the game, can you tell me more about a couple of different weapons players can use?
I don't want to spoil too much just now, but I've already shown off the flesh pistol in the screenshots, which was extremely fun to sculpt and record sfx for. Fans of my previous games may notice an old tool/weapon returning in a new way as well.
Can you take back anything from the places that you visit to bring to other eras?
Yes, a big part of the game will be discovering items or knowledge in one world that you can take and use in another world, with everything connected through the flat.
Were there any specific classic movies that inspired places or events in the game?
Absolutely! I'm a bit of horror movie nerd so there are a lot of little different influences in there, but some slightly more overt influences are Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Dracula (1931), Suspiria and Profondo Rosso, Videodrome, The Thing and eXistenZ, Blair Witch Project and Evil Dead.
If you could travel into any movie, which movie would you choose?
That's a really tough question! Probably Alien. I would absolutely love to wander round the Nostromo even if it meant I was about to be a snack for the xenomorph.
Video Ghastlies is available to wishlist on Steam now.