Justin Roiland, Shovel Knight devs dish on their trippy new indie games
Enlarge / Our two favorite interviews and gameplay sessions at PAX West 2022 revolved around games from two completely different companies. To be clear: Mina the Hollower (left) is not being produced in any way by Justin Roiland (right) or his company Squanch Games. (credit: Yacht Club Games / Squanch Games)
SEATTLE—Last week's crowded, fun-filled PAX West 2022 expo was very different from the ghost town of its 2021 edition, which meant Ars Technica got to spend time with some of our favorite video game creators. You may have already seen our PAX West chat with the co-creators of the Monkey Island series, where we got a peek at Return to Monkey Island's new puzzles, jokes, and delectable animations. But that wasn't the only interview we conducted.
Below are two additional interviews based on highlights from our time at the four-day expo. Each comes from indie studios whose previous games have impressed: Yacht Club Games (Shovel Knight) and Squanch Games (Trover Saves the Universe). The interviews were conducted after I played each studio's new game, and I'll be back tomorrow to report on other gameplay highlights from the expo.
Mina the Hollower
(Release date TBD, platforms TBD | Official site)
-
The deeper you go into Mina the Hollower, the more gothic and Castlevania-ey its Zelda-inspired top-down adventuring looks and feels. [credit: Yacht Club Games ]
My favorite discovery at PAX West 2022 wasn't entirely surprising, as it hit many of my personal gameplay biases: a Game Boy Color aesthetic; a top-down adventure that recalls the three Game Boy-exclusive Legend of Zelda games; and the development chops of a studio like Yacht Club Games, which is best known as the creator of the incredible platformer Shovel Knight.