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Remarkably, Lucas Pope is all of these things.
As a result, he has earned a reputation as independent gamings pre-eminent icon.
I was coming offObra Dinn.
Anything that’s 1-bit is right up my alley and then I saw the crank.
Everything made me think: This is awesome.
I want to make a game for it, he explains.
Id playedFirewatchandUntitled Goose Game.
But I wasn’t looking for a publisher.
I wanted to take a look and maybe have a go at make something or experiment with it.
There’s a lot of expectation attached to anything I do now.
Hilarity, inevitably, ensues.
It’s frustrating to have children who are crazy about games but can’t play my games.
Theyre too violent, too mature, and just not interesting.
I wanted to make something for them.
I thought: OK, cartoonish faces I can do the drawing for that.
It was here that his multidisciplinary skills came to the fore.
I didn’t know what the game was for three years, he admits.
Two of these were spent illustrating the collection of disfigured mutants that populate the off-colony settlement.
The pandemic slowed me down mentally and physically.
I worked on it for a long time without making a whole lot of progress.
What are his aspirations forMars After Midnight?
There’s a lot of expectation attached to anything I do now.
That part is worth a lot more than just money or sales, says Pope.
Happily, his children loveMars After Midnight.
Awards, kindly
Papers, Pleasewas self-published by his production company 3909 LLC.
There’s plenty of great games where you’re shooting people the whole time.
I prefer different interactive experiences.
Something new, something I haven’t played before.
Return Of The Obra Dinnwas exactly that.
LikePapers, Pleaseit proved to be a universal hit with critics.
Both won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, the main award at the Independent Games Festival (IGF).
Obra Dinn was a tricky one because it’s a very passive game.
There are lots of movies and media about pirates, including games.
I thought that was so interesting and wanted to get a nugget of it.
Obra Dinnwas a tricky one because it’s a very passive game.
It’s usually a lot.Obra Dinnwas another flip the script thing.
Instead of doing the killing, you have to watch it.
But you’re not pulling the trigger, ever, says Pope.
There’s nothing there.
It also helps with changing things.
I figure things out as I go along.
I don’t have a fully formed game that I can show to somebody and get them on board.
I work very vaguely and with a lot of hope for a long time.
That’s very difficult to do with other people.
That’s really hard for me to do.
The singular results of Popes digital craft provide ample justification for his questing approach.
Nothing else does that.
Mars After Midnight is out now onPlaydate.
