This is a conversation with Julian Colbus from DigiTales Interactive, the creators of Lacuna and Between Horizons. We talk about regrets from their last game, how to succeed with story based games and how to make it as an indie game developer.
Links to my Guest
➤ Lacua on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364100/Lacuna__A_SciFi_Noir_Adventure/
➤ Between Horizons on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1921980/Between_Horizons__A_SciFi_Detective_Adventure/
➤ The Great Sassanelli on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195490/The_Great_Sassanelli__An_Interactive_Novel/
➤ Unburied Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1911240994/unburied?lang=de
➤ DigiTales Interactive (More Links): https://digitales.games/
Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):
➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/
0:00 - Intro
1:01 - Building Without Marketability in Mind
2:04 - Making “Detective” Readable at a Glance
3:33 - The Market Shift: 2021 vs 2024
4:24 - 3D vs 2D: Cost, Detail, and Personality
6:20 - Modernizing Point-and-Click
7:57 - Growing Team and Scope (and Losing Creative Control)
12:23 - Elegance Over Features
14:24 - Lessons from Cheap Horror Hits: Nail the Hook, Skip the Fluff
15:11 - The Essence of Detective Games
17:38 - Solution Inputs That Resist Guessing
20:33 - “Choices Matter”
24:16 - Semi-Open World Detectives: Combinatorial Explosion
26:46 - What Makes a Good Story in Games
28:00 - Selling Story Games via Setting; Be Oddly Specific
34:05 - Design by Committee vs Strong Vision
36:57 - Studio History and Team Scaling
39:49 - Becoming a Publisher
41:26 - New Business Plan: Smaller, Cheaper, More Frequent Releases
42:18 - Stepping into Survival Horror (and Why)
43:30 - Survival Horror’s Proven Formula and Feel
45:20 - Disempowerment and the Illusion of Scarcity
49:45 - Next Detective Game
52:09 - The Second-Game Slump: Causes and Fixes
56:45 - Don’t Make Direct Sequels as an Indie (Most of the Time)
01:00:50 - Steam Cross-Promotion: “From the Creators of…”, Bundles, Discounts
01:03:59 - Writing Better Dialogue
01:10:27 - Make the Story the Gameplay
01:14:57 - Hidden Mysteries and Multiple Active Cases
01:17:53 - Open-Ended Inputs vs Bespoke Reactions
01:21:48 - Dialogue System: Custom Tool, Booleans, and Logs
01:29:40 - Make It Obvious: Premise, Key Art, and Core Loop at a Glance
01:31:44 - Descriptive Trailers and Demos That Filter Buyers
01:36:45 - Screenshot Best Practices
01:39:22 - Design for Trailer Moments
01:41:36 - Budgets and Team Sizes: Why Mid-Size Struggles
01:44:53 - Indie Math: Real Costs and Platform Cuts
01:49:29 - Scope Discipline: Focus Saves Money and Quality
01:50:25 - Team Composition: Be Selective
01:52:31 - Work with Equals or Better; Pragmatic Dev Beats Over-Engineering
01:55:42 - Know What’s Possible (and Where AI Helps)
01:59:21 - Marketing in the For-You Era: Authenticity and Hooks
02:06:09 - Creator Outreach That Works (and Tools to Do It)
02:11:30 - Wrap-Up and Plugs: The Great Sassanelli, Socials, Unburied
My game "Thronefall":
➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/
➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8
➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview
My game "Will You Snail":
➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/
➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK
For the game developers among you:
➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ