Ahoy mateys! The last month or so has been a whirlwind of activity, with the sails raised full so we could hit our latest target deadlines. Overall, things are looking great and were getting so much closer to truly opening up the ship for a full inspection. You can read more about those tentative plans in the mini news post from earlier this month. Now, that brings us to the first item from that list, so without further ado here is my interview with Jen Vaughn, Captain and senior game designer on Orphan Age: For those who may not know you, when thinking of the narrative/gameplay plans for the project, what was it that drew you to wanting to work on Orphan Age? Honestly, I saw it as a challenge. A simulation game where the player also cares about the characters, aside from popular SIMs games where you create a vanity character that is you. RPGs and visual novel games, those narratives are crafted to make you fall in love with (or hate!) certain characters and I saw this genre as a new challenge for me. Plus, so much media about dystopian times follows the major political or military or future important characters; focusing on the every person affected by a crumbling society and how they live their life is much more interesting. If perhaps a bit too germane, as we watch in real time many of the worlds leaders and billionaires buy remote homes in climate crisis-resistant locations.
While not uncommon in most genres of games, kids arent seen as often as the main characters in a survival sim game. What advantages or disadvantages do you feel there are in utilizing them as both the heroes and narrative focus in our story? In Orphan Age, the kids grew up without a lot of resources and the idea of fun is new to them. Narratively and in game play they must relearn how to be kids, in addition to keeping up with their chores that keep them alive. This is one of the strongest points of the game, to help the kids reclaim a moment of pure, unabashed joy. Kids are fantastic as heroes because their goals and wishes are not always logical and can change at the drop of a hat. They are also challenging - I would never say its a disadvantage! - because they might not have the same skill levels as an adult but we fudge it a bit with it being the future and these kids grew up hard. Also, if there are no adults in the game to compare skill sets to, who is to say we are wrong? Forged by the fire, sharpened by society - we were all kids once and the melancholy flavor of the game is a real connection point for those of us, myself included, who experienced fractured or lost childhoods. What can you tell everyone about our band of intrepid orphans? You know, without major spoilers These kids are cute as shit. Thats all I can say. Heh, but really the original character designs Laura Bisson made helped maintain the cuteness factor even through art direction changes. Maureen was the only character in the game when I first joined the team in 2022 so it was a joy to collaborate with Laura on the rest of the characters (hopefully they will all be in the game eventually). The kids are spunky, full of heart but not untouched by trauma. Each orphan will have their personal quest where the player can explore more of the worlds lore and the characters personality all with a uniquely terrifying backdrop. The player can choose to help all the kids fulfill their (somewhat reasonable) dreams, help just one or two, or plow forward with only the group quest.
In the world of Orphan Age, what trials do these kids have to go through? These kids are going through all of the trials essentially. From struggling to find food and water, to maintaining their mental health. As any simulation player knows, the basics of living are how you keep pushing the game forward but its using characters special traits that can unfold more narrative highs and lows. Since the kids are technically wanted for [REDACTED AT THIS TIME], they can only go out at night which presents its own type of trial. As animals, were all scared of the dark in some aspect because we believe were masters of our own stories, the pilots of these bone and flesh mechs called bodies. So were working to capture some of that fear when the kids go out to explore by night. What do you hope players get out of taking on the roles of our Orphans? First and foremost, I hope they have a damn good time. But almost tied with that, I want to instill hope and the need to be a part of the change in the real world in the players. Some people have given into the idea of a world collapse, that its easier to see themselves living out a Mad Max-style future than be a part of the change. Its a way to absolve their own guilt and inaction. And please dont think me ill-informed, of course, I know most of the pollution is made by major corporations. But there is collective action and there is individual action that can help. In parts of the Global South and many countries with indigenous populations, theyre already making small gains against climate change by adapting and also having lifestyles less intertwined with single-use plastics and food waste. So this optimism and flexibility can be applied to supposed first-world nations and their economies of over-abundance. Not to even mention the political leaders who create laws while not keeping in touch with what the average person goes through. Rent is too high, food costs too much - Im not saying playing Orphan Age will create a wave of people crying Eat the Rich but it is definitely sewn into the fabric of the game. Theres also the hope - this may sound silly but its a big goal - that by playing Orphan Age will help spark compassion in the players they might not have had before. And not the kind of compassion that ends at the main menu when they exit the game. Unfortunately, were living in a world with multiple wars and ongoing exterminations of people, the Congo, Ukraine, Palestine/Gaza to name a few. While a war is not the background of the game, we cannot create and develop within a void, so were obviously working on a plan for some charity streams and some other real-world work. No game made with children as the heroes in dark times will be without flaws, its impossible to get something with such a delicate matter 100% right but we hope were able to inspire courage in those who felt nothing before. For players to enjoy the story of Orphan Age but prevent it from happening for future generations. And that covers this months updates. No Around the Studio this time, as weve spent most of February fairly head down on hitting our latest milestone goal. In fact, as I finish writing this the rest of the team is deep into our build week as we prepare to send our latest milestone build onto our publisher. With that, I bid you all adieu until next month! Well be back with another interview, and if my schedule allows for it, a second news post sharing a high-level look at our game systems for Orphan Ageno promises on both, but I really want to get both out in March. If theres any topics youd like to see discussed in a future news post, please let me know in the comments or join our Discord and chat with us about it there!