#gamedev

If you would have asked me three years ago if I would ever consider writing a video game, my answer would be a big fat resounding NO. Ask me if I’d add my family into the mix? Hahahahaha……

I’m kidding, of course. We had always worked well together, whether it was creating silly home videos or extensive art projects in the garage. Most of the time, it was me coordinating the crazy ideas (key word: coordinating, not pulling it off). The words “Sarah, no” aren’t something I hear often. Hell, I’d even roped Dad and Amy into helping me with all my Pinterest DIYs for my wedding back in 2018. But, despite my Type-A personality, all of my best memories are of us blasting music and creating art together. Though, my art rarely made it past the stick figure stage. 

Amy always had a knack for illustrations. It’s always been her “thing”. At any given time, she’d be sketching a new image of Scooby-Doo from memory. Now, she’s the extremely talented artist behind Inkzy Studios (go check her out on Instagram and Etsy @inkzystudios). Keith, or as we like to call him, Dad, has been a code-wizard since before I was in diapers. And as if coding isn’t enough, Dad is also a very talented artist, taking on any new project with ease. And if it’s difficult, he’s stubborn enough determined to figure it out. 

Mostly, I was happy to be along for the ride. It’s not that I didn’t contribute. All of our projects needed a leader and if there is one thing I’m good at, it’s telling people what to do. My family calls it being bossy, I call it being a natural-born leader, or whatever. But, all good leaders are driven for more (a trip to Space, perhaps?), and it all finally fell together when I figured out that I liked writing. Liked is a loose word. I quickly dove into an obsession with writing, at long last finding my “thing”, a “thing” I was semi-good at. 

So, with all of our “things” in place, of course, we decided we wanted to work together to create something. But like all families with strong personalities, it took a few tries to figure out exactly how this would come to fruition. 

The first incarnation started on a summer day in 2019 with expensive coffee and date squares at a little cafe in a corner booth. I’d dreamt up a story about a couple of kids getting lost and needing to find their way home, a very different version from the story that exists now, and pitched the idea to my family as an online interactive kid’s book. The idea didn’t get past the date squares. 

The second form popped up again a year or so later. After being at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was itching to work on something new and what better time to start something than during a global crisis? This time the idea creeped its way back into our minds as a web-comic between Amy and myself. We tossed around a few ideas, a few start dates. And this time, we got a little further than our previous attempt. Until one night after a plate of nachos, Amy mentioned in passing that she’d like to make a game. As it turned out, Amy had already pitched the idea for a mobile game to Keith Dad. And while he hadn’t explicitly said no to her idea, he hadn’t jumped to say yes either.  

Cue me. It was clear the web comic wasn’t something we were both passionate about as an online toon. But as a game? That’s when the inspiration flowed and we knew we had something cool. All it took was a quick phone call to Keith and this time, it sold him. We’d finally figured out something that would play to all of our “things”. It fit us perfectly, with Amy on game design, me on the story, and Keith to create our world on Unity. 

And so began what we now know as Wicked Harbour, our indie game development company. 

With our company name in place and our idea firm, it was time to introduce our first ever effort into the indie game development world. Into the Under follows Barrow, a young boy on a journey through a strange and scary world, as he tries to find his missing sister. Aided by a friendly ghost, you play as Barrow in a point-and-click visual novel. 

Keep an eye out for the next blog in the coming weeks. I’m hoping to give a little more insight on where we started, our wins (and pitfalls), and where we are currently. Thank you so much for reading and following along. 

Catch you next time, 

Sarah (the bossy one)