Tischkewitz revealed that the studio had primarily worked on comedic animated shorts before delving into game design, which goes a long way towards explaining some of Voidigo’s unique design and gameplay considerations. That revelation came while Tischkewitz explained the game’s artstyle. It’s far more cutesy and colorful than most rogue-likes, which usually prefer a gritty atmosphere and muted hues.
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It turns out that using so much color has its own challenges though. Tischkewitz pointed out a similar issue to one that the developers of Minit, a game completely in black and white, described: making sure the player can still tell what’s going on can be difficult without contrast.
Keeping everything in constant motion, of course, also stems from the team’s experience in animation. “We couldn’t make a character and them not have an interesting idle animation.” The influence of an animation-focused mindset goes far deeper than just the visuals, though, as Tischkewitz went on to discuss while explaining what makes Voidigo stand out. It’s no secret that the market is currently saturated with pixel rogue likes these days, but Tischkewitz opined that Semiwork’s unique team is what sets them apart from the crowd.
Tischkewitz went on to explain in more detail the ways that a team experienced in animation was able to migrate their skills over to Voidigo. It seemed like he was both surprised and pleased with how well the shift in mediums panned out. “It’s exciting how well animation translated to game design for us.”
Something as ineffable as “game feel” is hard to define by nature, but from what we’ve seen of Voidigo, it looks like it could be a standout in the rogue-like genre. Its artstyle is one thing, but videos of gameplay do exude the “punchiness” that Tischkewitz expressed was a priority. The game is still in development, too, only recently releasing in early access, but with Monster Hunter-inspired mechanics and such a different take on game design, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Voidigo is currently in early access on PC.
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