Inspired By Zelda: Interviewing The Lead Developer of Stranger Things: The Game

Hello folks, and welcome back to Inspired By Zelda! This month was originally going to focus on a creepy 2D Link’s Awakening-esq game named Anodyne, but as time was a scarce resource this month, so unfortunately, that think-piece will have to wait until next month. To make it up to everybody, I had a chance to chat with the Lead Developer of Stranger Things: The Game Dave Pottinger about the game, and I’m here to share that with you! We talk about what it was like working with Netfix, why he chose the “Zelda genre”, and more! Check it out below!

[DCP] The game industry is a pretty small place. We knew some folks over at Netflix. We got to talking about the idea of doing a game after the first season of Stranger Things came out. Our excitement level was through the roof; we were smitten with the series. When the opportunity to work on the game got to the point of saying yes/no, it was a VERY easy choice.

[DCP] We had a terrific time working with Netflix/everyone involved throughout the entire project. I give Netflix a ton of credit for the leeway and freedom they gave us. They displayed a great deal of trust. I think BonusXP did a great job diving in all the way the franchise and giving it a lot of love. Of course, we had all the expected approvals to go through, but they were pretty painless, to be honest.

[DCP] Yes, we were absolutely fans. When the show came out, it took over our office. We had to divide lunch into “had seen it” and “hadn’t seen it” groups for a while. We hadn’t done any work for licensed projects before; I’m still a little surprised we were that excited about it. But, when I brought the idea up with the team, it was clear that we needed to go do this game. I think the pressure was there, but we typically put a lot of pressure on ourselves anyway. We made a game that we love for a franchise that we love. That’s a pretty good recipe.

[DCP] Yes, hardcore, lifelong Zelda fans, too. For several of us, making a Zelda-style game has been on the bucket list for a long time. When we got to talking about ideas for the game, the match just immediately fell out. The show is about exploration and mystery. To me, that’s the allure of Zelda, as well. Solving puzzles while also not knowing everything about the game, or even where you’ll end up when it’s done. The two fit really well together from a motivation and mood standpoint.

[DCP] Mostly, yes. The show is clearly an ensemble cast, so we knew that everyone needed to make a strong appearance. When we looked at how we could marry the show with the overall collection gameplay, we originally talked about collecting different items/weapons like a typical Zelda game or any RPG. The light bulb moment was to unify those two things to make rescuing each kid also earn you another ability. Once that was mentioned in a discussion, there was no going back. It quickly became the identity of the whole game.

[DCP] I’m not sure I’d say “got away with”. The game was always envisioned as a free thing for fans. We weren’t really sure how many people would even want to play it. As it turns out, quite a lot wanted to play it. It’s massively exceeded our install expectations. And, let’s be honest, the whole thing is sort of an ad for Season 2 in its own right. It’s just a REALLY good ad that’s also a REALLY good game [laughs].

[DCP] This one is going to stay as a mobile game.

[DCP] I don’t think there will be any updates to this game for Season 3.

[DCP] Unfortunately, I can’t comment on that. Even if there were plans, I couldn’t comment.

[DCP] For me, I loved taking a beloved gameplay style like Zelda and adapting it for mobile. I’ve been dying to make a Zelda-style game for a long time, so there was some personal satisfaction there. But, I do think we did a darned good job bringing that gameplay to mobile and really making it fun on mobile. As for Bonus, we have a couple of games in the pipe. The next big game will come out in the middle of 2019, so look forward to that!