Interview With Ultra Runaway Games
Written by: George Pierce
One of the very best things about going to conventions (other than high-profile appearances and announcements) is getting hands-on access to things you may not have otherwise had a chance to experience. Such was the case when I attended the SXSW Gaming Expo in Austin, which offered a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment options for me to try, from the Oculus Rift to an old-school Virtual Boy. It also provided a massive selection of indie games from up-and-coming developers. There were plenty that managed to stand out, but one game that really stuck with me was Paper Sorcerer, from Ultra Runaway Games.
Paper Sorcerer is a first-person, turn-based role-playing game (in the vein of the Magic and Might and Wizardry series’) in which you are a sorcerer trapped inside of a magic book who must find their way out. The game was created and developed by a single person, Jesse Gallagher, over the span of a year, and has created quite a buzz for itself since its release. I got to sit down with Mr. Gallagher and ask him some questions about the game and the acclaim it’s garnered.
Re:Views: Mr. Gallagher, first off, thank you for doing the interview! I got a chance to play Paper Sorcerer a bit. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Jesse Gallagher: Sure! Paper Sorcerer is a first-person, turn-based RPG inspired by games like Wizardry, kind of along the same lines as Etrian Odyssey. It has a focus on difficult, but strategic turn-based combat–no random encounter (well, very few random encounters), and also strong…old-school adventure game elements, like [those found in] Shadowgate, which is my main inspiration for it. It was the kind of thing where was a kind of game I wanted to play that wasn’t really being made anymore, so I decided just to make it myself (laughs).
Re: As I was playing it, it seemed like…it really reminded me of the classic text-based adventure games. Did you draw inspiration from those games as well, [and] what other sources of inspiration….
JG: I got a lot of the inspiration mainly from the older Wizardry games and stuff like that. As far as the adventure game stuff, I’ve played some text adventures, and they have this nice kind of quality where you can explore what an object is and hit “Examine” to get a little description, and [be able to] click on all the [available] options. I wanted to give something that had that feeling again, instead of just, like, you click on a thing and it tells you what it is.
Re: Definitely, and it certainly works for the game! Now, the aesthetics of the game are beautiful. It is set in a in a magic book, and you are a sorcerer trying to escape it, and the visuals match that perfectly. Can you tell me what made you go with that sort of aesthetic, and how it works so well for the game?
JG: Originally, that aesthetic…as I was playing around with the game, and playing around with how [it] would look, I knew I wanted to do something that looked like it was made on paper. Actually, originally, before it looked like this, it looked like sketchbook doodles, and it was on lined notebook paper and stuff, but I eventually went more towards this direction. It’s mainly inspired a lot by Mike Mignola, and also old artists like Aubrey Beardsley and Bill Bradley who were early 19th century illustrators. I wanted to have this black-and-white kind-of “illustrator-y” (sic) quality to it, and a little bit of those old Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual pictures, too…a little bit of that flavor, not exactly, but I thought it fit the whole theme. Developing the art style was really fun!
Re: And it shows! Your work has caught the attention of quite a few…as I was playing, I was also reading a review on the website Rock, Paper, Shogun, and they lauded the game quite a bit.
JG: Yeah, we were really lucky with that. We were really lucky to get a couple relatively high-profile sites to cover us, which was really cool. I feel really lucky.
Re: And as I’m made to understand, you’re also up for a Gamer’s Choice Award?
JG: Yeah, we’re up for the Gamer’s Choice Award at SXSW, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m just happy to be here, pretty much!
Re: Has the success come as a real surprise? Was this more of a pet project for you, or were you really trying to break into the market to try and bring something new to the table?
JG: I had an earlier pet project before this that didn’t really go anywhere. I was really trying to make something that I could continue to do professionally, so I really wanted to make something that had enough quality and [was of] a high standard that people would actually pay money for (laughs). I had some minor pet projects, and the first time I actually got a game working, it was magical. I was, like, ‘This is what I want to do’! The success [of Paper Sorcerer]…it has been surprising. I’m just happy that I’m able to work on something else [laughs], because it was a while [ago], and I really like Paper Sorcerer, but the idea that I actually get to work on another game, it’s like a dream come true.
Re: And what do you have in the future? What’s in the pipeline at Ultra Runaway Games?
JG: I have started working on my next project. I don’t really want to announce anything about it so far because it’s in the really early phase, but on our websites and on our Twitter, probably, we’re going to start announcing stuff sometime soon, so people, keep an eye out!
Re: Well, that’ll be all from us. Thank you for interviewing! I’ll give you a chance to plug your Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other media sites you want to….
JG: On Twitter, we’re @UltraRunaway, and on Google+, it’s PaperSorcerer. You can search for Paper Sorcerer on Facebook. On our website, we’ve got links to all of that, and you can sign up for our newsletter on the website or on Facebook. And it’s available on Steam.
Re: Thank you Mr. Gallagher!
Paper Sorcerer is currently available on Steam for $5.00. If you’re a fan of old-school RPGs, it’s certainly well-worth the asking price.