“The record store was a place of escape. It was a library and a clubhouse.” – Gary Calamar
Who are Patattie Games?
Patattie Games is a two-piece indie game development studio founded by Murray Somerwolff and Rothio Tome. They have been working on a punk-themed narrative game, Wax Heads, for the last few years, and it will soon be ready for release!
Steam | Discord | Tik-Tok | Murray Bluesky | Rothio Bluesky
Developer Interview with Patattie Games
How do the two of you know each other, and what inspired you to start Patattie Games?
Murray: We were introduced by a mutual game dev friend, Ludipe. I was trying to start out making Wax Heads with the incredibly naive idea I could program it myself. I asked Rothio to teach me Godot, but she was so awesome I asked her to make Wax Heads with me.
Rothio: That is exactly what happened. I had just started using Godot, and a mutual friend asked if I could teach how to code in the engine to a Scottish developer who had a really cool game idea. Instead, I was lucky that Murray asked me to team up, and we ended up building the game side by side as Patattie Games.
What are your roles within Patattie Games, and what size team do you have?
So for Wax Heads, the two of us have worked on the project from the beginning to the end (aside from Murray making an initial Twine prototype that he used to pitch the project to Rothio).
The roles we gave ourselves are:
But on the project, we’ve also had an incredible band of collaborators who helped us out on stuff:
Gina Loughlin – Audio / Composer
Mairi Nolan – Puzzle Design
Malindy Hetfeld – Writer
Javier Pérez Rico – Programming / Porting
Matt Johns – Art
Balázs Rónyai – Art / Animation
How did you each get into game development? Have you been in the industry long?
Murray: 9 years, started an MA in games visual communication at KADK in Copenhagen and interned at Triple Topping, before then working there on games; Spitkiss, Welcome to Elk and Dead Pets.
Rothio: Around 9 years, too. Most of my work has been very technical, in big simulation companies or working with game engines themselves. At the same time, I always did more creative and personal projects outside of work. I feel very lucky that now I can focus on something that is more creatively fulfilling.
Where did the idea for Wax Heads come from?
Murray: I’m a music geek, someone who loves going to gigs, buying albums, playing in bands, and I’ve forever been trying to find ways to express my love of music through another passion of mine, games.
The curveball is it came when playing Wilmots Warehouse, I was playing it one day, and I was thinking how all the little tiles could be little album covers for records, and then I was like… oh damn, a record store game would be fun! And then through iteration, it became what it is today.
The art for Wax Heads is fun, unique, and very well suited to the themes of the game. Was there any specific inspiration for the art style?
Murray: First off, that’s nice to hear, so thanks! And yeah I think, I’ve got a particular illustrative style that is “me” but when making Wax Heads, I wanted another pillar of the art style to be rooted in something that felt authentic for the post-punk, DIY vibe of this musical world, and I was looking through my comic collection and stopped on Scott Pilgrim and realised Bryan Lee O’Malley’s style was perfect as a direction. It’s so chunky and dynamic, and once I started to incorporate that philosophy, the game started to pop.
Music is obviously a very important part of Wax Heads, who is creating the soundtrack, and why did you choose them?
Murray: Gina Loughlin! Who is incredible! Honestly, it was complete serendipity how it happened. I had moved to Nottingham, UK, after living in Copenhagen, and me and Gina were connected on social media, so I knew she lived in Nottingham. When plotting out Wax Heads, one thing I knew early was I wanted one person to be in charge of the soundtrack. Even though it’s a record store, I didn’t want it to sound too mismatched; I wanted it to have a clear identity.
So I met Gina for coffee, and we just hit it off, and my philosophy is if you get on with people, that’s a great foundation for making creative projects together (likewise what happened with me and Rothio). So I proposed the idea of working on Wax Heads, initially starting out with x3 tracks of just a minute each, and they were SO GOOD that it felt like fate.
And just to put it out there – Gina learnt guitar while working on this game and wrote like 95% of the lyrics in the game, something she hadn’t done before. So it’s so cool!
AND most of the songs are sung by ourselves, family and friends, which was possible because Gina was local to me, which again, just the best luck tbh.
“Punk rock should mean freedom, liking and accepting anything that you like. Playing whatever you want. As sloppy as you want. As long as it’s good and it has passion.” – Kurt Cobain
Murray, if I remember correctly, you used to play in a punk band. Will any of your music be heard in the game?
Murray: Yes! Haha you absolutely will (people will already have heard it in our new demo…)
What sort of games do you like to play, and are there any games that have provided inspiration for Wax Heads?
Rothio: Even if I am not a big fan of visual novels, and Wax Heads can be considered one, I really like the ones that fall in the detective genre. Games like Strange Antiquities, The Roottrees Are Dead, Her Story, Obra Dinn, and The Case of the Golden Idol were strong inspirations for some of our systems. You can also clearly see the Papers, Please or Coffee Talk style of client and work loop. I play those a lot, but I also enjoy other genres like roguelikes, deck builders, and incremental games.
Have there been any unexpected challenges during the development of Wax Heads?
Murray: On the whole, I would say the juggling of roles whilst also being a parent to young twin boys (they were 2 when we started, will nearly be 5 when we release). The realisation you can’t do EVERYTHING you want to do because there are just simple physical limitations, on some days that has been particularly challenging.
Rothio: Nothing beyond the usual challenges of making a game. Still, even if I knew it could be stressful, there were moments with a lot of pressure around deadlines and key milestones. I am really glad I had Murray as a dev partner; he has been a big support during those times.
Murray: Can I just say this game is only possible because Rothio has the patience of a saint and is so insanely talented? And to her point, I think for both of us it’s been a lot starting up a game of this scale on our own, and there’s certainly been a lot of learning experiences, but I’m very grateful for how we have been able to celebrate one another and maintain positivity, even at the moments that have felt stressful!
What aspect of Wax Heads did you have the most fun creating or implementing, and which aspect are you most proud of?
Rothio: On the technical side, there were some really fun things to implement. For example, syncing lip movement with a song during a concert, or adding a full game inside the arcade machine. Putting a game inside a game is just very cool.
In terms of what I am most proud of, I would say the accessibility options. Some of them were quite challenging to build, but I am really happy we made time for them. Also, the controller support. Since the game is very UI heavy, making everything work without a mouse was a big challenge, but also a very interesting UX problem.
“Records blurt out trapped moments of rapture, fear, love, anguish, despair, excitement, and insanity. When an album plays, it is a ghost wailing, imprisoned in the moment, rattling its chains.” Ian F. Svenonius
Wax Heads releases on 5th May (very exciting!), do you have any future plans lined up for Patattie Games yet?
Rothio: We cannot help pitching ideas to each other all the time. It is great to have a partner who shares your taste in games and your vision. We already have a few cool prototype ideas we would love to explore after Wax Heads, so you will definitely see more from Patattie Games.
Murray: Oh yeah, we have some VERY COOL ideas in the background right now (AND if Wax Heads sells super well, we have some really cool ideas for that too…)
Wax Heads
Wax Heads is Patattie Games’ upcoming title, a cosy punk narrative adventure about working in a record shop. It is due to be released on 5th May, but for those who can’t wait, a demo is available on Steam right now!
Summary
It was an absolute joy to interview Murray and Rothio of Patattie Games and learn about some of their experiences in game development, in particular, the work they have been doing on Wax Heads, which I am incredibly excited about! It is clear from the demo alone that so much love and hard work have gone into their upcoming game, Wax Heads – if you haven’t already, play the demo, you won’t be disappointed! I’d like to say a huge thank you to them both for agreeing to the interview and taking the time out of their (presumably very busy) schedule to answer my questions, and I want to wish them all the best with the upcoming release.
If you enjoy music-themed games, you may also enjoy these reviews:
Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die – Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim – One Hand Clapping
Looking for more developer interviews? Check out our interviews section; there’s even a past interview with Triple Topping when Murray Somerwolff worked there!