Inside Indie Selects: Sorry We’re Closed

From conception to release, the game development journey is different for every independent studio. Sure, there are parts that are similar or that nearly everyone has to go through along the way, but the actual experience differs depending on myriad factors. Some studios have dozens of employees, each of which has a specific role to fill. Others might only have one solo developer handling every step in the process. Regardless of a studio’s size, location, or experience, they’ve each got a story to share with their fellow developers. That’s where we come in.

Every week, we’ll be spotlighting an independent developer that the ID@Xbox team has chosen to be included in the monthly Indie Select collection. This dedicated, permanent, curated collection in the Xbox Store allows us to bring more attention to games that we feel are particularly special – everything from current favorites to older gems, including games from new creators from around the world. You’ll learn more about the teams building these great games, the challenges they faced along their development journey, what they learned, advice they’d share with other developers, and much more.

This week, we’ll be taking a look at à la mode games, developer of the ID@Xbox game Sorry We're Closed. We had a chance to chat with C. Bedford and Tom Bedford from à la mode games about the development journey the team took to publish Sorry We're Closed on Xbox.

Tell us a bit about à la mode games.

C. Bedford: The team is primarily us two, me and Tom, but we also have a friend who does contract work with us, Aru, and helps us with things like QA and some marketing too! We’re based in a seaside town in the UK called Bournemouth!

Tom Bedford: We actually met playing Phantasy Star Online in 2006 and here we are 19 years later releasing our own game! Sorry We’re Closed is our first title but it’s been helped by C.B.’s background in illustration and my previous work in web/app development.

What was the inspiration behind Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: There’s a good few inspirations, some of them being less directly about what Sorry We’re Closed is and more about giving us the courage to try and make it with such a small team. I was hired to make a few paintings for the game Paradise Killer (by Kaizen Game Works). After playing through that and really enjoying myself, I saw it was primarily developed by two people and thought “Wow! Maybe we can do this ourselves!”.

We weren’t sure if we would ever have a chance to make a game like this again. As a result, everything we wanted to do was poured into Sorry We’re Closed! This included both aesthetic, gameplay and narrative ranging from things like Silent Hill and Twin Peaks to Jet Set Radio, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and even Scooby Doo.

Tom: I have strong nostalgia for games I played when I was growing up. Titles like Zelda, GoldenEye, Rayman and Half-Life. Many of them are very colourful games, but I was also scared in places. I always thought that there was more to those worlds, imagining what might be in the inaccessible areas. For me the inspiration is chasing those childhood feelings as we try to create something that can surprise and delight players today.

How did Xbox help support the development and/or publishing of Sorry We’re Closed?

Liam Svirk from Akupara Games, the game’s publisher: Microsoft provided additional funding to our team via their Developer Accelerator Program, which allowed us to port the game to Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles. Outside of that, they also provided plenty of backend support and came in clutch when it came to aligning our street dates for the title – which we are very grateful for!

The ID@Xbox team has also always been extremely supportive about giving additional marketing opportunities, like trailer and social media support (and inclusion in the Xbox Indie Selects program!)

What were your duties on Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: I did all the 2D and 3D art, the bulk of the UI, some of the music and sound direction, the narrative design/writing and part of the marketing. Thankfully some of my previous work in 2D illustration allowed me a leg up in some of the things I had to do for this game.

Tom: I was in charge of the technical design and programming for the game as well as importing and setting up the assets that C.B. made in the game engine. I also worked on the accessibility features and controller support.

Both: We worked together on game design, level design and narrative design.

What do you want the audience to take away or experience once they play Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: I’d love for people to feel like they were able to visit some bizarre town, even for just a moment, and take back with them the characters and the world we tried to convey. It’s always my favourite part of playing video games - taking part in a world that I can bring back with me into the real world and let it alter how I see and experience things going forward.

Tom: We tried to make something that isn’t afraid to be a game, it’s not always serious. We touch on meaningful topics but we’re also trying to entertain players. I hope people come away remembering it as a fond experience and that some little details, like Mimi the rat, stick with them.

Which feature or gameplay mechanic are you most proud of in Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: Having to create branching paths that felt fulfilling either way was a tough job for me, so hearing that people really enjoy the story has really given me some confidence in that area too. In the future there will definitely be things I might do differently, but learning along the way while working on this felt really unique. I think if I had more writing experience before tackling the story of Sorry We’re Closed, it may not have turned out as fun as it has!

Tom: The Third Eye mechanic where the world changes around the player. It is the core play element of the game and is used for exploration, puzzles and combat. I’m very happy with the physicality of it, that it has this radius that can bump into things of effect objects depending on where they are in relation to the player.

What's the biggest lesson you learned during development of Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: Everything really will take longer than you expect! It’s easy to think of tasks in the simple terms of how long it takes to complete it the first time around and easy to forget about the other necessary steps of testing and making sure each thing does what it needs to do. There are so many different parts involved that it may still take some time yet to master that kind of estimation, but I definitely learned that even if I think I have considered every element in the process, it’s integral to still add more time.

Tom: That we can deviate from how things work in the real world to achieve what we wanted to do in the game world. One example would be that if the player is riding a train then it is much more straightforward for us to keep the train carriage still and instead create a sense of motion by moving the tunnel. You can see the tunnel and lights moving outside the carriage which creates the illusion that the train is moving. Keeping the carriage still meant that we didn’t need new gameplay logic so it was less time intensive for us to create and less likely to introduce new bugs. The game is full of little things like this behind the scenes. Finding efficient ways to let us realise our ideas has become one of my favourite parts of the development process.

What was the biggest challenge you overcame during development of Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: Because of the Third Eye mechanic in the game, I had to make most areas twice, with different texture work and often different geometry to create the effect within the combat areas. Even towards the end when I had a rhythm on the production of it, it still took a lot of focus and time to get it right, not including all the testing and fixing that might need to occur. It is a really cool effect so I am glad I managed to tough it out in the end.

Tom: I needed to allow things to be different to my expectations. We’re a tiny team with limited resources. Early in development there would be times where we thought, “we’ll come back and change that later”, but it isn’t always possible. Some of the UI screens and VFX are ones that I originally created as placeholders while C.B. was working on other things. We never thought they would be in the final product, but we did end up using them - going back and making a few tweaks rather than completely recreating the assets. I’m quite proud seeing these in the finished game now!

What do you wish you knew going into development of Sorry We’re Closed?

C.: Marketing has a lot of different ways it needs to be done, and the time to create all the necessary materials - and other factors like live or in-person events and public demos. This wasn’t something I had considered much of before we began development and it took up time we hadn’t always accounted for that would take us away from developing the game itself. For future projects I think we’ll be much more careful to consider these things much further in advance.

Tom: The iteration that’s needed for ideas to become worthwhile features. With both the gameplay and narrative we ran multiple playtests to understand if what we had created was satisfying for players. We were making adjustments right up until release so that the experience was what we intended it to be.

What advice would you offer fellow game developers working alone or on a smaller team?

C.: Don’t be afraid to market your game! For many indie developers, it can be hard to capture an audience, and some may think that if the game is good enough that it will simply find its audience by word of mouth - but think of all the times a friend told you to check something out that you think “I’ll do it later” and never do it! It’s important to reach potential players yourself, and feel proud of the work you’ve done. It’s almost like running 90% of a marathon and then calling it quits. If you’re working really hard on something you shouldn’t give up on that effort once you get to show people what you’ve made! The best way to find your audience and people who will enjoy your work is to be genuine and to show others what you’ve been putting your heart into.

Tom: If you’re wearing many hats in a project it’s easy to get sidetracked. I was always asking myself if what I was working on was crucial to finish the game. It meant many things being moved to a “nice to have” list and not actually shipping but it helped us wrap up development on the project by focusing on what was really important.

What’s next for à la mode games?

Both: We have a few ideas! If you enjoyed the style and attitude of Sorry We’re Closed then we hope you’ll look forward to our next project. We will take a little break first for sure - we have some catching up to do with friends and family who haven’t seen much of us the last few years!