Hauntiiis a twin-stick shooter meets puzzle game developed by Moonloop Games. This new, captivatingindie titleachieves a breathtaking art style through the use of a monochromatic pallet and single-line weights, and while players may think this choice was solely creative, Moonloop shares that practical constraints actually played a huge role in determining the team’s creative process in designing the environments and characters of Eternity. Players who want to dive into this cleanly styled world can wishlist the game now on Steam.
Game Rant spoke with studio founder and game designer Leo Dasso about his artistic influences as well as the real-world constraints that merged together to bring players the one-of-a-kind look ofHauntii.
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Hauntii’s Tight Schedule Played a Huge Role in the Look and Feel of the Game
Moonloop Games' first indie titlefeatures a variety of compelling gameplay mechanics fromclassic twin-stick shooter controlsto puzzle solving by haunting items in the environment. With its set of varying mechanics, the game feels whole with an ethereal soundtrack composed by an artist known as LightReturn who previously worked with Dasso on prior projects. But perhaps the most striking feature of the game, at least at first glance, is its stand-out art style.
Dasso told Game Rant about some of his art style influences,noting Instagram user Dricwho has gained a following from producing drawings of ducks, frogs, and some other cute animals performing comical actions in an adorable, single-line art style. Another artistic influence of note is the French comic book artist Mobius. Dasso explains that while Mobius may make more intricate pieces, he was still a huge inspiration, and traces of his style can be seen in the art ofHauntiias well.
Illustration is not the only quality ofHauntiithat helps to craft its notable atmosphere. When asked about design philosophy, Dasso shared that he follows many core video game design philosophies. His own “little touch,” however, is that he favors minimalistic design in games,noting popular titles such asJourneyandFlow. Their simple designs have made them stand-out examples of the genre. In essence, if a mechanic can be removed and the game still functions, then the game may be fine without it.
“My own little touch is minimalistic game design. Like if you can remove mechanics and the game is still playable, then that works. There’s some mechanics that you remove and it’s like, “oh, this is garbage now,” and you have to put it back.”
Perhaps the most interesting influence onHauntii’sart style is not cute animals on Instagram or clean game design, but rather the inescapable production constraints during the project. Dasso expressed that because of the quick turnaround time needed to deliver on assets, he had to be able to think of an idea, draw it, and pop it into the game in a matter of minutes.
According to Dasso, this is the main reason the game features a monochrome pallet and single-line weights. He likens it to drawing in Sharpie—one has to commit to what they’re drawing and putting in-game, there is no room for light sketching or overly detailed designs, and drawing with a single line weight forces one to be very deliberate in their designs.
“The main influences of the art style for this game are actually the constraints, the production constraints. For example, to create an asset needs to be very quick. It needs to be like 20 minutes, like, I think of an asset and then draw it up and then pop it in. "
Despite the constraints on Dasso throughout the development process,Hauntiiprovides players with a pleasant, cohesive world complete with a one-of-a-kind feeling driven by a variety of influences from comic book artists to Instagram accounts, even including theimpending time constraints of game design. That being said, one might believe the simple designs driven by constraint holdHauntii’spotential back, but in fact, they are a critical part of its design. Creating a unique, impactful style would not be possible without them.
Hauntiiis currently available to preorder on Steam and will release in 2024 on both console and PC.
