One strong launch can prop up a studio, and this holds true for indie games and Kickstarter projects. Kickstarted titles by industry veterans, such as Koji Igarashi's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night or Playtonic's Yooka-Laylee, have led to follow-ups. Meanwhile, Yacht Club Games became a publisher for games like Cyber Shadow after Shovel Knight. Wander Stars developer Paper Castle Games also had the opportunity to branch out following the success of Underhero.

Wander Stars is designed to be "an anime you can play," but lead writer and 2D artist Andrea "Andie" Gallo said it isn't a huge departure from Underhero. Both are RPGs with stories that are "full of surprises," according to the writer. However, the success of her team's first title opened up possibilities for the future. Game Rant spoke to Gallo about Paper Castle Games' history through Underhero and beyond.

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Paper Castle Games' Origins

paper castle games andie gallo interview november 2021

The indie studio was founded in 2013 by lead artist Alvaro "Kay" Dominguez and lead programmer Rafael Cabrera, who have been friends since preschool. They were inspired to make something like The Behemoth's co-op hack-and-slash game Castle Crashers, and messed with a few ideas before landing on Underhero in 2014. Gallo said she was around but didn't officially join Paper Castle until 2015, and composer Stijn van Wakeren came in around the same time.

Among the projects Dominguez and Cabrera tried was a "more ambitious," unmanageable 3D game called Dreambound. Underhero was meant to be a smaller mobile game before it turned into a full-fledged platformer RPG, but that more manageable project still came with difficulties. Gallo said on top of the growing pains of learning how to develop a commercial title, the team had to deal with food shortages, power outages, coup attempts, and protests in Venezuela — not unlike some of what Dreams Uncorporated dev Carlos Andres Rocha Silva described in Cris Tales' country of origin, Colombia.

"Despite everything we went through, the reception for Underhero was amazing! It’s still hard to believe, but we’re very lucky that our game resonated with so many awesome people who are still supporting our projects to this day."

Before getting into games, Gallo wanted to be a journalist — even studying it in school for two semesters. However, she felt unsure about that path and switched to art and graphic design, graduating with her Licentiate Degree from Universidad Arturo Michelena in 2016 having been inspired in-part by her grandmother's oil painting. Gallo said it was "the best decision I've ever made," but she still wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to do and worked on everything from children's books and tabletop games to traditional animation. One such venture was the short film Petals; Gallo and Dominguez' thesis project.

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Moving Into Wander Stars' Kickstarter

paper castle games andie gallo interview november 2021

Gallo's experience in traditional animation became a boon for Wander Stars, which aims to capture a 90s anime aesthetic unlike Underhero's pixel art. The four-person team at Paper Castle grew up loving anime like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, and conventions of the genre fit well with Wander Stars' gameplay hook imagined by Dominguez during Underhero's development: combining words to make flashy attacks.

Anime's popularity in Latin America also led to shonen-inspired design choices in Cris Tales. Paper Castle Games moved to Spain to gain more stability than in Venezuela, but the team is still working remotely according to Gallo. The COVID-19 pandemic broke out just a few months after the move. "It's hard to go out there and make new dev friends," she said, so Paper Castle's team isn't very active in the local indie scene.

Beyond this move to a new country, Wander Stars' development is taking a different approach than Underhero. Gallo said it is an opportunity to grow as a studio and professionals now that the team is no longer in school, working in their spare time. Hosting a Kickstarter campaign is one part of this plan.

"Having an excited community of people is what makes or breaks any game, and Kickstarter not only helps you connect with that potential audience, they can also help you fund development and even become a part of the project."

Funding development so Paper Castle Games' team can work full-time with living expenses covered is the main goal for the Kickstarter, which does not have an official launch date as of this writing. However, it's also going to be an opportunity for fans to potentially fund extra free content like DLC episodes and "other big surprises," according to Gallo. "We’re applying more of our strengths this time around, which is very exciting."

Wander Stars is currently in development for PC and Switch, with a Kickstarter campaign planned for the near future.

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Source: Kickstarter