Over the past few years we’ve gotten to know Kasedo Games as an indie publisher that carefully selects their projects and releases two of them each year. Whenever something new gets announced, that makes us curious to see what they’ve spotted this time. They announced Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop a while ago as their newest addition, so we got in touch with development studio Beard Envy to find out more about this ‘roguelite spaceship repair simulator’.
What can you tell us about Beard Envy as a developer?
Beard Envy was spawned in a hovel just outside of London. The three of us all met at university where we naively constructed a plan to go it alone and make our own games. Alone and afraid, for 3 years we lived under the cold glow of computer light, only surfacing for nourishment or vitamin D. It was there we made our first game Filament, and were picked up by Kasedo Games.
How did the idea for Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop come about?
The core idea for Uncle Chop’s came from a small prototype we developed after the release of Filament. In the prototype you fixed space ships much like you do in Uncle Chop’s. From there we began world building and packing it full of character.
As a small studio, how are you collaborating with others?
We’re working with two composers on Uncle Chop’s. We’ve reunited with Tom Rumbellow, who we worked with on Filament, joined with Mike Samuel-Bryan. Working with them is a breeze; we don’t know what we want but thankfully they know what we want, and they just deliver.
When it comes to Kasedo it goes like this: we approach them with an insane new idea thinking we’ve gone too far, but it’s fine, Kasedo will reign us in, right? Nope, they fully enable us as we explore the darkness within.
How would you describe the overall tone for the game?
The game definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s plenty of humour in the game but we’re not afraid to go to dark or surreal places to provide some contrast.
In the short demo we had for the game, we saw an emphasis on repair tasks. What are some of the ways the game branches out later on?
Repair tasks remain a central part of the core game throughout its duration. As you progress the range of modules you’re repairing gets larger, and things get harder. Alongside your repair work, there is a big focus on the factions that you share the universe with, and how you interact with them, shaping how the story ends.
How are you developing the look and feel for Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop?
A big source of inspiration for us is 2000s cartoons. So we start there and we push it into our weird and surreal comfort zone. There’s also a strong theme of 50s Americana that runs through the aesthetic of the game.
How far into the development of the game are you at this point?
We are well into development at this point. We’re just packing the game with modules to repair and characters/events you will encounter.
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