We go under the sea this week with lead game designer Thomas Bardet to talk about Under The Waves, the new narrative-driven adventure game from Paris-based Parallel Studio. Thomas explains the challenges of making a game set underwater, the team’s visual and narrative inspirations, striking a balance between cozy gameplay and emotional storytelling, and more.

Timecodes: 

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:40 – Thomas’ favorite games of all time

00:06:44 – What is a lead game designer?

00:12:30 – Designing Under The Waves’ gameplay

00:23:42 – Level and world design

00:27:07 – Development inspirations

00:36:25 – Ocean preservation

00:51:10 – Music of Under the Waves

01:06:12 - Outro

Find Thomas on Twitter @TomBuston, and check out Under The Waves here.

Follow the podcast on Twitter and YouTube @RealTimeStrats, and email us questions at [email protected].