8bit-ninja:  Could you please introduce yourself an how you got into gamedesign?

Mateusz Skutnik: My name is Mateusz Skutnik, I’m a games architect and graphic novelist. I got into gamedesign around 2002, when I got my hands on the Games factory software. From that I transitioned to more open and user friendly environment of Macromedia Flash.

8bit-ninja:  the “covert front”, “submachine” and especially the “daymare” series feature a great athmosphere and visual style. Could you describe the process of developing the plot and creating the art for your games?

Mateusz Skutnik: the process itself doesn’t have much to do with the atmosphere and style. Those come from my background of being a comic book artist. The process consists of just transferring the story to the medium, whether it be comic book panels or game levels. What I’m trying to say is – I’m a self-learner and I have no idea about a proper process of creating anything. I just create stuff as I go.But everything begins with a story in my head. Then it’s just a matter of telling.

8bit-ninja:  You do not only work on games but also on comic books. what are the biggest differences between working on graphic novels and on videogames?

Mateusz Skutnik: The obvious thing would be interactivity. The comic book is a straight up storytelling, it’s mien, I tell it, you listen and read and that’s it. In games – the story gets a bit watered down in the gameplay, I give clues, the player has to tell the story himself. The trick is to give him just enough clues for the story to be understandable.

8bit-ninja:  Your adventure games with their surreal enviroment and abstract mechanical devices remind me of the myst-series. What (other?) games inspire your work?

Mateusz Skutnik: Mostly other flash games – Crimson Room, Mystery of Time and Space, works of Nanahiro, games from Amanita Design, 100 Rooms. All were brilliant, innovative, artistic. I fell in love with the format of a small flash game.

8bit-ninja:  Point’n click style games seem to work pretty good on IOS devices like the iPad. Have you concidered porting your games (maybe as a compilation?) to an app since those devices do not support flash?

Mateusz Skutnik: We did that 4 years ago. the fact that you don’t even know about it explains how big of a success that was. The thing is – I don’t agree that point and click games work well on iOS devices. PNC is about exploring, searching, finding hotspots on the screen – all done with the mouse pointer. If you remove the mouse from the equation – PNC games tend to be just a confusing mess of not knowing what to do.

8bit-ninja:  The current daymare game – daymare cat – also includes great music from “cat and the menagerie” both in game and as an incentive for completing it. How did this collaboration happen?

Mateusz Skutnik: Cat reached out to me and suggested creating a game together. It was just that simple. Once I listened to her music I knew more or less what I wanted to do. Separate tracks, building a song throughout the game – that was a good idea for a small exploratory game.

8bit-ninja:  Even though you are probably still busy working on Daymere Town 4 do you have any plans on upcoming projects? Will we see more coming out of the daymare and submachine universe or do you want to “slip in a little side project”?

Mateusz Skutnik: After Daymare Town 4 I’ll make another 10 Gnomes game. After that it’s time for Submachine 9 and possibly Where is 2014? game. I’m set till the end of the year. I don’t have plans for 2014 just yet. I’ll surely create the last, 10th Submachine, but after that – all bets are off. Change is good.

—-

[german translation]

8bit-ninja: Stell dich doch bitte einmal vor und wie es dich in die Spieleentwicklung verschlagen hat.

Mateusz Skutnik: Mein Name ist Mateusz Skutnik, ich bin Spielearchitekt und Schöpfer von Comicromanen. Mit dem Spieledesign habe ich etwa 2002 angefangen, als ich das Programm the games factory in die Finger bekam, von dem ich auf die offenere und benutzerfreunlichere Entwicklungsumgebung von Macromedia Flashgewechselt bin.

8bit-ninja: Deine Spieleserien wie covert front, submachine und besondersdaymare zeichnen sich durch eine besondere Atmosphäre und visuellen Stil aus. Kannst du beschreiben, wie du bei der Entwicklung der Handlung und der Erstellung der Grafiken vorgehst?

Mateusz Skutnik: Der Prozess selber hat wenig mit der Atmosphäre und dem Stil zu tun als vielmehr meinem Hintergrund als Comicbuchkünstler. Das Vorgehen besteht eigentlich nur darin, die Geschichte auf das jeweilige Medium zu übertragen, seien es die Panels eines Comics oder die Level eines Spiels. Was ich damit sagen will ist, dass ich Autodidakt bin und keine Ahnung habe, wie man “richtig” bei der Erschaffung von Irgendetwas vorgeht. Bei mir entsteht vieles einfach während der Arbeit. Aber alles beginnt mit einer Geschichte in meinem Kopf. Von da an muss diese nur noch erzählt werden.

8bit-ninja: Was deine Arbeit an Comicbüchern betrifft: Worin besteht denn der größte Unterschied zur Entwicklung von Videospielen?

Mateusz Skutnik: Offensichtlich wäre da wohl die Interaktivität. Ein grafischer Roman ist eine gradlinige Geschichte, es ist meine, ich erzähle sie, du hörst zu und liest, und das war’s. In Spielen wird die Geschichte etwas durch die Spielmechanik verwässert. Ich gebe Hinweise, aber der Spieler muss die Geschichte selber erzählen. Der Tick ist, gerade genug Hinweise zu geben damit die Geschichte verständlich bleibt.

8bit-ninja: Deine Adventures erinnern mich mit ihren surrealen Umgebungen und abstrakten mechanischen Geräten an die Myth-Serie. Welche (anderen?) Spiele haben dich noch inspiriert?

Mateusz Skutnik: Hauptsächlich andere Flash-Spiele – Crimson Room, Mystery of Time and Space, die Arbeiten von Nanahiro, Spiel von Amanita Design, 100 Rooms. Die waren allesamt brillant, innovativ und künstlerisch wertvoll. Ich liebe das Format der kleinen Flash-Spiele.

8bit-ninja: Point’n’Click Spiele scheinen ziemlich geeignet für IOS Geräte wie iPad geeignet zu sein. Hast du in Anbetracht dessen, dass diese Geräte kein Flash unterstützen, schon mal an eine Portierung deiner Spiele als App gedacht?

Mateusz Skutnik: Das haben wir bereits vor 4 Jahren gemacht [Anmerkung 8bit-ninja: Zu meiner Verteidigung, ich hatte im Vorfeld recherchiert und nichts gefunden]. Die Tatsache, dass du davon nichts weißt, zeigt, wie erfolgreich das war. Übrigens stimme ich dir nicht darin zu, dass Point’n’Clicks gut auf diesen Geräten funktionieren. Das Genre lebt vom Erforschen, Absuchen, davon die Hotspots auf dem Schirm zu entdecken. Das alles geschieht mit dem Mauszeiger. Wenn du die Maus aus der Gleichung entfernst tendieren diese Spiele dazu, ein verwirrendes Durcheinander zu sein, ohne dass man eine Ahnung hat, was man machen muss.

8bit-ninja: Der aktuelle Teil der daymare-Reihe, daymare cat, enthält sowohl innerhalb des Spiels als auch als Belohnung am Schluss großartige Musik von cat and the menagerie. Wie kam es zu dieser Zusammenarbeit?

Mateusz Skutnik: Cat ist an mich herangetreten und hat mir vorgeschlagen zusammen ein Spiel zu machen. So einfach war das. Nachdem ich ihre Musik gehört habe wusste ich mehr oder weniger, was ich machen wollte: getrennte Tonspuren, die im Spiel zu einem Song zusammengebaut werden. Das war eine gute Idee für ein kleines Spiel, in dem es ums Erforschen geht.

8bit-ninja: Momentan bist du wahrscheinlich stark mit deiner Arbeit an Daymare Town 4 beschäftigt, aber hast du schon Pläne für deine nächsten Projekte? Werden wir mehr aus dem Daymere und Submachine- Universum sehen oder würdest du gerne ein kleines Nebenprojekt einschieben?

Mateusz Skutnik: Nach Daymare Town 4 werde ich ein weiteres 10 Gnomes Spiel machen. Danach wird es Zeit Submachine 9 und eventuell ein where is 2014 Spiel. Bis Ende des Jahres bin ich also bereits fest verplant. Für 2014 habe ich noch keine Pläne. Sicherlich werde ich das zehnte und letzte submachine-Spiel machen, aber danach – alles ist möglich. Veränderung ist gut.

8bit-ninja: Vielen Dank für das Interview.

Step right up into the darkness, kids. Nothing to be afraid of here. There’s a certain feeling of deja vu in this place. I feel I’ve been here before. Like in DMT2…

Most of the time I would much rather play video games on my consoles and on my handheld systems, but I will admit that there are a few moments when I feel like playing some flash games online.  A site I like to go to to experience these online games is One More Level, and recently I’ve discovered a couple games that have immediately piqued my interest and have quickly become enjoyable to me (and have become some of my favorite Flash games next to theFancy Pants games).  One of the two titles is called King’s Ascent, which I’ll talk about one of these days, and the other one, which I’ll talk about right now, is a fascinating title calledDaymare Cat.  Given that it itself is a part of a series, I won’t compare it to the other titles since I haven’t played those, so I’ll just discuss about this individual game on its own merits.

In this game you control a girl who must navigate around this building based on an Arabian design and find her way outside to freedom.  However, before that can happen, you must solve every puzzle that is laid out for you.  There is a door in the center of the building that will lead you outside, but the only way it will open up is you find and play a record on all five record players.  The building has got some complex design, interior-wise, as a lot of the times it looks like the inside of a building, but at times there are moments when you slip inside caves and dark areas, and you are required to use certain items in certain locations in order to reach certain points.  Daymare Cat solely requires the use of the four arrow keys, so it’s simple yet intuitive.  You can move to both the left and the right, jump with the Up button (you can hold it to jump indefinitely), and to enter doors and/or use specific items you press Down.

What really stands out aboutDaymare Cat are its visuals plus its sense of atmosphere.  The visuals are remarkable to say the least, even though they are not at all colorful (in fact, it’s all sketches) they are thoroughly detailed.  The sketches in each screen are drawn so well and evoke a real sense of variety.  Take for example a cave where it’s all so dark save for the inside walls, and then you find yourself in a carefully structured room, and for a last example there is a moment when you’re in a very dark building where everything is dark save for the lights that emit from the small holes.  I could name more examples, but there are just so many to name and I feel it gives an overall surreal quality to the experience.  The animation is detailed, the various areas are wonderful yet sometimes weird, and there are some moments when the camera will zoom way out when it comes to larger areas.  This is one those games where there is no scrolling involved but instead has the character transition from screen to screen, a la Prince of Persia.

Another quality that works to its advantage is its atmosphere, and for a large portion of the game there is nothing but ambience in the background, that is until you play a record you found on a record player.  There are five record players in the game, and any time you play one you’ll hear a different rendition of the same song; one variation will be vocals while another one would be drums, to name a couple.  However, those only last for about a minute, and then once the recordings are done its back to the ambience.  Once you go through the door and beat the game you’ll hear all five variations of the song together, forming one beautiful-sounding song by Cat Jahnke; the lyrics themselves are very nice.  Another aspect that makes this game wildly atmospheric and ambient is that sound effects are few and far between, and when they are heard they’re a treat to listen to.

Due to how the game was structured it is so easy to become engrossed in its fascinating-looking world, and it’s a real treat for the eyes and the ears.  One thing that makes this game stand out from the rest is that it’s short.  And by that, I mean if you’ve mastered and memorized every location then you’ll be able to beat it in just a matter of minutes.  I should be upset about the incredible brevity, but surprisingly I’m okay with that.  I like the way that the game ends, and I also like creative energy behind these neatly designs segments of the game.  Daymare Cat ends on a pretty ambiguous note, I should add, and it really leaves you wondering what’s going to happen afterwards.  Granted, I’ve yet to try any of the other Daymare titles, so I’m not very familiar with the series.  But from what I’ve played here, I found it to be pretty enjoyable and entertaining in its own right.  Even though it is incredibly short, I do applaud its nonlinear style (a la Metroid and Cave Story) of gameplay, not to mention its a very charming flash game that really sticks with you, atmosphere-wise.  It’s not a game you’ll find yourself playing every day (so don’t expect something challenging and overly difficult), but should you be in the mood for something short and sweet, I think you’ll get a kick out of this game.  I know I did.  =)

7.5/10

P.S.: I normally don’t review flash games, but I’m glad I got to review this one.  =)

author: StarBoy91

Where The Sidewalk Ends.

Daymare Cat aims to pique your curiosity with Shel Silverstein style.

“Never explain what you do,” said Shel Silverstein, likely the coolest bald poet of all time. “It speaks for itself. You only muddle it by talking about it.” Mateusz Skutul clearly took Silverstein’s maxim to heart when he created Daymare Cat. This black-and-taupe storybook of a game says very little to the player out loud beyond simple directions. Instead, it lets its strange world speak for itself.

As a young lady with a billowy dress and long ragged hair—as if she were pulled straight from a Neil Gaiman fan’s notebook—you’re trying to open a Persian-style door in a wind-blown, silent city. There’s no one else in town, and it isn’t clear how to open the door since there’s no keyhole, just a series of five pipes above it. As you wander through the city, jumping over bottomless pits, you’ll spot objects that are clearly tools to help move you closer to opening that door. Reaching them is a matter of inspecting the lovely, detailed architecture surrounding you. Details that seem like nothing but stylistic flourishes in the setting are often new paths, and discovering each one is delectable because there’s always something unique waiting on the other side. Through exploration and discovery, it soon becomes clear how that big, fancy door opens.

Daymare Cat’s success is how it tweaks curiosity then rewards indulging that curiosity with strange visions and song. More importantly, as Silverstein advised, it never explains what it does.

By Anthony John Agnello • July 1, 2013

There is a pressing question hanging over my head and I want to address it today. Daymare Town 4. Why does it take so long?… Actually, this can be answered quite simply. Just take a look at these two pictures:

This is Daymare Town 1:

And this is Daymare Town 4:

I think those two pictures are quite self explanatory. It takes time, because DMT1 was done 6 years ago, and it was just a side sketch project. Since then it grew to become arguably my most important world and the best series of games. And while the submachine world is kind of closed in it’s mechanics and structure, the daymare world proved to be flexible and able to contain different gameplay architectures. Yes, latest addition of Daymare Cat kind of paved the way of evolution of this series. More on that in 2014.

Now. If you looked at those pictures above and still said to yourself: “So? Why does it take so long?…” – then I DARE you to watch this video and actually sit through it till the end. This is a stream of me creating the above picture.

After you’ve watched it – realize that this is just one location in a game that contains over 100 of them. True, not all of them are so complex, but any one that’s still not drawn COULD be, if you know what I mean. And this is not 9 to 5 job either. This is what people call creative work. It can’t be done on the clock.

So, after all this, if you’re still asking why does it take so long and WHEN the game’s going to be ready, then… uhm…. no, I’ve got nothing for you.

Or you can watch this.

DAMMIT! Why did I pick up the color brush today, instead of just sketching that new daymare game – as usual… Not that I’m on the fence about this one right now, not at all. DMT4 is coming up with the usual color pattern (meaning – pattern almost non existent), but…. this looks fine…

Oh well, I guess this is the POSSIBLE way the Daymare franchise might evolve in time. Move over Steam games, I’m coming.

download this game for free

10-year Anniversary Special Edition timestamp

walkthrough: video | english

reviews: Jay is Games | Imperium Gier | Nerds Raging | Indie Statik | Ecrans | Appelogen | Flash Mush

more reviews: Manitoba Music | TROAM | Gameological Society | StarBlog | Concept Hunter | Polityka

let’s plays: Sir Tap Tap | Indie Impressions

interview with Cat & me | Cat in Color

Daymare Cat is a gorgeously sketched exploratory platformer that feels like a simple adventure game. That feeling might be because Mateusz Skutnik has a rich history of point-and-clickers. The platforming here isn’t particularly challenging, but almost every hand-drawn scene is worth witnessing. The final reward in Daymare Cat is also something you can take with you anywhere. Thanks for that, Cat Jahnke!

[description by IndieGames]