In Conversation With: QwertyProphecy

The Dark Queen of Mortholme is a recently released indie game taking inspiration from cult classics such as Dark Souls and the timeless chic of gothic influences. With each successive repetition, the game reflects on the changing relationships between a static, 'eternal' villain and the journey of an ever-growing, fluid hero.

Following my review of the game, I sat down with developer Mosu (@qwertyprophecy) over Zoom, to discuss their creative process and chat about video games and their life as an independent creative.

Karan Nimsons: First things first, I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm Karan, the Gaming editor at Strand Magazine. Thank you for taking time out of your day to speak to me!

Mosu: Well, thank you for inviting me. I think this will be interesting.

What motivates you to continue releasing new projects? How did you get into your current ‘phase’ as a developer and a creative?

Mosu: Honestly, I think it started at university. I was studying animation and it had previously occurred to

me that it was possible for people to make games, because I had played World of Warcraft and

watched a behind-the-scenes DVD showing the processes behind it. At first, it hadn't really occurred

to me that I could make video games, it felt like arcane knowledge.

Some people at my course had made games as their project, and one day I was like, hold on, these

people are the same age as me and can do that, why can’t I? So I just downloaded Unity and decided

I was going to make a game.

It wasn’t even really a game, I made this thing where you can play as my dog, but you have laser

eyes and can shoot shadow creatures. It was just because I drew some cute art and thought, yeah, I

can do more with this.

Karan Nimsons: That sounds like a really fantastic start.

Mosu: Yeah. I mean, when you figure out that this is something that you can do, when you realize that telling stories in a medium like that is not just like a hypothetical anymore. You just kind of do it. Like, my way of making games starts with just doodling something and then the doodle kind of grows accidentally.

With my first project, I was supposed to just draw doodles for two weeks, it’s a tiny little exploration

game. I ended up spending multiple months on it, but I still finished it. And then I put it on itch.io and

then people played it and I was like, oh, people enjoy this. That’s the really fun bit. That's when I really started paying attention to all the advice about keeping your scope small and all that, because that's what is going to help you actually finish the games.

Karan Nimsons: Thank you. It’s really insightful to hear how you got started and how your process has been so far!

How do you go about coordinating different themes, influences and aesthetics into a finished

creative project?

Karan Nimsons: So, in my experience of playing the game, there's a very heavy gothic element and some inspiration taken from more darker RPGs. I'm curious how you take a very loose concept like that into something that is a more polished experience?

Mosu: It's something that kind of builds up over years honestly, I had had this idea of a video game

where you play as the boss and you'd experience having a relationship with the player

character, so to speak. But I couldn't quite figure out how to do it for awhile.

But then over time, I think like two years, I slowly had a few more ideas here and there. And then, over time, the aesthetic of it coagulated. I kept asking myself, how could I tell this story about you being a boss character? What would your motivation be? You're this creature on top of the world, the most powerful creature, the final boss.

And then of course, when I kind of started doing the actual writing and artwork, it was a really easy

decision to go with the Gothic aesthetic, honestly, because I really wanted to evoke the tropes, so that

people would immediately know where we are at; what kind of game this is.

There’s this tragedy about it already, based in a sort of melancholy. It's just kind of like a sculpture, You've got your rock and you're trying to find what it can become.

A lot of gamers look to indie games for a more ‘intimate experience’. What sets your work

apart from other commercial products?

Karan Nimsons: Something else I really wanted to touch on was the fact that your game development process was really community focused and built around publishing works on public platforms like itch.io. Since a lot of players play indie games looking for a more intimate gaming experience, what sort of elements do you think sets apart your work from other more ‘commercial’ products?

Mosu: Yes, my process is super independent. I mean, I have a bit of resistance in this capitalist world.

I have my artistic visions and the idea of trying to change them to make money just doesn't occur to

me. I feel like anyone born with a creative brain cell just immediately rebels against that idea, and I've

had that experience personally.

That's why I like itch.io. Mortholme is the first game I have ever made money on and even that was a struggle. I feel like my artistic integrity would suffer if it was just commercial. I just want as many people to play it as possible, even the ones who are penniless or who would pay for it. I think there's a sort of 'punk' ethos that’s very DIY and anti-consumerism behind my work.

Making your own stuff is really important, anything else is just a headache for artistry.

To wrap things up, what are some of your favourite games?

Mosu: Oh, that is, that is a very difficult question.Luckily, luckily I am well ahead of you and I have actually kept a bit of a list of games that felt important enough to put on a list. So clearly, they have touched me in some way.

Games like Disco Elysium, of course, and Hollow Knight, followed immediately by Sekiro. Katana Zero

was something that influenced the game a lot. Then there’s Portal, which isn’t going to be missing

from anybody’s list.

Also, there’s personal favourites like Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, which I have fond memories of.

You can connect with Mosu and follow their projects on Twitter and Tumblr @qwertyprophecy.

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Edited by Karan Nimsons, Gaming Editor.