Scared By Squares Steam Demo Unleashes Liminal Horror on Flatscreen for the First Time
From your headset to your screen
Solve puzzles, contain anomalies, and explore corrupted liminal spaces! Dive into the free Steam demo for Scared By Squares, which will cover the entirety of Floor 1 and is available on standard (flatscreen) mode.
Dev Insights from Siege Industries
CJ Capelotti, the mind behind Siege Industries and creator of Scared By Squares, reminisces on the journey his cube-based exploration title has taken so far, remarking that the leap from VR to flatscreen was always the end goal for him:
“From the very beginning, I designed the game to work in both VR and flatscreen so it could reach as broad an audience as possible. I built everything to be playable and fun whether you are in VR or not.”
As his debut within the horror genre, Scared By Squares pushed the creative limits for CJ in many ways For example, followers of the official pages may have noticed that CJ is very responsive and interactive in the threads and comments, which is uncommon to see from a developer. He even features his own voice in his video content, despite his initial reluctance:
“I’m a more introverted and quiet person, so recording my own voice felt uncomfortable. But with every video I made, it got a little easier, and over time it became something I was very comfortable with and even started to enjoy.
Having my own voice in the videos makes a big difference. People connect more when they can hear the developer behind the project. Text only videos or AI voices just don’t create the same level of connection, and Scared By Squares has really benefited from that direct, human interaction.”
This connection to his players is what makes Scared By Squares more than just a scary liminal experience. It is an ever-evolving effort that both the creator and the community are involved in. CJ attributes much of the game’s evolution to getting outside opinions and allowing to audience to help him get out of his head as a solo developer.
“A good example is Floor 2. The first level is black and white, so my instinct was to make the second floor full color for a strong contrast. I asked players to vote on different texture and color variations, and by a large margin, the more washed out, desaturated look won. After implementing it with the right lighting, the community was completely right. The vibe was way creepier than my original idea. There are a ton of moments like that where player feedback has directly made the game better.”
Between updating the VR version of Scared By Squares, making videos, and talking to the community, there is no shortage of things keeping CJ busy these days, However, his passion and focus continue to point towards the future of Scared By Squares.
“What’s coming next is multiplayer testing. I’m especially excited about multiplayer because with the types of challenges in Scared By Squares, failing or succeeding together with friends is going to be a lot of fun.
At this point, it’s more like an addiction than anything else. I just love creating worlds, coming up with new gameplay ideas, and watching those ideas slowly come together. Seeing players enjoy something I created makes all the hard parts worth it.”
For even more insights from CJ, you can check out his new dev log video here.
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