Pithead Studio alias Björn and Jennifer Pankratz have released their first new game after Piranha Bytes on Friday, as a shadowdrop on Caggtus' Webedia FYNG show. We talked to them about being just the two of them again and what they wanted to bring back with Cralon.
What was the idea behind Cralon?
In Cralon we wanted to combine elements we have a passion for into a „big picture“ that creates something new with simple resources.
The foundation for this is the gameplay of an immersive sim adventure. In 3D and first-person, you explore a mine, like the ones in our home region, the Ruhr area. Initially, we opted for a minimalist approach to appeal to players who, like us back then, loved games like Arx Fatalis or Ultima Underworld. The game clearly focuses on immersion, exploration, and story, with several decisions and twists and turns along the way through the mine.
You refer to dungeon crawlers of old like Arx Fatalis, but how much of your former work (Gothic, Elex, etc) is there in Cralon, not just in setting, but in tech, ideas, scoping?
