There sure was a golden age of psychological horror games. I’m talking about that vibrant period around the dawn of the century, where games like Siren, Silent Hill, Eternal Darkness and Sanitarium cropped up, leveraging technological limitations and eclectic inspirations to create a distinct momentary atmosphere that, as an industry, we still revere wholeheartedly.
Nowadays, the appetite for thoughtful, boundary-pushing horror has slipped away from AAA, with action-focused thrill rides and YouTube-friendly jumpscares replacing it. Outside of a smattering of gems (Control, Soma, etc), I’m finding that I have to really dig in the crates to find something unsettling. From Software monster designs are where I’m getting my freaky kicks now. Beyond that, big horror games feel kinda corpo.
With that in mind, it is left, as per usual, to the Indies to save us. Enter stage left, 10 Dead Doves. From neighbours Mark Byram II and Sean-Michael Millard, and composer Daniel Millard, this is a fascinating fixed-perspective horror game set in the Appalachian wilderness in 2004. A Kickstarter campaign for 10DD is ongoing as we speak. I played the free demo on Steam last week, solving puzzles and exploring its startling mixed-media environment, giggling at its buddy cop one-liners and generally getting freaked out.
10 Dead Doves ripped my head off with its refreshing, surrealistic approach. On top of the immediate story, it throws up some bone-chilling environments and character designs, an unsettling soundtrack, and leaves plot threads hanging that I am dying to find uneasy answers for. Something odd is happening here, and I can’t put my finger on it. What’s with the liminal dreamscape and that clerk in the store? What’s happening at the ant farm? What the hell was that spindly thing that brushed past me and made me squirm in my chair? It pulled all of this speculation out of me in under an hour. I’m still thinking about it!
From the dialogue to the paraphernalia, 10 Dead Doves builds a world that is capital s Strange. What’s better is that it feels like it comes from a place of passion, too, where all of these incoherent parts are building towards something monstrously compelling. It clearly comes from a group of people embracing the edges of their interests wholeheartedly. And this is just a slice of the first act! With that in mind, I sent some questions to Duonix Studios (Mark Byram II and Sean-Michael Millard) and got some answers. Let’s get into it, shall we?
How did you get into game dev? Were there projects before 10DD?
MARK: This is actually my first full-fledged game, believe it or not. I’ve only worked on one other proper project: A jank, satirical riff on Slender: The Eight Pages called HAT.EXE. I made it for a Halloween surprise on my Team Fortress 2 channel, so I… borrowed some assets from TF2 in that one.
There’s a gag I ripped from SONIC.EXE that I find really funny — when you get killed, you’re jumped with an image of the main character, this time, with evil red eyes and bloody text that says “I AM GRØGG”. Then the game crashes to the desktop! I didn’t know how to make it return to the main menu.
SEAN: Game development has always been a topic of interest for me. I grew up playing on an old-school computer and GameCube, so the retro style really resonates with me (even if I didn’t play many horror games of that era).
How is development going?
SEAN: Development is going smoothly. We took a short break from the main game to focus on the Kickstarter, which thankfully is going very well!
MARK: Yes, swimmingly. We stole Valve’s development method of repeatedly playtesting and iterating until all the kinks are ironed out. We’ve got a lot on our plate, but we’re polishing Act II, working on content for Act III, and weeding through Act IV right now.
Did you notice anything missing from modern horror games that you wanted to concentrate on with 10DD?
SEAN: From what I’ve personally seen, modern horror often focuses on shock value while often leaving the story to be an afterthought. We really wanted to focus on telling the story of the characters and what they’re like, rather than solely focusing on the horrible situations they may encounter.
MARK: Don’t worry, our characters don’t have it easy. For me, I’ve noticed a trend of “invisible flashlight guy” games: cool monster in the thumbnail, you are a walking spotlight — and that’s where the experience begins and ends. Don’t get me wrong, those games can be great. But it’s not what I’m looking for in a story experience. The 10 Dead Doves official development itinerary is character, character, character. The plot is cool! But characters are critical.
I love the wobbly 3D faces, they remind me of Siren. Can you talk about how you landed on that and what is happening behind the scenes to give 10DD its distinctive look?
SEAN: A lot of it is based around photo-sourced textures, either stock photos from libraries or images that we’ll take ourselves using our own cameras. We focused on giving the game a similar feel to what you’d expect in games like Half-Life or Garry’s Mod.
MARK: Yup. I’ve mentioned it before, but Sean spent like 2 weeks converting our early photo shoot into facial expression sheets for Mark and Sean. It was the most monotonous thing imaginable!
Using fully pixellated textures next to scanned-in pictures and traditional 3D models is inspired. I find it intriguing that this mix still results in a cohesive and uniquely unusual art style. Was it challenging to blend all of these approaches? What does your pipeline look like for an asset?
SEAN: Usually, for an asset, I just go through and make the silhouette as a mesh, then optimize that down to an acceptable level. After that, I’ll grab the necessary images to paint onto the mesh while trying to make it flow properly with the rest of the scene.
MARK: A lot of it is good concept and design. We were heavily inspired by how Team Fortress 2 handles art — clear, defined silhouettes, strong, distinctive colour palettes, good lighting technique — it’s a lot of different things working in tandem.
Can you define Appalachian Horror to me? What are its hallmarks in your experience, and how has it come to colour the world of 10DD?
MARK: I saw a really good thread about this, actually. Appalachian mountains are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world — older than the age of the ocean, older than the age of bones. I think that in itself explains a lot in some unknowable cosmic horror sense: “You Are Not Alone, And There Are Things Much Older Than You Here… Sleeping”. There’s so much culture… and there are definitely some freaky things going on in those mountains.
Why 2004 for the game’s setting?
SEAN: We really wanted to capture that early 2000s B-movie vibe where it takes place in the same year as release, almost like something you’d see at a movie rental shop from back then.
MARK: A lot was happening in that era. In the midst of the Iraq War, there was a break from the optimistic and naive vision the Western world commonly held post-Cold War. So many factors contributed to a deep unease and sense of decline in America that I really wanted to put the pulse on and explore further.
I was trying to put my finger on a game that 10DD feels like, and it reminds me most of Sanitarium, Escape from Monkey Island (especially the font) and Grim Fandango. Like, what if LucasArts made a horror game? What do you make of that?
MARK: I did play quite a bit of Deponia back in the day, so I absolutely welcome the idea of point-and-click influence. Our style is heavily inspired by Grim Fandango!
I’d probably pitch this to people as ‘What if Tim and Eric made a horror game’. It has such a strange atmosphere that pulls you into the story. Was the comedy a conscious process at all?
SEAN: Funnily enough, originally, we hadn’t intended for the game to be comedic. Though it seems like our less self-serious personalities leaked through a lot in development.
MARK: A lot of the humour comes from character interaction, I think. I’ve talked about this before, but there’s something really powerful about a fixed camera, especially if you have nostalgia for the early Silent Hill games. There’s so much you can do with a fixed perspective. You can really focus on the cinematography and set pieces for each camera. Plus — you can hide things right off-screen…
Can you talk about what inspired the game’s more dreamlike aspects, especially the start of the demo?
MARK: There’s a lot of surrealist influence! The start of the demo was storyboarded visually on paper. There’s more to come, and you’ll see a lot of what’s dubbed the “monumental horror-image”. We actually played Amnesia before development and specifically made a note not to do the pure-white look because it blinds people playing in the dark… and then we forgot. Oops!
10 Dead Doves is a love letter to the disposable horror games of the 2010s. There were so many YouTube bait games in that era, and a lot of them sucked — but our team still has a fondness for taking those strange little experiences as an influence.
I’d also love to hear about how you designed the game’s monsters (the sort of Dada-ist, spindly guy (what’s his name?) and the Wren. Where did they come from?
SEAN: Mark’s inspiration for the Wren came from a mix between No-Face, the Majora’s Mask salesman, and the Spy from Spy Vs. Spy. As far as the other character goes, Mark hasn’t really said anything about where that came from…
MARK: Ah! First rule of Dada: Don’t talk about Dada. I’m joking, of course. For the monsters (quite a hurtful term for them, I’m sure), I created the 2D concept art, and Sean had to painstakingly translate that to 3D. This is the second time I’ve heard a monster in our game referred to as “spindly”. Can’t talk about that one yet!
The dialogue delivery and presentation of 10DD’s otherworlds have a Lynchian vibe. Beyond games, where do you take your inspiration from?
MARK: I love Tarkovsky’s 1979 film, Stalker. I think anyone that’s seen that film can see the influence in our game. Also, House of Leaves. I know. I’m pretentious!
How are you approaching player choice in 10DD? Will we make dialogue choices / physical pivots during the story to achieve the multiple endings?
MARK: Yes. There’s a system called the Dream Scale. I won’t get into it now, but your choices throughout will influence both the ending and area-specific scenes…
Is there something you’re proud of in 10DD that you don’t think players will notice? Something you worked hard on that may go unseen?
SEAN: A lot of people seemed to have missed the inventory system we made. There’s lots of weird quirky little item descriptions and jokes thrown in there.
MARK: Yep. I wrote a million of those. We put too much effort into things people won’t notice. There’s something in the demo no one has noticed yet!
Is there anything interesting you had to cut during development?
SEAN: Milk mode.
MARK: Yeah, that was like Tofu Survivor in Resident Evil 2, but with milk cartons instead. I have no idea where that idea came from.
Do you have any other indies in the space you’d like to shout out here?
SEAN: Saxon Bristol’s Dead Heat is a game that I’ve been following for a while, with a similar style of gameplay as 10 Dead Doves. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do!
MARK: I have so many I’m keeping tabs on. I can’t pick enough. Keep an eye on the following:
Gamma Girl’s ‘Gob’.
Digital Tchotchkes’ ‘Elation for the Wonder Box 6000’.
Nikki Kalpa’s ‘THEY SPEAK FROM THE ABYSS’.
Userland’s ‘Eternity Egg’.
What does the future look like for Duonix Studios beyond 10DD?
MARK: We’re cooking up a few ideas already. Our focus will definitely be on character-focused story experiences. Depending on our resources, I would totally love to explore the world of 10 Dead Doves further. I see why people make sequels now…
SEAN: We’re hoping that this game will open doors for us to either become a full-fledged game studio! We’d love to make grander stuff in the future.
Finally, what platforms is 10DD coming to, and when can we expect it?
SEAN: Currently, the game will be coming to Steam, Epic Games Store, and itch.io. We’re also hoping to get it released on the Switch as well sometime down the line.
