Sparklite

In Sparklite, players take on the role of a silent protagonist named Ada. This adventurous gadgeteer is reluctantly thrust into a conflict between the people of Geodia and the Baron, the game’s antagonist who’s hellbent on building his mining empire by draining the planet of the resource that powers and connects all life: otherwise known as Sparklite.

“She’s somewhat inspired by Rey and Han Solo put together,” Edward says. “We tried to put character into her animations and things like that to make her a fun, likable character even though she doesn’t speak.”

When creating the characters and story for the game, the Rowes attempted to not bash players over the head with their message of the importance of science in an industrial age.  But they also wanted to include interesting tidbits that flesh out who inspired them in the first place. For instance, Ada is named after the mother of computer programing, Ada Lovelace, and her companion Hopper is named after Grace Hopper, another pioneer of computing.

While the choice to make Ada a gadget-wielding scientist made sense thematically, it also fits with Sparklite’s gameplay.

Sparklite is a roguelike for beginners, focusing more on gadget experimentation and exploration than hardcore runs and crippling player deaths. While the game still focuses on a run-based system of starting over each time you die, the mechanics are much more forgiving in that everything collected on that run returns with you to the hub area of The Refuge.

“We are definitely doing our best to cater toward the more E for Everyone than the hardcore roguelike like Binding of Isaac,” Lucas says. “So the depth of the gameplay will come from having more gadgets, not combos or anything like that.”

Gadgets are an integral part of the game and players will need to seek them out on their different runs to advance. Gear such as a shrink ray or a batch of cluster bombs not only make life easier against various enemies, but allows players to find a multitude of secrets hidden throughout Geodia.

The mix of gadgetry and exploration gel in a way that kept me coming back for more during my time with the game. Like any good game in the genre, the more I used the tools at my disposal, the more confident I was exploring each new biome, and most of the time I was rewarded for my bravery. 

While Sparklite is inherently focused on being a game for everyone, the Rowe brothers are still striving to add aspects of the game that will make genre fans feel at home, whether it’s through exploration or boss battles or possibly adding a new game plus mode later down the line.

Many indie games over the past few years have found success replicating the 16-bit melodies of yesteryear, but with Sparklite, the Rowe brothers wanted to do something different.

“It was sort of a high-fidelity theme, which was the perfect mood for what the music was, so we looked at it as a mood signpost. It was piratey and adventuresome,” Edward says. “After we had that, we started doing the rest of the music for the game with that guiding it. But then, Dale North (the game’s composer) had the idea to go with this sort of GameCube sound and we were not sure because it was different from the high fidelity one that we loved. So that was a risk but then he came back with a version and we really liked it and we thought it was really in line with the aesthetic of the game which we’ve been calling modern retro.”

During my time with the game, I was constantly pausing the action to listen to the mix of relaxing and exciting themes that underscored my adventure. The music heavily reminded me of games such as Animal Crossing or Super Mario 64 in how they were able to bring out the warmth and charm of Sparklite while also motivating me to progress further in the game.

Modern retro also fits well with the visuals of the game.

Invoking the modern pixel art styles similar to Celeste and Owlboy, the team at Red Blue Games has created an engaging and vibrant world that isn’t beholden to development techniques of the past. Geodia is evocative of the 16-bit era while adding visual flairs that make it work well on today’s systems.

“We’re trying to let ourselves do modern visual techniques like there’s a motion blur when you change rooms and there are some screen effects,” Edward says. “So we sort of try to strike this blend where we’ve taken modern techniques and applied them to make pixel art better, hopefully. It doesn’t have to be a retro thing to be pixel art.”