A lot of knowledge and care has clearly gone into the ancient Greek theme, from characters and locations to even Steam achievements. How much came from an original interest in the topic, and what extra research was required for all the details?
SG: I would say something like 50/50? It was a subject that definitely seemed appealing to us both, but we also learned a huge deal along the way. We spent a fair amount of time doing research during the early stages of the game, and it proved to be very fruitful.
RR: Doing research is probably one of the stages of the development that I enjoyed the most. I thought that I had some knowledge about the setting and mythos, but we learned a lot since we started Okhlos. Some of our references came from Graves and Asimov (many people usually think of Asimov as a sci-fi writer, but his history books are amazing).
There are so many Greek gods, it must have been difficult choosing which ones would be included within the game. Were there any you wanted to involve that didn’t make the cut?
SG: Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, is one we initially considered but ended up discarding. I still think we made the right choice, since she seemed too nice, or not menacing enough to be a main antagonist, but we missed a lot of jokes there. Another one that would’ve been interesting is Hecate. Her association with magic, cross-roads, and her multiplicity make her a very interesting character, but we never found room for her in the game.
How did you balance the historical and mythological detail with the humor?
SG: We always put humor first. If there was a chance for a joke we went for it. Some may say that we have gone too far in some cases, (how many jokes about 300 are too many?) but I regret nothing. History will judge us.
RR: While making jokes was our priority, and something we really enjoy doing, I feel like we shed some light onto some obscure mythological characters, and the jokes are relevant to that character, so if people are really interested in the setting, they have some pointers to do additional research. We wanted to add women philosopher heroes, and in a society that by our current standards would be considered sexist, it was more challenging to find and research those characters. Also, you have very delicate topics like slavery, the role of women in Helenic societies, and gods committing “non-consensual acts”. In some cases, you can’t just throw a joke out there about that, so we focused on the more mainstream and less offensive aspects of a character.
Within all of its chaotic charms, could you explain why you think gamers should look out for Okhlos upon its release?
SG: I’d say because Okhlos is a weird blend of things. It’s quirky, somewhat different from what you might find elsewhere, but at the same time it’s fun and engaging, and breaking things up with your mob is a wonderful feeling. Even after thousands of hours of playing, I still find it marvelously soothing.
We’d like to thank Sebastian and Roque for taking the time to speak with us. If you want more information on the development process, be sure to check out their dev blog on the official website.
Look out for Okhlos on PC, Mac and Linux, where it will be arriving on August 18.