Lethal Company developer says the freedom afforded by text adventure design is why his latest game took 10 years to make: ‘That made it very easy for this project to spiral out of control’

Solo developer Zeekerss may be best known for Lethal Company, arguably the most influential game of the last few years. But it’s actually the latest in a long line of spooky experiences from the game design wunderkind. Previous projects include the lo-fi paranoia generator It Steals, the survival horror throwback Dead Seater, and the physics-heavy frightfest The Upturned.

In short, Zeekerss is highly prolific, which makes it all the stranger that his latest game has been in development for longer than any of the above. Welcome to the Dark Place is a creepy single-player text adventure inspired by the likes of Zork and Kentucky Route Zero, which Zeekerss’ has been working on for more than a decade.

Speaking to GamesRadar, Zeekerss revealed why Welcome to the Dark Place had taken him so long to develop. Counterintuitively, it has to do with how easy text adventures are to make (or at least, to iterate ideas in). “The strength of the text-based genre is that its scope isn’t limited by the need to make 3D models and textures and mechanics,” Zeekerss explained.

This meant Zeekerss could implement his ideas very quickly. “As soon as I think of something, it can be playable.” But this lack of boundaries meant that Zeekerss just kept adding stuff to it. “That made it very easy for this project to spiral out of control. At times it was maddening.”

In addition to this, Zeekerss wanted the adventure to feature specific audio for everything he came up with, using both heavily edited sound effects from freely available sources, and recording effects made by family and friends. “I’d write and write and write, then regret it afterwards when I had to do the audio work,” he explains. Consequently, Zeekerss “repeatedly put it on hold to work on other projects, including Lethal Company.”

In addition to this, Zeekerss wanted the adventure to feature specific audio for everything he came up with, using both heavily edited sound effects from freely available sources, and recording effects made by family and friends. “I’d write and write and write, then regret it afterwards when I had to do the audio work,” he explains. Consequently, Zeekerss “repeatedly put it on hold to work on other projects, including Lethal Company.”

During the interview, Zeekerss also delved into the inspirations behind Welcome to the Dark Place. As mentioned, Zork was an early influence on the developer. First encountered when he was 10 years old. “I remember feeling like it was the most realistic and mysterious game I had ever played.” Meanwhile, it was the “magical realism” of Kentucky Route Zero that enchanted Zeekerss’ when he played Cardboard Computer’s long-in-development adventure. “That game does this thing where it gives into dizzying, text-based ‘rabbit holes’ in which you tell yourself the story.”

Welcome to The Dark Place, released in October, and it is playable for free. While it isn’t anything like as popular as Lethal Company, those who have played it have rated it favourably, with the text adventure accruing a ‘Very Positive’ rating on Steam.