An Interview with Rubi: The Wayward Mira

The art of the Metroidvania game is a subtle tease. Too much platforming and the game will feel stagnant. Too much combat will turn it into a slog. Rubi the Wayward Mira manages to strike a harmonic chord in its demo that is sweet to the gamer soul. Now, with its Kickstarter already a smashing success, they’re looking beyond just completing the game, but making a truly special experience.

We had the opportunity to speak with Erik, the brains behind the operation for Rubi the Wayward Mira. And what did they have to say? See for yourself…

Begin Interview for Rubi: The Wayward Mira

So what is Rubi: The Wayward Mira?

‘Rubi: The Wayward Mira’ is a 2D Metroidvania fantasy platformer with settings and inspiration taken from particle physics and the Large Hadron Collider located at CERN.

Very exciting. It sounds like a blast. Who all is part of the project?

We have a core team, along with artists that we commission here and there. Our core team is composed of the following:

Myself – I started Rubi as a solo project without really an end goal in mind.

Geoff Meyer – He’s a composer who developed the OST behind the game.

Clement Sweenes – An artist I commissioned at first to update the graphics for the project. He since transitioned into a co-developer role, helping me in various aspects of the game.

Digging further, what has been the biggest learning experience from this Kickstarter?

This is actually the second Kickstarter for Rubi. The first one failed two years ago, which was a good opportunity for me to learn where we could do better. I think most learning comes from failure, which opened my eyes into the amount of polish that is needed to not only have a successful Kickstarter campaign, but also a successful game. Ideas need to be presented well, or else you’ll have a hard time finding a following.

Very true. Very true! So now that the Kickstarter has completed nearly all of the posted stretch goals already, and so many days to go, what’s next on the horizon?

Hmm… well, we have a couple more stretch goals planned that we plan to reveal mid-campaign as the dollar amounts become relevant. Most Kickstarter campaigns have a lull in the middle, so our thought was to help offset that with new announcements as we come closer to the next relevant goal. Our next goal will actually be one of two quest line options, and new backers can vote with their pledges which one they would prefer!

Now that’s awesome!

Woo! I’m glad you think so! I haven’t seen anything like this, so I honestly have no idea how well it will be received.

The demo itself was what sold me. The presentation is on point, character interactions were enjoyable, and the combat satisfied me. That being said… not everything was perfect. Some criticisms I saw included the game’s puzzles, hints being too subtle, and unclear hints from the map as to how to progress. What can we expect to see improved from the current version of the demo?

I’ve heard those criticisms as well. Every day or so I google the project to see if anyone posted a review or a playthrough on Youtube. It’s a little nerve wracking to put your project in the public space for everyone to see, but the candid feedback is so valuable. When I see multiple players struggle with similar hurdles, I think about how to smooth out the edges to keep the game fun. These are some examples of changes that should be released soon.

• I’ve developed an ‘Options’ screen which includes a method for users to remap their controls.
• ‘Health’ points placed before major encounters. They function like the save crystals, but restore health when running over them.
• More visual cues on some required breakable tiles
• Moving the ‘Goal’ position to a more clear location… and some others I can’t think of off the top of my head.

The demo really encourages players to explore the area and backtrack after discovering clues. Cough Castlevania Cough What games most influenced development?

Metroid, Megaman, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Shantae are some of the bigger influencers that I can think of. Any game that does something fun that we can learn off of is fair game.

It’s funny you mention Shantae, who’s movement Rubi mirrors. Like Shantae, Rubi’s character really shines through in a short amount of time. What’s the biggest challenge for making an engaging character, be it protagonist, side character, or enemy?

Do you consider animating or writing their personality to be more difficult?

Hmmm…. there’s a lot that goes into making a character, and I don’t really know all the secrets…. or even if there is a secret recipe in doing so. For us, it was more of an iterative process. Rubi started out very generic. Then we sought to make her ‘disabled’ by removing her ability to use mana in a world where everyone could. Then we developed a reason why she was disabled (born during the Decay of Casimir). From there we were able to determine their motivations….. Rubi cares for her orphan family, whereas Mith is trying to save her planet at whatever cost. Each time we iterate on the characters, we discover a facet of them…. which hopefully makes them more relatable.

I think animating them is more difficult. Once you iterate on their designs enough, I find the characters start to write themselves a little.

That makes sense! I guess before we wrap things up, what are you most excited about the future of Rubi?

I’m most excited about developing games two and three! The endings to the first game “The Wayward Mira” I think will be very exciting to reveal, and if I’m lucky enough to continue to tell the saga, I think it would end up being a very cool story.

Here’s looking forward to it!