Join Aris Au, the designer behind Soularis, as he shares his journey of creating his first-ever tabletop game and launching on Kickstarter. Discover the lessons he learned through development, and the steps he's taking to turn his dreams into reality.
Q: Please give the readers a short introduction about yourself and your game, Soularis. What is your “origin” story, and how did you come about creating games?
Soularis is a game for 1-4 players, where you play as one of the four rebels to challenge an evil Master of your choice. I grew up with board games and always dreamed of creating one myself.
One day, I just woke up and thought to myself, “'Why not do it now?”' The game offers a sarcastic take on our current society, and I hope it encourages players to be more courageous and brave, just like the rebellious hero in the game.
Q: Are there any events or games you took inspiration from in creating Soularis?
I started playing tabletop games when I was young. One of my most cherished memories is from elementary school, when I played a lot of tabletop RPGs with my friends. I would draw in a notebook to create campaigns and characters, much like D&D. I still have tons of those notebooks from my childhood; they might be the first “games” I have ever created.
In fact, I was always the game master because I loved crafting dramatic events and challenges to see how players reacted, ultimately leading to their hard-earned victories. I still remember when my father passed away, tabletop games had become a comfort zone for me to cope and distract myself from the sadness I am going through. I believe that a significant part of my childhood has inspired me to create games.
Fantasy and strategy-themed games have always been my favourites. Recently, I’ve become particularly obsessed with Dark Souls and Elden Ring, which have significantly influenced my approach to lore and storytelling.
Q: Describe the creative process in designing the game’s aesthetics and balancing game experiences.
I’ve always had a vision of Soularis in my mind, crafting the entire story and concept over time. Gradually, I translated it onto paper and then into blank cards for testing. The game underwent multiple iterations throughout this process; I initially planned to create a mobile game, but I quickly realised it would be more enjoyable for players to fully immerse themselves in the experience with physical cards and pieces alongside their friends.
Thanks to my partner, I was able to playtest and refine the design until we both felt it was fun.
I want to emphasise that the game is intentionally open-ended, encouraging players to incorporate their own preferred methods and play however they like.
Q: Talk about your prior experiences in creating illustrations and the app, Nomster. Any lessons you learnt from those projects and applied into making Soularis?
I was an illustrator before my career in UX and UI design, and my art style was quite different back then. Around 2016, during my time at Nomster, I had the opportunity to experiment a lot and finally discovered an art style that feels uniquely mine. Throughout the years, I hadn’t drawn much due to the nature of my job, but since starting Soularis, I have so many papers and cards lying around!
Q: What challenges do you expect with the start of your Kickstarter, and how will you manage the audience’s expectations?
Currently, my main challenge lies in reaching the appropriate audience and increasing awareness to expand the reach of Soularis for more people to enjoy. Furthermore, ensuring quality control and managing shipping costs are crucial aspects for me. Soularis was initially a passion project, but my ambition has grown to aim for a wider audience of game enthusiasts.
To achieve this, I am working tirelessly to refine my marketing strategy, engage with gaming communities, and listen to players' feedback to further improve the game to a higher standard.
In addition, I need to ensure that the product meets my quality standards, which involves investing significantly in samples and prototypes from the manufacturer. My heart sinks whenever I see misprinted or misaligned cards, but I’m doing my best to produce the highest quality possible.
Q: Soularis being your first entry into the local game industry, what is something that you would want to see more in the community spaces for tabletop gaming?
As a first time creator, it is eye-opening to know most of my friends do enjoy tabletop games. However, some of them do not know how and where to start. I am hoping I could contribute more to creating a beginner-friendly experience to having more people to enjoy tabletop gaming in a safe space in the future.
Q: Who are your biggest inspirations in life?
I could name a lot of big names here, but at the end of the day, I think my partner inspires me the most these days. When I talked about the idea of creating a tabletop game to her, she was very supportive about me pursuing my dream. She helped me on the game testing and even designed together, we walked through every small step and details on the game together. I hope players could pick up some easter eggs behind the lore through playing Soularis.
Q: Where can your game be found?
Soularis is only available on Kickstarter and has received the endorsement of Kickstarter staff with a "Project We Love" badge!
So far, I have no plans to go into retail, it might just be a one time off thing. However, if Soularis is funded successfully, I have plans to create more games.
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