Last year, Wacom was happy to feature game development studio Under the Stairs. We interviewed them about their studio, how they use Wacom tablets for game design, and about their upcoming game, Heritage. Well, they’re hard at work on their next game, Grimroll, and recently released a playtest on Steam.
The Wacom Movink 13 OLED pen display played a major role in the development process for this game, too.
Grimroll was inspired in part by the board games that the development team often played in the office. One designer loved roll-and-write dice games, and another loved roguelite video games. They decided to combine the two ideas along with inspiration from a classic Croatian fairy tale, into Grimroll.
“As an artist, I use my Movink at every step of the workday and privately on my own projects,” says Vladimir Bogdanic, director of Under the Stairs. He uses it for the entire art design process: “I start by doing a quick and messy sketch, which lays out the basic shapes for what’s to come, I then combine using the touch screen to rotate and zoom into different bits and the pen to precisely lay down the line art … After that, I choose the fitting colors and color them. If it’s characters I’m working on, I chop them up and head over to animate them, where I also make use of the touch screen to move pieces of the characters around, so they feel organic with their animated motions.”
He wasn’t an easy convert to using the Wacom Movink, either. But he believes it has greatly enhanced his workflow. “At the start of getting the Movink, I honestly didn’t think I’d make much use of the touch screen. But it’s an absolute necessity now, and speeds up navigating through pieces by miles, providing precision I couldn’t get with a mouse.”
Want to check out Grimroll? Check out the demo on Steam!
About the studio
Founded in 2017, Under the Stairs is a small indie game development studio based in Zagreb, Croatia. Led by a tight-knit group who grew up playing all sorts of games across all sorts of genres and mediums, Under the Stairs is a place where imaginations and hobbies run wild.
The studio released the critically acclaimed game Eyes In The Dark in 2022. Their next game, Grimroll, is set to be released soon!
