Interview with Imaginarylab, Developers of Whirlight - No Time To Trip

Interview by Tomas Becks

Whirlight is a new point and click adventure game by developers ImaginaryLab. Adventure game fans might recognize these Italian developers from their first foray into the adventure game genre, namely Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bonetown.Willy Morgan was an unapologetic love letter to the legendary Secret of Monkey Island franchise, but also brought plenty of its own charm to the table. I was lucky enough to play Willy Morgan and enjoyed it a lot. That game came out in 2020, but these very talented developers have not been sitting on their laurels the past 4 years. In fact, they recently dropped the demo of their new adventure game Whirlight on Steam! That was all the motivation I needed to fire up the PC and give that demo a go. And after finishing it, which took me about an hour to do, I got to ask Ciro Camera, founder of ImaginaryLab, a couple of questions.

How did the development and reception of Willy Morgan influence this game?
Willy started as an amateur project: we tried to do our best, but it was still our first project, with all its inherent difficulties and flaws. However, it was the project that allowed us to learn a lot, both technically and in understanding what players want. Technically, it helped us understand how to improve and where we can push our limits, and with Whirlight, we pushed ourselves to the limit. Moreover, the feedback we received on Willy was essential for the birth and development of Whirlight: we realized that players want to immerse themselves in a lengthy experience with a well-developed storyline, and these were essential elements in the design and development of Whirlight.

Is there a connection between the two games?
There is a technical connection, in the sense that the tools and type of work are an evolution of those used for Willy. But the plot is completely independent, and there is no reference to Willy. Maybe.

What inspired this game?
Massimo [Origano, software engineer of ImaginaryLab] and I grew up during the era of '90s graphic adventures, which left an indelible mark on us. After Willy, during one of our numerous team calls, Massimo suggested telling the story of a brilliant yet clumsy inventor. I had in mind a plot based on time travel, while Davide, the other team member, kept proposing rather peculiar ideas ranging from cooking to quantum physics. Whirlight was born from the fusion of these ideas and our passion for video games.

How did you go about with the puzzle design?
All the puzzles were designed based on the plot's progression and initially defined on paper. Then they were implemented in the game and carefully evaluated based on our tests: our requirement was to create puzzles that were fun but understandable. An important aspect is the logic of the puzzles: if we consider a puzzle too complex because it is totally illogical, then it is not a good puzzle. If it is difficult but "understandable," then it is a good puzzle. The same goes for simple puzzles: we are okay with having some easy steps, but if they were all easy, the player would lose interest, and it would become just a "use item here" etc. Instead, we tried to calibrate the puzzles so that, once solved, they would give the player a sense of satisfaction without making them forget the storyline.

What came first, story or puzzles?
Without a doubt, the story; the puzzles are functional to the development of the plot.

How Italian is this game going to be?
Verice Bay is inspired by two beautiful Italian cities, Verona and Venice, and here and there are references to Italian culture. However, the game is rich with elements from every part of the world. Even the protagonists are meant to be a tribute to two eminent Italian scientists: Ettore Majorana and Margherita Hack.

Was it hard to make it funny?
I wouldn't say so; the plot is the result of the quirky daily calls between the team members. Each call always brings new ideas or particularly fun suggestions to implement in the game.

How did they decide on the style of the game?

While Willy paid homage mostly to Monkey Island and the Goonies, the primary inspiration for Whirlight comes from "Day of the Tentacle" and "Sam & Max Hit the Road." Therefore, we aimed to create fun atmospheres and eccentric situations. Even from a graphical standpoint, we opted for a more cartoonish and deformed style, partly inspired by the classics and partly by the masterpieces of Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks.

Now, you might want to know a bit more about the demo. You can download the free demo here on Steam, and I recommend you do because this is looking to be a great game. This time, you play as Hector, a brilliant but very unfortunate inventor, who finds himself waking up in a world he knows for sure he did not go to sleep in. As you solve puzzles and explore the dreamlike world, you also learn a bit about Hector’s background. Once you get back to the real world, it is now your job to guide Hector to reach his goals. This is done in a classic point and click way of exploring locations, grabbing things and using them to solve puzzles. The game features beautiful hand drawn locales and cartoony characters, and loads of jokes. If you’re a fan of older titles like Day of the Tentacle or you loved playing Willy Morgan, then make sure you check this title out.