SERPENT'S GAZE

A debut inspired by ninja dreams and art nouveau

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Serpent's Gaze is simultaneously a Soulslike and a Roguelike, its developer opting for two game styles that are far from scarce at the moment. But it also belongs to a far more rarified genre: games that are inspired by their creators' dreams. “It was a weird dream,” Oscar Jilsén, the game's lead designer and co-founder of Feeble Minds, says. “A couple of friends and I were ninjas exploring a desert. We had these swords you could look into, and you'd see a garden from each of our homes in the reflection.” One of Jilsén's friends' gardens was pristine. “It was just perfect,” Jilsén laughs. “And I looked in my sword, and it was like dead seaweed, slowly writhing. When I woke up, I took that as a sign: I need to clean my apartment.”

Dream interpretation aside, the idea of ninjas running around the desert exploring portals stuck, and Jilsén and the rest of Feeble Minds were looking for a game idea at the time.

“We're old friends,” CEO and creative director