Crown Gambit #1 | Birth of the project after Aetheris

We met with Wild Wits studio, hard at work on Crown Gambit, their second project after Aetheris. This first interview, conducted in early 2024, marks the start of a series of discussions that will take place throughout the year until the game’s planned release on June 18, 2025. The goal: to document the key stages, doubts, ideas, behind-the-scenes details, and adjustments of an independent development project in real time. We’ll start, naturally, with the project’s influences and the studio’s initial intentions.

Point’n Think: Can you explain how you made the transition from Aetheris to Crown Gambit? Did you learn anything from Aetheris that led you to explore a different genre with Crown Gambit?

Corto Laly: That’s a funny question, because I’m a creative director, so projects often start out in my head, and then I look for people around me to help build them. But this switch is also linked to some less fun realities: economic imperatives and company structure. François de la Taste and I run the company, and our decisions are inevitably influenced by these factors. Crown Gambit was born about four months before the Early Access release of Aetheris, around November 2022.

Wild Wits Games is an independent studio in Brittany with ten employees. Our first game, Aetheris, is a tactical RPG, a mix of Banner Saga, Darkest Dungeon, and For The King, for those who are familiar with them. It has a cooperative approach with strong artistic direction. And in fact, we took the opposite approach to the norm: instead of imposing an art direction based on a genre, we start with an artist with a strong universe and build the game around it.

We’re working on Godot, an open source engine that lends itself well to this philosophy, even if it’s not the most mature yet. At the end of the production of Aetheris, I played Foretales, a French game that I really liked, both for its art direction and its gameplay. I felt it was just missing a little bit of tactics and confrontation, which I wanted to find.

Besides that, I’m a fan of Berserk, dark fantasy, Castlevania… And I had already spotted Gobert, an artist with a strong graphic universe. We started talking, and for three months, every other night, we would meet on Discord to build the foundations of the Crown Gambit universe together. I had the broad outlines in my head: dark fantasy with a hint of The Boys. In this universe, the Paladins are like superstars, iconic figures, but each one has a dark side that can be discovered.

Why a card game? First, because Foretales inspired me, but also because it avoids certain technical challenges—no need for body rigging, for example—and it allowed the team to focus on key skills like VFX.

PnT: That’s what we saw on your Discord, especially the card animations, the little reflections when they’re lifted…

Corto: Yes, we really want to go all out on that. The idea was not to make a first game just for fun, but to build a studio that could work on multiple projects. Crown Gambit is a shorter project, with two years of production, which allows us to focus on certain areas for improvement: VFX, art, and workflow. Less dispersion, more efficiency.

It was also a pivotal period for the studio. After Aetheris, we saw who really wanted to continue working in video games, which is a demanding industry that isn’t necessarily the best paid or the most relaxing. Crown Gambit allowed us to reorganize the team according to these desires. And that’s also when Rachel arrived.

Rachel Dufossé: Yes, I arrived almost a year ago, as an intern finishing my studies. It was just when we were preparing the Kickstarter, so at the end of pre-production for Crown Gambit. Gax (editor’s note: Guy-Pascal Vallez, art director on Aetheris) and I were following each other on Twitter. I wanted to join a company that offered something artistically unique. Not a big studio where the creative aspect gets diluted. So when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it. Internship, then recruitment. And now I’m part of the team.

PnT: We had a question about the evolution of the team between Aetheris and Crown Gambit. Has the team grown? And since you mentioned passing on new skills, such as VFX, did you look for specific profiles for Crown Gambit?

Corto: It’s funny, because we’ve never actually posted a single job or internship offer. In video games, we get quite a few unsolicited applications. I regularly receive them in my inbox. And sometimes, there’s a resume or a way of expressing themselves that catches my eye. If the person persists and starts to stand out, I end up really looking at what they do. And if it’s a good fit, something happens. So no, there’s no set strategy for putting together a team. It’s pretty chaotic, to be honest. I’m pretty disorganized, whereas François, my partner, is the complete opposite. So HR at our company is a happy mess.

Rachel, for example, I came across her sword illustrations. And since I was thinking about the kind of weapons we would need for Crown Gambit, I thought, “OK, she’s motivated, I like what she says, she wants to join a small studio where she can express herself artistically.” And that’s something that really speaks to me.

The team itself hasn’t really grown. We’re the same number of people as on Aetheris, but we’ve become more efficient. The workflow is much smoother. We often talk about artistic intentions in video games, but the real crux of the matter is how we manage to make all our skills work together, like an orchestra. And without realizing it, with twelve people, we’re already a pretty substantial indie studio.

There have just been some reassignments. Paul, for example, who was lead programmer on Aetheris, has moved to game design. On Aetheris, I was the one who laid the foundations for the gameplay, and now he’s refining the systems. This is also a direct consequence of the studio’s growth: the bigger the company gets, the less time I have to be fully involved in production. You have to delegate.

We also don’t have fixed job titles. Everyone has a main area of expertise, but there’s nothing stopping them from changing or trying something else. Paul, who is a programmer, moved to game design because that’s what inspires him right now. Rachel is a 2D artist, but she can do a bit of 3D, or even try her hand at animation. She’s the one who did the rain, by the way.

Rachel: The rain… That’s still a topic of debate on Crown Gambit (laughs). There’s still a lot of experimentation to be done there. But going back to job titles, I think there’s really room for individual desires. Creative and professional desires are really listened to and taken into consideration. And that’s something that’s easier to implement in a small structure with ten or twelve people than in a company with fifty, five hundred or more.

PnT: Let’s talk a little about the choice of style and themes for Crown Gambit. You explained that switching from a tactical game to a card game also allowed the team to progress, particularly in terms of VFX. But were there other reasons for this change of genre?

Corto: There’s also a very simple reason on the graphic production side: this format allows Gobert to really express himself. On a card, what he creates is pure illustration, he can go all out with his style. With Aetheris, it was a different exercise: all the work had to be adapted to a parallax and mapping system to give the illusion of 3D, even though it was 2D. With Crown Gambit, he no longer has that constraint. He can illustrate a Paladin exactly how he wants to.

And even though it’s a card game, there’s also a whole visual novel aspect to the dialogues. We drew a lot of inspiration from games like Hades and Citizen Sleeper in terms of how we handle conversations, choices, and visual storytelling. A little darker, but also a real reference for me, is Fear and Hunger. Then, in terms of technical costs, it’s much simpler. The game is played on square tiles, not hexagons, and for techies, that changes a lot of things. In game design too: it’s easier to balance and implement. As a result, we can focus on other more interesting issues, such as storytelling.

In Aetheris, we had a more enigmatic narrative, deliberately vague at times. Here, with Crown Gambit, we’re going much further. There’s a real storyline with strong emotional stakes. My hope is that we can get closer to Undertale in terms of the attachment you feel for the secondary characters. And personally, my favorite Final Fantasy is IX. The idea is to achieve that kind of relationship with the characters and the story: twists and turns, emotion, a real narrative connection that stays with you.

PnT: From a thematic point of view, what influences inspired you to create the world of Crown Gambit outside of video games?

Corto: It evolved over time. At first, I really had the project in my hands with Gobert, and the bigger the team got, the more I let go. And I’m not the type to gatekeep at all. If someone wants to take an idea and transform it, that’s fine with me. But basically, I wanted a meeting between Berserk and The Boys. A dark fantasy universe in which the Paladins are adored figures, almost superstars. On the streets, they’re idols. But the more you get to know them, the more you discover their dark side.

There was a bit of Vampire: The Masquerade in the atmosphere too, and even a touch of Cthulhu, Lovecraftian, but I’d rather not say too much about that to avoid spoilers. There’s also some Game of Thrones and Shakespeare in the approach to the characters: each one has their flaws and contradictions. And what I like, as in Fear and Hunger, is the idea that the story can completely change depending on your choices. You can love a Paladin in one run and hate him in another, depending on what you discover about him. It’s exactly like Undertale, with Undyne, for example, who is not at all the same character depending on whether you play a pacifist or genocide run. We try to recreate this duality in Crown Gambit. And of course, we also watch a lot of anime with Gobert. We love Fullmetal Alchemist, especially the battles with the Homunculi, and Jujutsu Kaisen for the intensity of the fights. We wanted to recreate that feeling: every battle with a Paladin has to be an event, an epic sequence.

PnT: I feel like these kinds of influences can also be found in Gobert’s work. He mentioned it in the Video Game Masterclass with Marine Macq: the whole Hellboy, Mignola aspect… And beyond the visuals, we also find this figure of the slightly twisted, slightly broken hero who does what he can. I imagine that’s where the influence of Cthulhu comes in too. You mentioned earlier that everyone can contribute to the project. In practical terms, how does it work if someone on the team wants to suggest an idea or take the game in a new direction? Do you have specific meetings for that, or is it more spontaneous?

Rachel: Now that we’re in full production, we can see how things really work: adding a feature along the way is rarely trivial. It involves a cascade of adjustments, often impacting at least five people. So we always think about it as a team. Discussions are open, there are no silos. Of course, everyone works in their main area, but as soon as a UX or game design issue comes up, everyone can take ten minutes to read up on it, bounce ideas around, and suggest solutions.

There are no “job title” barriers, as Corto said. That doesn’t mean that everyone is involved in every decision, but participation is truly collective.

PnT: It’s clear that you’ve kept a horizontal structure, which is really cool. Is there a message or emotion that you’re particularly trying to convey with Crown Gambit? With Aetheris, there was a real sense of cooperation, a Darkest Dungeon vibe where you have to keep going no matter what, even when all seems lost.

Rachel: For me, attachment to the characters is essential. It’s something that Gobert will probably go into more depth about, but I think what he’s doing with the character designs is really strong.

We have a large, diverse cast with very distinct personalities and visuals. I think every player will have their favorite. It creates a bit of a JoJo effect: a dense and charismatic cast, where affinities are formed as much on substance as on form. Nothing is generic. That doesn’t directly answer the question about the message, but since it’s a very organic project that evolves over time, I’m still having a hard time pinpointing what its final scope will be. We’ll also see how the audience responds to it.

Corto: For my part, I would say that there is always a somewhat philosophical message behind the games we make, even if I don’t talk about it often. For example, Aetheris, without giving too much away, has you running away from a shadow throughout the game… but the real happy ending comes when you finally decide to face it. It’s a bit cliché, but it ties in with influences like Darkest Dungeon or even Tolkien: you can spend your time running away from your fears, or you can face them in order to grow. That’s kind of the message of Aetheris: you have to confront what you’re running away from in order to be reborn.

Crowd Gambit is something else entirely. It’s more of a social commentary. It’s about living with the world around us, with its constraints, tensions, and conflicting ambitions. Our protagonists have decisions to make, and they have a real impact, not just on themselves, but also on people like Meodred’s fishmonger. Every choice has consequences for the society you live in. And this society is complex: a huge capital city, full of different cultures, power struggles, and social tensions. There’s a real class struggle in Crown Gambit: between the nobility, the people, and the clergy, each with their own interests and gray areas.

There is no “good side,” no black-and-white view of the world. This isn’t a game where “the people are good” and “the clergy are fanatics.” Each group has its nuances and contradictions. And it’s up to the player to decide where they stand. In fact, within the team, no one agrees on what the “best ending” of the game is. There are several, very different ones, and everyone has their own. My hope is that each player will follow their own path, discover their own ending, and want to play again to discover others. Some endings are even radically opposed.

PnT: As you said, it all started with Gobert’s style. Was there a particular illustration that really caught your eye and made you say, “Okay, this is the direction we’re going in”?

Corto: Yes, definitely. When I approached Gobert, it was very personal at first. I like to start a project quietly, to test whether we work well together on a human level. And with Gobert, it clicked right away. We have the same references, the same passions, we understand each other really quickly. So when I told him about this idea of paladins à la The Boys, we were completely on the same page.

And very quickly, we started building the trio of main characters: Rollo, Alyssa, and Ael. Each comes from a different social background—the common people, the nobility, the clergy—without necessarily still being affiliated with it. But that colors their background, the way they act, the way they fight, their design. For example, Rollo comes from the people, and his weapon is an anchor. He’s not subtle: he acts fast, he’s confrontational. His daily life hasn’t taught him to talk things out for hours. It’s a bit archetypal, yes, but that’s intentional.

When we pitch the game, especially to partners, we often emphasize this: at the beginning, the three protagonists must appear as archetypes. And it’s precisely as you progress through the story that you discover that they are much more complex than that.

PnT: How did these early concept arts influence the overall construction of the game?

Rachel: There’s something very interesting about Gobert’s graphic style: it’s beautiful, but adapting it to a video game is quite a challenge. He has a very flat style, using what’s known as flat shading. To put it simply, these are well-segmented blocks of color, without opacity or gradient effects. Visually, it’s very powerful, but technically, it requires a lot of experimentation to integrate. As a result, we had to do a lot of trial and error to figure out how to apply this style in different contexts within the game. For example, for the visual novel phases, we play with very pronounced shadows, a bit like Mike Mignola, with backgrounds that have a single shadow value. This gives a very clear and graphic result.

And at the same time, it fits well with our technical constraints. Putting a PNG in the background with this style remains clear, impactful, and above all, inexpensive to produce. For a small studio, that’s invaluable. We also used this style in the tactical parts of the game, with a mix of 2D and 3D. For example, the floors are hand-painted but procedurally generated. It’s a hybrid approach that allows us to stay true to the artistic direction while saving time with a slightly alternative workflow. And what’s great is that since we don’t follow AAA pipelines, we get more unusual visual results that you don’t see everywhere.

PnT: We also wanted to talk about the creative process. How do you go from an idea or concept art to a complete scene? I get the impression that you manage several layers in parallel: the visuals, the code, the narrative… How does that work in practice, for example for a narrative arc with its dialogues, settings, characters, etc.?

Rachel: In terms of organization, we have a structured process. Astrid and Alex write the outline of the script, which they then translate into instructions in Ink, an interactive writing tool, which is then integrated into Godot, our main engine.

So we have a first level, the narrative, which lays out the overall structure of what we want to do for a chapter or a scene. Visually, we then rely on what Gobert produces. For the maps, for example, his illustrations are our starting point. When we create environments, we reuse elements of his work or draw inspiration from it. But what’s great is that we also have the freedom to suggest things. If someone on the team has an idea for a particular environment or design, they can create a mood board and come and propose something. If we like it, it goes straight into production.

Gobert remains responsible for overall artistic direction, but there is a real openness to creativity from other members. So production is quite organic: everyone can contribute ideas, we discuss them, and if they fit with the artistic direction, we develop them.

PnT: Why did you choose tools like Godot and Ink? I imagine it’s partly out of habit, but also a desire to remain accessible?

Rachel: We use Godot, Ink, Blender, and also Material Maker for environments. It’s a tool developed by a French guy, not very well known but very useful. It’s an open source alternative to software like Substance, and it allows us to create 3D textures for the game’s floors. We like these tools because they’re free and open source, but also because we’re already familiar with them. The whole team worked on Aetheris with Godot, so we already have a solid foundation. And above all, François has developed lots of in-house tools on Godot to simplify graphic integration.

I, for example, have limited background in video games. I did a little bit in school, but that’s about it. Thanks to François’ tools, I can still work on the engine without being an expert. It’s super smooth and reduces mental load. Since we’re a small, very versatile team, it’s important to be able to touch everything without getting overwhelmed.

Corto: I would add that all these software choices are not just technical or economic. We’re in Rennes, and here, it’s not yet a big hub for video games. There aren’t a ton of senior staff already trained in specific software. So we started from scratch, and we wanted to create a working environment that was accessible to people like us: curious, motivated, but not necessarily from the industry.

Take Gobert, for example: he’s an incredible artist, but he knew nothing about Godot or Blender when he started. These software programs are user-friendly; they don’t overwhelm you like Unity or Unreal, which are much harder to get started with. And that was a really good choice, even if it’s not very glamorous.

Rachel: Yes, we tinker around a lot, but that’s how we learn. We make mistakes, we start over, and little by little, we progress. That’s the deal: a lot of failure for a little success, but that success is something we build together.

PnT: That’s a perfect transition to the community aspect. For both Aetheris and Crown Gambit, you launched a Kickstarter campaign at the beginning of the project. Obviously, I imagine it wasn’t meant to finance the entire development, so why did you choose to go that route right from the prototype phase, or even before?

Corto: For Crown Gambit, we were really at the very beginning of the prototype, which we finished a month and a half after the campaign. Why Kickstarter? First of all, for obvious economic reasons. But above all, it serves to reassure other financiers. It shows that the project has an audience, that it’s not just a small team working in a corner. It gives it legitimacy, especially with banks and potential partners.

Beyond that, it’s also our way of managing a kind of early access. For us, Early Access is reserved for backers. That way, we know that the people testing the game are invested and really want to support the project. It’s not like board game campaigns where you get lots of goodies. In video games, if you pledge, it’s because you believe in the project.

And that’s valuable because it gives us qualitative feedback. For example, in Crown Gambit, we sometimes wonder if we’ve found the right balance between dialogue and combat phases. And those players can tell us, “There’s a little too much text here,” or “That moment works really well.” In Aetheris, for example, we originally had a timer that represented the advancing fog, but no visual fog. And lots of people told us, “I don’t feel threatened.” As a result, we added a really thick fog to the screen, and the feedback was immediately more positive. We don’t think we know everything. We make the game, yes, but we know that the players will help us make it a good game. It’s really a collaborative effort.

PnT: And on Aetheris, when you were in that same alpha phase, were there moments when you said to yourselves, “We’re going to have to change everything”?

Corto: On Aetheris, four months after the Kickstarter campaign, we threw out almost everything. We scrapped 80% of the code. We started from scratch. Aetheris was a more experimental project, so it was more prone to radical decisions. But even in big studios, this kind of thing happens. Look at The Last of Us: they canceled their multiplayer mode after years of development because they felt it wouldn’t find an audience. And we’re talking about Naughty Dog, with all their resources.

When we make these kinds of choices, it’s often for artistic or game design reasons. It’s not impossible that we’ll have to change some things, but we obviously hope to avoid a major overhaul like we did with Aetheris.