Old School Gamer Magazine chats with Noam Matan Rotem, Founder, Chaos Minds, who discusses his new platform, “Luciform.”
About Luciform:
Boasting color-coded platforming gameplay – along with subtle visuals and music – Luciform also features multiple paths for adventuring types. If you’re on the lookout for a platformer that can deliver that awesome feeling of “being in the zone,” this is the game for you 🙂
Old School Gamer Magazine: How was Luciform born?
Noam Matan Rotem: About six years ago, I created a small mobile game that made use of a color-switching mechanic that would eventually become the basis for Luciform. Even though it was rough around the edges, I really liked that concept – so after releasing my first Steam game (Forgiveness: Escape Room), I decided to go back to my original idea and pursue it to completion. Luciform is the result!
Old School Gamer Magazine: What is your role in the game?
Rotem: I’m a solo game developer. I did basically everything 🙂
Old School Gamer Magazine: What has development been like?
Rotem: I’ve worked on the game full-time for over a year now and encountered a number of challenges. For example, because the main character (Luci) never stops moving forward, I wanted to make Luci’s movement predictable and controllable. This took a lot of time and effort – constantly revisiting previous work. The same goes for the game’s look and feel: The original idea was to make the world very dark and scary to increase the contrast between the colored platforms and the game’s protagonist – but the result was an empty world that felt disconnected from Luci. In due time, I made it all work with vibrant colors and beautiful scenery.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What makes Luciform special?
Rotem: In my opinion, taking a unique mechanic and building upon it is the secret behind great games. The color-based platforming in Luciform starts really simple and gradually becomes very complex. It sort of feels like an “unstoppable puzzle game” that you play in real time!
Old School Gamer Magazine: What games influenced this one the most?
Rotem: Definitely Celeste and Super Meat Boy – both amazing precision platformers in their own right.
Old School Gamer Magazine: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
Rotem: When I first made the decision to recreate the game, I was incredibly disappointed with myself because the trailer I created for the demo didn’t have that “WOW” factor. The reaction I got was more like “meh.” Now that the launch trailer for the finished game is out on YouTube and elsewhere, I’m getting this “WOW” feeling every time I watch it.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What were the major lessons learned?
Rotem: Trust your gut and keep getting feedback because it saved Luciform more than once!
Old School Gamer Magazine: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
Rotem: It’s great when players get a nostalgic feeling playing your game. Still, I think it’s important to innovate in at least one aspect – such as a really solid story, art style or game mechanic.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer?
Rotem: Playing Minecraft with friends back when everything was new. We didn’t look up any playthroughs or tutorials; instead, we figured things out on our own!
Old School Gamer Magazine: How have your previous experiences in the industry helped the game?
Rotem: I’ve learned a lot – such as the importance of an interesting trailer, localization, and accessibility options. (Note the colorblind options in Luciform.) I’m sure I’ll continue to learn even more with each new game I release.
Old School Gamer Magazine: How do you want Luciform to ultimately be remembered?
Rotem: I want Luciform to be remembered both as a real challenge and a relaxing game to play once players master it. You can play the game while daydreaming or trying to solve a problem! It’s the same thing I feel when playing through Celeste. On the first playthrough, it was really challenging. Now I can just start it and go through the entire game while thinking about my own games … or just life in general.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s next?
Rotem: I have further plans for Luciform – and some of them are already in production! I would also like to return to some of my previous prototypes and see if I can expand one of them into a full game.
Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by top publishers the likes of Nintendo, Deep Silver, Disney and EA Sports. His book series, "The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Game Developers," from McFarland and Company, has earned praise from Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Daily News and MSG Networks. He is also a former editor at NBC and National Video Games Writer at the late-Examiner.com
