If you’re a fan of Gravity Falls and cozy gaming, you’re in luck! Dandelion Developers, a student-run indie game studio, has combined the two in a delightfully eclectic marriage with their upcoming game Nothing Strange Here.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Hampus Berger, the studio owner/producer, for a closer look at their upcoming mystery game. You’ll play as an investigative journalist, uncovering the town’s secrets.
For what it’s worth, I was involved in the play-test and adored the demo, and there’s a lot to love about Nothing Strange Here
Nothing Strange Here is a mystery for pop culture enthusiasts
Hi Hampus! Firstly, tell me about Nothing Strange Here What can players expect when they step into the world of Larcenest Gap?
Nothing Strange Here has a wide variety of things to expect, everything from hidden gnomes to cozy and wholesome scenery with different animals, and a bunch of unique weird looking characters. But beneath all the fun and flavourful, there is a mystery that lies hidden within the town’s deepest secrets.
Speaking of fun and flavourful, there are a lot of pop culture references cleverly braided throughout the game. What was the biggest influence behind Nothing Strange Here?
I would say Gravity Falls is our biggest inspiration, but the team also has very diverse interests and we actually played into those, allowing for all kinds of references being added to the game. Where we have inspiration from shows such as Adventure Time, all the way to shows such as Smiling Friends or even X-Files.
Let’s talk about the making-of process. How did the team come up with Nothing Strange Here and shape it into what it is today?
So the origin story behind our team is quite interesting. We all attended the same University in Stockholm, a 3-year programme. And during our second year, I realized that the school was not really teaching us enough about game development in general.
And with the industry going into a large decline at that time, I figured we needed to step up our game if we wanted to have any chance of being a part of this industry.
So I gathered students who were willing to work extra hard, by doing more projects outside of school and I started Dandelion Developers. We then made a horror game (Haunting Memories) as our first project and launched on Steam, in order to learn the whole Steam Process as well.
We later decided to work on another game called What Comes Next, in order to keep refining our game development skills, this time focusing more on creating a larger more refined project.
What Comes Next didn’t end up going too well, due to people leaving the project.
But the core of the team stayed together. And we decided at the end of our third year to start yet another project again, when no one in our class was given an internship (we decided not to just sit around and do nothing, but to keep working hard to make our dreams come true).
So then we arrive at the creation of Nothing Strange Here. I personally want everyone to feel included and for everyone to be able to voice their opinions, so for every project we have made I let everyone in the team pitch different ideas, and then we decide as a team what project we want to work on.
So our Sound Designer Petri, came up with the base idea for Nothing Strange Here, based on one of his favourite games Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. We then refined the idea together as a team and came up with what is now Nothing Strange Here.
You started as a Twitch streamer before you decided to pursue game dev. Do you think your experience as a streamer informs your personal development process when you’re working on a new game?
Funnily enough, I did learn a lot from Streaming for many years, but nothing of that really correlates directly into game development. I think that just helped me become more secure in myself, and not afraid to talk in front of other people.
Which eventually steered me more into the Producer role I have right now. But the way that I streamed back in the day was more of a brainless approach, I just went live and played games. Nothing more really. While now when I am a Producer, I have to plan much more, and keep a strong structure for the team.
So when you play Nothing Strange Here yourself– what’s the most fun part of the gameplay experience for you?
To me personally, I love mysteries so whenever I test our game for bugs or anything, I always end up doing the main story over and over again.
Other than that, I love our Quest Outcomes as we call them. When you finish a Quest and decide what article to write, seeing how the world around you changes is just so fun to me, and some outcomes are so funny that I end up doing them over and over just to see or hear the new characters for example.
What’s been the most rewarding aspect of working on Nothing Strange Here?
I think working with the team, we have an incredibly fun working atmosphere where we sit in Discord everyday together while working. Joking and hanging out, coming up with ideas and just talking about life.
That’s awesome! What are your favourite features in the game that you think will resonate with your players?
This is quite hard to say, since we have seen people say they like many different aspects of our game. But I think Quest Outcomes and our Main Story is two [sic] of our biggest features.
I’m so excited to try this. What cozy game aspects are nestled inside Nothing Strange Here?
In terms of cozy, we have focused on creating beautiful atmospheres, areas and artstyle to go along with that. We also try to have fun looking characters and animals.
And I also think our Sound Designer Petri does an amazing job with not only the music but also all the sound effects for everything we have in the game, and I know that it will be even better once we implement everything we have planned.
On top of that, I also think some of our Quest Outcomes are very wholesome and cute, due to how the townsfolk react and what happens when you write that specific article!
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. I have one more question for you. What accessibility features will Nothing Strange Here have?
We recently had a new member join the team that will redo all of our UI/UX. So I can’t say too much on that yet, but as a Producer I have been very clear on this, and I will make sure that we will do our best in order to have many accessibility options for the game. I think it’s important that everyone has a chance to fully experience the game in the best way possible.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, Hampus! I can’t wait to unravel all of Nothing Strange Here’s mysteries.
The game is slated for a 2026 release. In the meantime, you can start investigating the demo and wishlist the game!
