We’re exploring the colorful and mysterious world of Stratospiel in this week’s Indie Game Spotlight! Stratospiel is an upcoming turn-based RPG that follows the journey of a child who awakens on a strange planet with no memories and is faced with a vast array of enemies and the choice to either destroy or befriend them. The choices you make will impact the tone and outcome of this story. We caught up with Stratospiel’s designer, writer, programmer, and composer, Vaughn Haynes, to learn more.
Stratospiel is reminiscent of other turn-based RPGs like Earthbound and Undertale—was Stratospiel inspired by either? Were there any other games that inspired you during the development process?
It’s funny—I’ve been told by my friends that the game has a lot of Earthbound vibes, but I’ve never actually played any of the Mother games. I’ll definitely have to as soon as I’m finished making this game 
I can say with confidence that this was very much inspired by Undertale, though. I played that for the first time on my Switch back in February 2020 and was absolutely blown away. I’ve wanted to make a video game forever but always backed down when I saw how much of an undertaking it is. Once I found out that Undertale was primarily made by one guy, I was like, “yeah, I can do this,” and finally got to work learning how to code and all that fun stuff. Undertale has a huge influence on Stratospiel, with its defining mechanic—acting/sparing the monsters—being implemented here. In a broader sense, though, I’d say the Mario & Luigi RPG series has had the biggest influence. I played Bowser’s Inside Story as a kid, and I loved how fast-paced the battles were without losing that feeling of RPG strategy. I also liked how the items you used in battle were also used to manipulate the overworld. Stratospiel’s battle system is a happy marriage between those two games’ battle systems. Other games that influenced Stratospiel are the WarioWare and Ace Attorney games—absurd humor is my favorite, and that has definitely worked its way into Stratospiel.
What made you choose pixel art as the art style for Stratospiel?
Because it’s the cheapest! Also, because it complements the tone of the game as well. A lot of the humor in Stratospiel is derived from fun visual gags. The further away you are from the uncanny valley, the less likely it is that your brain will get weirded out and go, “Hey, this isn’t real!” and will be more accepting of the silly things happening onscreen and hopefully laugh along with the game. The same goes for the more serious moments, too. By having a simple art style, you’re forced to make each character as distinct as possible, which helps people form closer bonds with them, which is great for eliciting a powerful emotional response.
What types of enemies can we expect to see in the game? Can you tell us a little about the main antagonist and how they fit into the game’s narrative?
I’m really happy with the enemies. I think, aside from composing the music, designing the enemies has been my favorite part of making the game. The enemies you fight can range from cute, to silly, to fearsome. They’re all unique, with their own wants, needs, goals, likes, dislikes, etc. You’ll meet a cast of fun characters along the way who accompany you on your adventure, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As for the main antagonist? You’ll have to solve the mystery to find out who that is
In what way will players’ choices impact the story of Stratospiel? Will the game have multiple endings?
Your choices impact two big things in the game: the plot and the tone. In terms of plot, I can’t really say too much because of spoilers, but the basic idea is that if you defeat someone in battle, then they’re dead. They’re out of the picture forever now. Their friends’ and family’s lives have been forever changed. But if you befriend them, then they’ll contribute their skills and resources, and that just may take you to different places. The same goes for tone—killing people is pretty dark, I would say. And of COURSE, the game will have multiple endings!!! I love it when games do that, so you bet I’ll implement that here You can see a little bit of that in the demo right now.
What do you hope players will take away from Stratospiel?
I hope players take away an appreciation for the themes that are in there. Each character and area has a central idea baked into them, and how you as a player interact with them determines their direction and arc. Like I said earlier, the game is very personal to me and is sort of like my own “shout into the void.” With everything going on in the world today, it can be hard to feel heard, getting drowned out in all the terrible things happening. Everyone has something to say, and this is my way of doing so. Choices in video games are nothing new, but having players think about the consequences of choices is something that I think games really excel at, and Stratospiel is no different. I can guarantee that fans familiar with the genre will be surprised with how things turn out!
Stratospiel will be available on Steam for Mac and Windows in Fall 2023. Follow @stratospiel for updates and other announcements, and check out the Kickstarter here!
This interview has been edited for clarity.
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