There may still be mysteries in the game unsolved.
The last we saw of him was a collaboration on 2016 VR game SuperHypeCube.
A games journalist is probably the last person he wants to hear from.
This will sound silly but did you realise the 10-year anniversary was approaching?
And if you did, was it something you knew instinctively or did something remind you?
Was there a sudden rush of memory or a moment your mind flashed to?
Where does ‘Fez turning 10’ take you?
Phil Fish:I find it alarming.
Adecade?That’s absurd.
The five-year anniversary stuff we did feels like yesterday.
An even higher number?!
Time is wild, man.
Are you marking the 10th anniversary of Fez in any way?
Phil Fish:I’m planning a quiet evening of drinking and crying.
How does that make you feel to hear that?
Phil Fish:It’s very flattering, but I don’t know if it’s true.
That’s like me grilling one great steak and calling myself a steak master.
I don’t think it only plays as a retro/nostalgic thing.
Good pixel art is still coming out all the time so it still feels contemporary.
Definitely never expected it to have that kind of longevity, though.
I’m forever surprised by that.
Have your thoughts about the game changed in the 10 years since it was released?
Perspective can be a powerful modifier.
Maybe your opinion has changed multiple times since launch.
What do you think about the game now?
We were just kids and we had no idea what we were doing.
I cannot stress enough how little we knew what we were doing.
To be fair, I still don’t know what I’m doing.
Have you thought often about Fez over the years?
Is it something that’s always there, ready to surface, or has it gradually faded away?
And did you - do you - ever replay it?
Phil Fish:Oh it’s definitely always there.
It’s a part of me, for better or worse.
I don’t really replay it for fun.
When you see it there before you - either literally or figuratively - what do you see?
Do you see imperfections or an achievement you’re rightfully proud of?
And are there things you would change?
Phil Fish:Little bit of both.
I have a few regrets.
Mostly things I’d like to remove.
Do you have any favourite moments in the game, or favourite bits of it?
Phil Fish:I’m particularly proud of the whole intro sequence leading up to the first hub.
And of course, the soundtrack.
I’ve always felt it was the best thing about the game.
You only have to look at readily-sharedpictures of scribbled-in notebooksto see this.
Phil Fish:We wanted to make a game full of secrets and cheat codes from the start.
Like I did with Zelda when I was a kid.
The sort of game that would lend itself to weird urban legends and wild theories.
How deep did you think players would be willing to go?
Did you ever have to hold back for fear you’d lose them?
Phil Fish:My point of reference for that was how deepIwas willing to go when I played Riven.
That was the threshold.
And I was willing to do a lot for that game.
The whole notes-taking thing comes from my own experience doing the same thing with Riven.
And Riven went a step further.
Losing people was never really a concern because of the way the game was structured.
But for anti-cubes, anything was fair game.
The other side being: what was it like when the game launched and they dived in?
Did their reactions to the mysteries surprise you?
It was a delight to see people posting pictures of their notes.
What surprised us the most is how the community brute forced the monolith puzzle.
Phil Fish:I’m not sure.
I don’t often keep tabs on that.
And that’s very satisfying to me.
I hope it stays that way a long time.
Some of the theories people come up with are amazing, though.
Phil Fish:Honestly the development part is a blur.
I pretty much only remember the fun, social highlights.
Getting our first office space.
We used to throw great parties at the Polyplex, as we called it.
It’s a testament to the game you made.
Do you ever feel the pull to return to it?
Phil Fish:Yes!
I just need 200 million dollars and 5000 developers for 15 years to bring my grandiose vision to life.
Similarly, do you ever feel the pull to return to making games?
Or are you making games?
