On telling the types of stories that are “harder to tell”.

Roguelikes have a hell of a reputation: unforgiving, inscrutable, and not for the faint of heart.

But the similarities pretty much conclude there.

An image from the game Midautumn, showing a purple-skinned character with long white hair and white wide eyes confronting a purple blob. They hold what looks to be a shovel - or a giant fly swatter.

The core of its attacks is a curious form of energy called Lunar Blood.

In other words, attacking enemies means first taking hits - but not necessarily damage - from them.

Nonetheless, Uduwana is optimistic about this system.

Cover image for YouTube video

As Robin Lam, you’re here to dispel wayward spirits at the behest of your grandmother.

These experiences stem from the diasporic identities of the Midautumn developers.

“We really started from our own frame of references just to start.

A screenshot of Midautumn, a pixelated, 2D, action RPG. Here we see a shot of combat, where several blobs of glowing light illuminate the screen.

So we have a team that were all from different parts of the Asian diaspora.

We have folks who are primarily Chinese, folks who are from the Philippines…

Likewise, Nambo Quay itself is born from the team’s own experiences living within diaspora communities.

Dialogue from a character known as Nadim, saying “I’ll be sleeping in the spare bedroom, but you can find me in the underground.”

These are familiar anecdotes for many Asian diaspora, which makes Nambo Quay feel immediately intimate and authentic.

A Midautumn scene in which the player has to choose between two gifts from two ancestral spirits, presented in the form of a Chinese red envelope.