Chucklefish has made a name for itself as pixel experts and has spoiled us over the years with retro-inspired and acclaimed adventures such as Starbound and Wargroove. At the Bilbao International Game Conference, our correspondent David Caballero met with senior artist Jade Evans from Chucklefish to talk about the studio and their work.
The conversation touched on the challenges of pixel-based games, where it is not as easy to illustrate emotions and the like. But this did not bother Evans, who said that she "likes how tiny the characters are. Some of them are only about 40 pixels high, and what you can fit in that, being able to fit in complex facial animations, which somehow is possible with such a small scale."
If anything, she sees pixels as a rewarding challenge, where she wants to show what they can achieve within the limitations that do exist, but does not rule out the use of modern effects sometimes to enhance the end result:
"I really enjoy those challenges, and Chucklefish in general, we're really excited by what we can do with those limits, really push it. There's stuff that pixel purists would say is great, so combining different lighting effects or camera movements, that stuff wasn't possible back in the day of traditional pixel art, and it's really exciting to be able to combine elements of 3D, that's really common now, combine elements of 3D, really nice shaders, lighting effects."
Ho also talks about how she approaches the upcoming Witchbrook, and where she finds inspiration for the bustling city with its winding roads:
"So, in terms of production, we start off with that concepting and researching, trying to research from the real world. A lot of inspiration comes from Studio Ghibli, particularly animations like Kiki's Delivery Service."
However, it turns out that the studio also uses a more unexpected tool:
"I get influences from Google Street View to get ideas from how we can make roads look nice or make buildings look nice, trying to take photos."
Check out the full interview below, complete with subtitles, to learn more about the promising Witchbrook. The original plan was to release it this year, but unfortunately it was delayed and will now be released in 2026.
