Blue Wednesday, the winner of the Best Audio at Indie Game Award 2024, combines jazz music with puzzle-solving, guiding players to explore the differences between life, dreams, and reality.
The game’s uniquely styled character design has gamers jokingly commenting, “I’ve never seen such a unmotivated protagonist!” Hyegyeom Kim, the producer at Buff Studio, shares that the core idea they wanted to convey to players came from a video comment they stumbled upon: life is like the process of playing a long note until it sounds right, which is why the protagonist continues to explore.
Hyegyeom Kim admits that although he has composed music before, he has never performed on stage and knows nothing about jazz music. Therefore, to develop this game, he spent a lot of time delving into communities of musicians. As he learned various skills and knowledge, he gradually became familiar with the genre and was able to incorporate more “human-like” plots into the game.
The recognition from gamers and Indie Game Award can be said to be the most memorable surprise during the development. However, the team has no intention of stopping their exploration here; their upcoming works will showcase completely different styles, aiming to connect with gamers from more perspectives.
From Wrong Notes to the Right Life: Musicians Inspire the Core Idea
“During the early stages of development, I saw a video of a jazz musician’s reaction to playing the wrong notes, which gave me a great shock and inspiration!” Hyegyeom Kim says that the main idea conveyed in that video was that if the notes played don’t sound right, keep playing them until they sound correct.
The online comments also extended this attitude as an analogy to life, which deeply shocked him and made him feel like he had found the core message that Blue Wednesday wanted to convey to gamers.
Hyegyeom Kim shares that because he had extensive contact with musicians during the development, he gradually understood and became familiar with many amusing “musician memes.”
For example, there are always people who can’t tell the difference between a bass and a guitar. Or when band members encourage each other not to be too nervous before going on stage, they always say, “If we messed up, blame the sound equipment!” He injected these interesting elements into the game, shaping the work’s image and resonating with more musicians.
Chasing Game Market Changes and Seeking Breakthroughs
Since its establishment, Buff Studio has released many successful works, such as Advanced and Underworld Office. However, given the ever-changing nature of the gaming industry and market environment, the team believes that members should have the ability to develop for all platforms.
Therefore, Blue Wednesday has shifted to the PC platform, becoming a new attempt and challenge. Hyegyeom Kim reveals that although members may not necessarily participate in every project, such as himself not having been involved in the development of the Underworld Office series, any work that receives player’s feedback is a great encouragement to the team and becomes a driving force for development.
“Taipei Game Show has an amazing reputation among Korean developers due to its ongoing collaboration with BIC Festival!” Hyegyeom Kim points out that the team was previously aware of Indie Game Award and decided to make every effort to promote their new work, leading to their decision to participate in the competition.
Now that they have successfully won the award, it is a tremendous boost for the team members. The team also reveals that their next title will be a train-themed construction game that combines science fiction with roguelike elements. They invite gamers to fully enjoy Blue Wednesday while also looking forward to the team’s brand new creation.
Get ‘Blue Wednesday’ on Steam, and top up your Steam Wallet on Codashop to earn points.
