Pierre Corbinais has been writing for and about games for a decade now and he is the writer of Haven. He’s mostly known for Bury Me My Love, a reality-inspired fiction about love and exile, and ‘Til Cows tear us apart, a two-cowgirls’ road-movie in space but also created a lot of other small games during various game jams. Haven is the biggest project he worked on so far (and he can’t wait for you to play it).
What’s your opinion about romance in video games? What is good and bad, from your point of view?
My main opinion about romance in video games is that we don’t see enough of it, and when you think about it, it’s actually a bit baffling. Romances are everywhere except in video games: I don’t know about the other countries, but in France, every year without fail, the best selling novels are love stories. Turn on a mainstream radio and there’s a fairly good chance that a love song will be playing. And romance (whether it is comedy or drama) had always been one of the strongest film genres: While released more than 20 years ago, Titanic still is the third highest grossing film of all times (#1 in France!), how crazy is that? Everything points to think that people LOVE romances, but a bunch of exceptions aside, we don’t have romance in games, at best we have flirting (in dating sims or RPGs). Why is that? There is this idea floating around that video games are mostly played by men and that men aren’t into romance, but I think both these assumptions are untrue. To me, the main reason why there is so few romances in game is that we, game creators, still don’t really know how to make them. It’s “easy” to make a game where you shoot people (“If bullet collides with enemy then enemy = dead”, but how do you program a game about falling in love? Being in love? Falling out of love? Everything must be rethought, reinvented. That’s a tough job, and a lot of work, but what a great challenge!
Where would you like to see the genre go? What kind of romance story or style would you like to see in a video game?
I would like it to go in every directions, form-wise and content-wise. There are so many different love stories to tell, and so many ways to interact with them to invent. Just try to imagine how every video game genre could be twisted to become a love story: What is a First Person Romance? What is a relationship management game? A heart racing game? A love puzzle? And we’re not even talking about the new genres that might emerge. As for the content, there is a subreddit called r/relationships where people share relationships stories (romantic or not) to get advice from the community. I love browsing through the posts there. They are sometimes funny, sometimes grave, sometimes relatable, sometimes just plain weird… I think these posts tell a lot about what being human is, about what loving is, and I’d like every single one of them to be turned into a video game.
Haven has quite a modern treatment in terms of dialogs, compared to traditional RPGs. Was it difficult to come up with that? How do people react to that style?
Haven’s dialogue style came up pretty naturally. While you can find some epicness in the game, I felt it was more about the little things, the daily life, and I needed the dialogues to reflect that. Yu and Kay shouldn’t talk like badass-and-somehow-also-super-witty heroes, they should talk like us, with our hesitations, verbal tics, cursing… I’m really into alternative comics that tell “slice of life” stories (Hernandez brothers’ Love & Rockets, Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise, Vanyda’s The Building Opposite to cite a few), I probably draw this style of writing from there. I didn’t get the chance to see a lot of people playing the game so far so I’m yet not sure how people will react to that style, but the team and voice-actors seemed to like it! The very first dialogue I wrote to try out that style and see if it fitted the game ended up becoming Haven’s first scene.
There’s also a lot of humour in the game. Do you think it’s a way to make the players have fun or to make them get attached to the characters?
Yes, people usually enjoy to laugh and smile, so why not allow that? But humor is also a useful tool for Haven’s narrative structure. In Haven there are a lot of dialogue scenes that aren’t there to make the story advance toward an ending. They’re just slices of life meant to create attachment to the characters, chill moments spent in the Nest. How can you satisfyingly end such scenes that don’t really lead anywhere plot-wise? There aren’t that many solutions: You can end it with something cute, something deep, or something funny. Juggling with the three is the best way to keep the player surprised, and thus entertained.
Do you have a special process for writing dialogs? What’s your one advice for writing dialogs?
Writing is a very weird and personal thing, the more I talk with other writers the more I realise there aren’t two writing processes alike. Some people will tell you that you need to precisely know where your dialogue is going beforehand, me, I tend to just go with the flow and let the characters decide for themselves. Most of the time, when I start writing a dialogue scene, I have no idea how it’s gonna end. This is a terrible thing to do when you work in movies for example, because movies only lasts 90mn and you don’t have one minute to spare. But I think it works pretty well with video games, especially when you want your dialogues to branch in different directions: not having an ending in mind is a great way to allow the emergence of multiple ones. As for the advice I will give this very simple one: whenever you’re stuck in your writing, drop your pen (or keyboard, or typewriter) and go outside. Walk. Sit in a park. Have a coffee (and don’t forget your notebook in case the inspiration comes back). Breaks aren’t a waste of time, sitting in front of an empty page is.
Finally, everyone wants to know. Are you more a Yu or Kay person?
I put a lot of myself in both characters, Kay got my poor sense of humour and Yu my terrible sense of direction, but I’m probably more a Kay person overall. Yet, when playing the game, I mostly play Yu. Go figure.
Fugitive lovers in space: breaking down the 3 sides of gameplay in Haven
Hi everyone, We want to share with you a recent article by Emeric Thoa (Creative Director) that goes into depth about the gameplay you can expect with Haven. Please enjoy.
Fugitive lovers in space
I like to pitch Haven as “Romeo and Juliet, but they survived and escaped to a deserted planet to live together.” But that doesn’t say much about the gameplay. So I would like to share more about your experience as you play the game — what you actually get to do.
The game experience in Haven is created by the intersection of three systems:
Exploration through gliding
Combat
Preparing for your next expedition in the Nest
The story is told during these three types of gameplay sequences. But let’s dive a little deeper in these systems.
In a Japanese RPG, what we call “traversal gameplay” is usually pretty simple. You just move your character without any challenge, until you start a fight or reach your destination. With Haven, we wanted to reinforce the feeling of being a couple, even during exploration. We wanted to make it feel relaxing, beautiful and fun. Going down a ski slope with a friend can really feel like that. Gliding over the tall grass is Haven’s version of skiing together.
In order to explore the planet, you follow “Flow threads” that will fill your boots and gauntlets with Flow, the natural energy that powers pretty much everything in their world. It’s also used to get rid of the Rust, the red crust that corrupts the planet and creatures. Gather Flow, clean the Rust and discover resources: food or medicinal plants, materials for combat or to repair the Nest (your spaceship/home), or even souvenirs and items for your home.
Following a Flow thread is usually as chill as going down a simple ski slope, but sometimes you can find more difficult ones that will require to drift, and anticipate tight turns.
Exploration by gliding will also open up new “bridges” that connect one floating fragment to another, and allow you to reach new areas.
Combat and pacify rusted creatures
While exploring the fragments of the planet, you might encounter aggressive creatures and have to fight them. Combat is, again, thought of as a couple’s experience. It’s pretty much necessary to coordinate Yu and Kay’s attacks, or have them protect each other.
Combat happens in real-time, but you charge orders by holding buttons. Sometimes you have to react quickly to shield yourself, sometimes you have to time an attack performed by both characters, and sometimes it’s better to chain attacks, one weakening the creature and the other dealing the heavy damage.
That combat system is thought to make you want to optimize your chain of actions so that everything flows, a bit like in a rhythm game. When you’ve found the right pace, it feels very satisfying to chain actions one after the other, minimizing the hits taken and maximising the damage to the rusted creatures.
At the end of the fight, the creatures are “pacified,” meaning they are cleaned from the rust and they go back to a peaceful state.
Cuddle and prepare for your next expedition
Eventually, you need to go back to your ship to either heal yourself, cook some tasty meals or bring back the stuff you found. The ship is called The Nest for a good reason: it’s a place for nesting.
In the Nest you can craft different things: cures for improving your health, combat capsules that’ll prove helpful against the rusted creatures, and of course you can cook delicious meals.
As the characters have meals, they are not hungry anymore (when they are hungry they complain and are less efficient in combat). But most importantly, cooking and having meals together is the time for bonding. Cooking, sharing a good meal and taking a little break is when they grow, as characters and as a couple. It develops their relationship, and leads to levelling up.
In Haven, you won’t gain that many experience points in combat, you gain more by just spending good time together. That really makes Haven different, as it’s usually skipped in RPGs. You never see your heroes in their intimity. In Haven, you do.
Be with them at all times
The story is a key element in Haven’s game experience. Are they going to settle quietly on that deserted planet? Will the Apiary find them and come to separate them?
But the pace of the story comes from that intertwined game experience of gliding together to explore the valleys of planet Source, fighting and pacifying creatures and coming back home for resting, cocooning and preparing the next expedition. All in all, Haven’s game experience is about living with Yu and Kay, every minute of their adventurous daily life.
We’re hard at work to finish the game and we will soon be able to let you know when you can play Haven, so stay posted!
Watch The Game Bakers Developers Play Through the Haven Demo
Hello everyone, We hope you are doing well and enjoying the Steam Autumn Festival.
We wanted to share a video we created where Haven's writer, Pierre Corbinais and Executive producer Audrey Leprince sit down with Trish and play through the demo of Haven.
During the session, they talk about the some of the ideas behind the creation of Haven and why healthy relationships can and should exist in video games.
Please tune in on Friday, October 9th at 8:00 PM CEST / 12 PM PT on Steam, and enjoy!
Play Haven demo, the journey of two runaway lovers on a deserted planet
Hello everyone,
We are The Game Bakers, and maybe you know us from Furi, our boss-fight only - some say hardcore - game, but with Haven, we are taking you on a different journey.
In Haven you share the journey of two lovers escaped to a forgotten planet, leaving everything they knew behind. Play two lovers at the same time as they settle into an unknown world and try to repair their ship. Enjoy moments of everyday life as a relatable couple while cooking meals, crafting and collecting precious resources to make it to the next day.
[previewyoutube="ragUUT9bsFQ;full"] The demo available during the festival will give you a glimpse of the adventure awaiting you. The demo is about 20 mn to an hour-long, to play solo (co-op mode not available yet). Yes, this is the demo some of you already played, we know you'd love more content, and we are working hard to finish the game.
We hope you enjoy the journey with our cute duo!
[Gamescom] - AMA on Haven with Audrey Leprince (Executive Producer)
Haven is part of the grand games celebration at Gamescom! Come and visit our booth on the Indie Arena Booth. You will be able to play our demo, meet a friendly salamash and talk to our development team!
We have organized 2 Aks me Anything for the occasion.
Ask me Anything - Sunday August 30th, 17h CEST - 8AM PT Audrey Leprince is the co-founder of The Game Bakers. On Haven, she is taking care of a lot of things from Executive Production to Co-Creative Direction but also Publishing and Studio management. Audrey will be on Haven booth on the Indie Arena Booth Sunday 30 August from 3 PM to 4 PM.
[Gamescom] - AMA on Haven with Pierre Corbinais (Writer)
Haven is part of the grand games celebration at Gamescom! Come and visit our booth on the Indie Arena. You will be able to play our demo, meet a friendly salamash and talk to our development team!
We have organized 2 Aks me Anything for the occasion.
Ask me Anything - Saturday August 29th, 10 AM CEST - 1 AM PT Pierre Corbinais is the writer of Haven, but he is also taking care of the narrative design. He gave life to Yu and Kay, and wrote the dialogues which will make you smile. Pierre is quite a big deal, he also wrote fantastic games like Burry Me My Love and has been reviewing alternative games in his Oujevipo.fr. Pierre will be on Haven booth on the Indie Arena Booth Saturday 29th August from 10 AM to 11 AM.
Haven - Gamescom rendez-vous and summer shows recap
Hello everyone, We hope the summer has been treating you well. We wanted to give you a heads-up about our upcoming rendez-vous later this week and update you on what happened over the last months!
Gamescom rendez-vous this week
First things first: we have prepared a few delicacies for Gamescom coming later this week!. You don't want to miss:
Visiting us on our cosy virtual Indie Arena Booth from Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th. Some of our team members will be on the booth, and if we are not, you will be in the good hands ... errr paws?... of a friendly Salamash... ---> This way to the booth.
Joining us on the booth for our Ask Me Anything sessions: with Pierre Corbinais, Haven's writer Saturday 29th (10 AM CEST) and with Audrey Leprince, Executive Producer Sunday 30th (3 PM CEST)
Haven demo will also be up on Steam again for those of you who haven't tried it yet.
To conclude catch the Awesome Indies show Saturday, streamed on IGN. The count down will start Saturday 29th at 7:50 am PT / 16h50 CEST and you won't want to miss the beginning (hint, hint) ...
Haven Booth on the Indie Arena Booth
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Take a break in Haven
Emeric Thoa, our Creative Director shared his thoughts about the creation of Haven, and in particular all the attention that was given to create an experience that is smooth, welcoming and in some ways "light" in all aspects of the game. A different kind of recipe! Read the beginning below and the full article on our blog.
Emeric Thoa: People often ask why we didn’t do a sequel to Furi, and I usually answer that we made Haven because our goal is to surprise players, to innovate, to explore new experiences. This is the absolute truth.
But there’s another side to it that I don’t always tell: Furi was exhausting to make. I needed a pause from fast paced action. I wanted a game that felt like a break between two action games.
When I was working on AAA games, I played pretty much every blockbuster to know the market, the competition. But between a game of Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, I needed a pause, and I used to play 30 minutes of Flower. I remember this time fondly. This game helped me relax between two overwhelming experiences.
That feeling was at the core of what I wanted to make with Haven: a game that feels like a gentle breeze. A game that lets you relax. A game that’s like holding hands on a nice outdoor walk.
One way to achieve that was of course with Haven’s concept: the love story of a couple trying to stay together. A couple gliding over tall grass on a deserted planet. But that relaxing feeling doesn’t come only from the game setting. All the game design around it has to make the experience smooth and chill. I wanted a game that felt light. Lighter than most modern big games that ask you to remember so many things.
If you don’t see what I mean by that, think about any big AAA open-world game or RPG. They all have tons of features, most of the time the same features but with tiny differences in their implementation. Character progression, with lots of characteristics. Weapons and upgrades. Skill trees. Combos. Vehicles. AI teammates. Consumables items. Wide variety of lootable objects. Exotic gameplays like puzzles or races…
All those features and content are exciting. It sometimes adds depth, it helps build the lore and makes the experience immersive. But it’s also a bit tiring. Playing those games is like learning a new language. There is so much content that, naturally, it means a lot to learn and remember.
In order to create that relaxing feeling in Haven, we had to drop all that content. We had to reduce the amount of information needed. It’s a game where we want you to feel free: you broke from your chains and you explore a mysterious planet. We don’t want the game to be a drag by asking you to remember too much. To make it feel simple, we needed to make it lighter.
The article also shared more about some of the game mechanics, with screenshots of the characters status or the inventory.
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Summer shows recap
So much happened this summer during the many events and shows that featured Haven. It was quite something, right? The summer of all shows! We hope you have managed to catch them all. If you haven't, worry not, we're making sure you didn't miss any bit of new content.
E3 didn't happen this year, but the shows that traditionally take place during the conference took place online, like the PC Gaming Show. You can find below the short trailer we created for this special occasion. [previewyoutube="IPyRa76nTlg;full"]
Yu & Kay were invited to quite a few other shows this summer and we shared some new footage of the game. As it can be hard to keep track of all of them, you will find below all the videos.
5 minutes of Gameplay - Guerilla Collective
[previewyoutube="3m4fBhMEHSA;full"]
Commented Trailer - IGN Summer of Gaming
[previewyoutube="QJ6dpNrSqvA;full"]
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Stay in touch and thank you!
Keep updated by following our YouTube channel to make sure you don't miss any video, and of course by following us on our Social Networks.
We are receiving amazing fan for Furi and Haven! Thank you to all of you who made some art inspired by one of our games.
You played the demo and want to know more about Haven or you want to discover the game for the first time? This event is made for you!
[previewyoutube="bMxAK96Yq6s;full"]
Emeric Thoa, Creative Director and Mylène Lourdel, Communication specialist will play the beginning of the game and chat with players. It will be the perfect occasion to discover more about Haven.
The live stream session will take place on Steam at 9 PM CEST / 1 PM PT on Wednesday, June 17th.
See you there!
Play Haven demo, the journey of two runaway lovers on a deserted planet
Hello everyone,
We are The Game Bakers, and maybe you know us from Furi, our boss-fight only - some say hardcore - game, but with Haven, we are taking you on a different journey.
In Haven you share the journey of two lovers escaped to a lost planet in a desperate attempt to stay together. You play as Yu and Kay, gliding over the grasslands of a shattered planet, unravelling its mysteries as you look for a way to settle down.
The demo will be available for the Summer Festival and will give you a glimpse of the adventure awaiting you. The demo is about 30 mn to an hour long, to play solo (co-op mode not available yet). Yes this is the demo some of you already played, we know you'd love more content, and we are working hard to finish the game!
We hope you enjoy the journey with our cute duo!
Haven Ask Me Anything on Discord
If you have questions about Haven, welcome to our AMA with Emeric Thoa, Creative Director of the game, and co-founder of The Game Bakers!
[previewyoutube="ragUUT9bsFQ;full"]
The event will last one hour starting 10 PM CEST / 2 PM PDT this Saturday June 20th on our Discord Server on the #questions-answers channel!
