First off, a huge "thank you" to everyone who played our demo of Eyes in the Dark during Steam Next Fest!
Your comments and feedback have done more than help improve our debut game; they've brought joy, light, and relief to the 7 of us at Under the Stairs that've been "in the dark" (so to speak) crafting this. The last 5 years have been anything but predictable for an independent studio in Croatia like ours.
Despite COVID and a major earthquake here in Zagreb that left our brand-new office and most of the city center totally unusable, our belief in this project is what has kept us going through all of the curveballs.
We didn't really know what to expect when we released the demo, so we feared the worst; then we started seeing your posts, your streams, and the incredibly heartwarming messages from players all around the world. I can’t tell you how much that kind of support means to a small studio that is just starting out.
In appreciation, we're extending the demo's availability until June 27 -- giving you a whole extra week to explore Bloom Manor, discover new items, try out new tactics, and tell all your friends about it before the full version of Eyes in the Dark launches on July 14.
Until then!
Vladimir Bogdanić Director, Under the Stairs
Unload a swarm of plentiful, exploding, burning shots!
Victoria packs the most deadly trigger button in this build. With full ammo, she has at least 10 shots (Extra Shot Augment x2). If used all at once, she can shoot them all over the place…not to deal damage immediately, but to make mines stick all over walls, ceilings, and ground (Detonation Mines). And then, when the trap is ready and the enemies are a-swarming, she just presses the button and watches them burn (Burn Augment).
Input this code and transform into a paratrooper of doom! Play the demo now!
In this build, our eleven year-old tinkering maverick turned herself into a slow-falling paratrooper of doom. Get Victoria on high ground - perfect for the open spaces of the Garden Zone - and just jump into freefall. The Feather Shoes make Victoria slowly glide groundwards and lets her take her time to shower the enemies with projectiles (Sparkle Bulb) and sow a slowly burning inferno (Burn Battery).
Eyes in the Dark: Developer Stream #2 ft. Vladimir Bogdanic and Filip Neduk
Fight with light against the dark in this “roguelight” platformer starring Victoria Bloom! Drive back the darkness that's overrun Bloom Manor and conquer swarms of creatures as you discover powerful new items to upgrade your arsenal. Are you ready to enter the ever-changing manor?
Join Vladimir Bogdanić (Director) and Filip Neduk (Designer) as they show off new gameplay from the demo and more during our developer stream!
Eyes in the Dark: Developer Stream ft. Vladimir Bogdanic and Filip Neduk
Fight with light against the dark in this “roguelight” platformer starring Victoria Bloom! Drive back the darkness that's overrun Bloom Manor and conquer swarms of creatures as you discover powerful new items to upgrade your arsenal. Are you ready to enter the ever-changing manor?
Join Vladimir Bogdanić (Director) and Filip Neduk (Designer) as they show off new gameplay from the demo and more during our developer stream!
Eyes in the Dark Demo Available for a Limited Time
Get your hands on an early demo of Eyes in the Dark during Steam Next Fest, which runs today June 13 through June 20, 2022!
We're very excited for players to explore Bloom Manor and fight with light using whatever weapons, gadgets, and secrets await within.
Not only does this give you a sneak peek at what awaits on July 14, your early feedback will help us make the game better.
Also, be sure to keep an eye on our Twitter for some exclusive cheats throughout the week…
Eyes on the Dev #2: Why A Flashlight? + Next Fest Demo News
Hello everyone, and welcome to the second Eyes on the Dev! My name is Filip Neduk, Game Designer at Under the Stairs on Eyes in the Dark. Since our first game jam in 2014, we have meticulously tinkered with the flashlight design to create an entirely unique gameplay experience. Here we will shed some light on just how we decided that Victoria would fight with light, what inspired these choices, and how the mechanics of Tinkering have evolved since we were first called Light&Dark.
Creating Our Guiding Light
The initial idea for the Flashlight as our primary weapon came when I joined earlier on Light&Dark, starting from the first concept art I created. I really enjoyed the way the light from the flashlight cut through the dark and revealed what was behind. There were hints in the dark that the monsters were there, but you were never sure how they looked or how big they were. I think this is where the idea originated. The image of a kid holding a flashlight alone in a mansion is a powerful one. Everyone who has ever held one as a kid knows the feeling of what a powerful tool it can be for the imagination. When you take it to the next step, and use it as a weapon against the dark, the possibilities are endless.
Fighting With Light
When we started toying with the idea of light as a mechanic, we thought of different ways to use light. In Light&Dark Victoria had a lantern, matches, and many different light sources. The flashlight was always the most fun to use. Everything changed when we tested controlling the flashlight as a twin-stick. You control the character with one stick, and you spin the flashlight beam with the other. You had more control over how to use it.
The other thing about the flashlight that piqued our interest is the way it damages enemies. Light behaves like light does in the real world. It is very stylized, but it works the same way. It cannot go through walls. The way you damage enemies isn’t by hitting them, it is by exposing them in light. We asked ourselves if it is possible to make the whole damage system based on burning enemies with light not hitting them. This was our jumping off point. After that we played on how light works and different effects it can have on enemies. Some light burns them, other types of light bounce off walls. They work as regular weapons in games with a twist that you must keep the enemies in the light to do optimal damage. This little twist changes the way you think when approaching combat and the enemy’s behavior reflects that.
Tinkering with Tinkering
Once we had decided on the flashlight, we had to think about how the mechanics would act within the world of Eyes in the Dark. This came from the background story of our protagonist, Victoria Bloom, who is fascinated by science and technology. This interest creates almost a special bond between her and her flashlight, it isn’t just an item she picks up. The flashlight is something she’s interested in and loves to tinker with. She knows how it works and she can modify it to suit her needs. This was what inspired the tinkering mechanic. You collect different types of quirky bulbs that modify the way you use light in the game. You can have only one bulb at a time, but you can upgrade it by using different batteries that modify the core bulb even further. That way, you can create even more synergies with just one light bulb. It’s all about how you tinker with it to suit your playstyle.
Of all the mechanics we’ve created for Eyes in the Dark, I think Tinkering has evolved the most. In the beginning we just had a couple of upgrades that would change the arc spread, range, and damage of your flashlight. This was iterated on several times, but in the end, we decided on three main categories of items. We have the flashlight for close range, the slingshot for ranged damage (with limited ammo), and the gadgets that change your movements. Each of these categories has its own set of items and upgrades that players can experiment and tinker with. Creating weird and interesting combinations to make their playthrough fun and fresh each time.
By the way, you won't have to wait until the game launches July 14 to get your hands on Eyes in the Dark -- a FREE playable demo will be available June 13 through June 20 as part of Steam Next Fest. We're very excited for players to explore Bloom Manor and fight with light using whatever weapons, gadgets and secrets await within. Not only does this give you a sneak peek at what awaits on July 14, your early feedback will help us make the game better.
Eyes on the Dev #1 Thank You and What's Next
Hi everyone! My name is Vladimir, Director at Under the Stairs.
We're a small indie studio of seven people based in Zagreb, Croatia. Our developers come from all sorts of different backgrounds. Our programmer is a standup comedian, our game designer is an architect who also makes board games, and I myself used to have a DJing career.
Eyes in the Dark is our very first game, and getting a chance to showcase it to so many people right now is a little bit crazy and scary and weird…sort of like the game itself. We’ve been working on it on and off for more than 5 years. In fact, you may have seen us around conventions back when we were still calling it Light & Dark, before we realized the game’s distinct style required a name that stood out as well.
The game started off as a small game jam in 2014 and unexpectedly won an award. We knew we had something special, and in 2017, we formed Under the Stairs as a place to let our imaginations run wild. But the journey from game jam to actual game was a lot longer and harder than any of us expected.
We’ve had long breaks in development where we had to focus on other things to keep the lights on, but every time we looked at the project, we knew there was something special there. In February 2016 I lost my father – he was the whole main reason why I got into video games in the first place. It hit like a brick, and the project was almost canceled in the financial mess that followed. But we gave it one last push and the project eventually kicked off in full-gear.
As a brand-new studio in Croatia everything was much harder than we thought. Just when we thought things were settling in March of 2020, we moved to a new office with another company, COVID sent us back to our homes, and the other company went bankrupt. Then a major earthquake hit our capital of Zagreb and our brand-new office was suddenly totally unusable and so was most of the real-estate in the city center.
Despite all this we kept going, and in early 2021, we signed a publishing deal with Gearbox Publishing. (Oddly enough the deal was signed on the exact same day as I found out that my wife was pregnant and that my family would be growing as well.) The team at Gearbox Publishing has been absolutely incredible and have helped us every single step of the way. I can’t tell you how much that kind of support means to a small studio that is just starting out. Our journey to get this game done was a crazy ride and we are all thrilled and excited to finally get to show it to the world
Thank you all again for checking out our game, and we’ll have more to share in the coming months. We hope you'll keep a lookout for Eyes in the Dark when it launches July 14, 2022.
