Boxville: How a Team of New Developers Created their First Game During Wartime

The year 2020 was tough in all meanings – COVID restrictions and business problems. The year 2020 was tough in all senses – COVID restrictions and business problems. BoxvilleI found that immersive games gave me a sense of security and comfort. It wasn’t long before I realized there weren’t many games that were anti-stress. I found that almost all the anti-stress games involved drama. That was too much for my taste. It was then that I created a video game to help myself, and those in need. I wanted a place where all my daily stresses could be relieved.

What should you do if, like me, you are completely new to game development? In the beginning, I experimented with Unity while assembling a unique team. Some members of our team came from the “previous life”, other ones were found by coincidence. The only thing which united us all – nobody had previous experience in game development. All processes looked like constant experiments with everything – from engine customization to animation creation and even sound recording. All processes were done according to our own preferences and not the norms of the industry.

War broke out in our lives after the first phase of concept creation and demo release. In the early hours of February 24th, 2022, war was brutally ushered in by huge Russian rocket blasts. The new reality quickly emerged: long lines for food and empty streets. Gunfire and constant explosions were accompanying all this.

We paused game development because we were disrupted. Someone had to relocate to safer areas. And someone’s development equipment or regular workspace was lost due to occupation. After a month, after we had recovered from the initial shock, we resumed our work. Even though it can be difficult to find the motivation to continue working, as creating beautiful art that is in contrast to our new reality requires positive energy and creativity, we found healing by simply starting to create. Also, one of the biggest supports in these hard times was our small but loyal community – we tried to keep them informed about the game development process and overall situation and they paid us back with their support and care.

There were still many difficulties, even before the conflict. Indies have limited funding options everywhere, but they have even fewer in Ukraine. This is because you can’t launch a Kickstarter from Ukraine. You have to go through an intermediary to do this. Also, not all platforms are working with Ukrainian studios, and trying to get development equipment is another developer’s pain. As with all great stories, ours has a happy ending – we managed to create and release our game BoxvilleS on August 16th 2023.|S and Xbox One on August 16, 2023. I hope BoxvilleThis will create a warm and cozy atmosphere that takes away your stress.

Boxville

Triomatica Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$9.99

Boxville has two functions: it is both an animated movie and a game.

Boxville is a puzzle adventure game that features speechless cans who live in a city made of cardboard boxes. They draw doodles onto the cardboards and tell stories.
Boxville can be played alone, to immerse yourself in the environment and to challenge your mind with complex logic puzzles. It is also great to play with friends or family members to enjoy unique audiovisual experiences while solving the puzzles.

The Design
The core idea of the game is that it’s not just a game – but also an animated film that you can watch and play at the same time.
We designed Boxville’s gameplay with the purpose of taking away your anxiety and stress. Explore and enjoy the game without any pressure.
This game has been carefully selected to include environmental quests as well as logical challenges.

Story
Boxville is an old-can city. Their lives are quiet, happy and filled with routine and habit. But one day, unexplained earthquakes disturbed their idyll…
Blue Can (our protagonist) has lost his friend. It was difficult to navigate the city following an earthquake. Then he has to discover how to go forward and return his friend to home. There are many adventures, new friends and it’s not only friends that are waiting for him on the way.
In order to achieve his goals, he needs to be inventive, creative and helpful.