Every so often, a new game gets released out of nowhere by a team I’m not familiar with that takes me completely by surprise.The Demons Told Me To Make This Gameis the most recent example of this, and oh boy, does it seem like something special already inthe 2025 indie scene.
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What lies beyond the shores of Revachol?
It’s easy to take a look at this game and think that it might just be some kind ofDisco Elysiumclone, but trust me when I say,TDTMTMTGis carving its own path and doing so with all caution thrown into the wind.
This is a game that a couple of us have already tried out at DualShockers, andwe simply can’t stop talking about it. Play through the intro and first released section of the game, and it’ll be incredibly easy to see why.
TDTMTMTGis shocking, disgusting, terrifying, and as weird as anything I’ve ever played in my life, and I mean all of that in the best way possible. This is a game that refuses to pull any punches whatsoever.
Personally, after playing through (and replaying) what developers Haunted Dude have already presented us, I absolutely cannot wait for more, and to see where this insane, time-loop, demon-filled,non-linear narrative-drivenRPG, potential masterclass ultimately ends up.
Recently, I got to ask Oleksandr Chezghanov, founder of Haunted Dude, aboutTDTMTMTG, previous ventures, and the game development process in general. This fun and insightful interview is transcribed below for all of you that are curious about what’s still to come from this crazy cool title. Let’s dive right in.
Interview WithTDTMTMTGTeam
Q: I’m sure a lot of people pick up onDisco Elysiuminspiration inTDTMTMTG, but this is clearly a game that’s entirely its own thing and is not beholden to anything else. Any other influences you’d like to shoutout – games, albums, movies, books, etc.?
The main and most obvious one isJohn Dies at the Endbook series by Jason Pargin. I’m personally a big fan of his fiction, and his approach to mixing horror and humor resonates with me. The game’s lengthy title is an homage to his works.
Basically, when we started our work onTDTMTMTG, the original concept was “Disco ElysiummeetsJohn Dies at the End.”
Among video games, I should noteCitizen Sleeperas the first majorDisco-inspired project: its release and warm welcome by the gaming community encouraged us to pursue our own game idea.
And then there wasSlay the Princess. It came out whenTDTMTMTGhad already been in development for a few months, but it certainly had an effect on us. I think it was after playingSlay the Princessthat I made the decision to direct the main game scene from the point of view of your host. Before that, it was closer to the look ofCitizen Sleeper—the characters were presented as an overlay, separated from the background visuals.
Finally, while working onThe Demons, I researched dozens of narrative games and time loop games, especially indies. The most notable would beI Was a Teenage Exocolonist,Beacon Pines,Ghost Trick, andInscryption.
Q: At the time of writing, every single Steam review has been positive. How does it feel to see so much positive buzz about the game already?
Oh, we’re very pleased with the reception we’ve gotten. We had been worried—to the very last moment, probably—that players wouldn’t like the game, wouldn’t understand it, or would bounce off it.
It was a huge relief to watch YouTube playthroughs of our Next Fest demo and see people enjoy the game’s vibe.
Not only are the reviews positive, but the refund rate is pretty low too (about 3%, which is very good, especially for an Early Access title).
At this moment, we’re focused on getting more eyes on the game. Those who try it end up enjoying it, so we want more people to try it.
Q: I’m from the Midwest myself. What is it about this region that drew you in to use as the setting ofTDTMTMTG?
The original idea was to have our take on the “mysterious American town” trope:Twin Peaks,Silent Hill,Gravity Falls, Stephen King’s Derry andCastle Rock, Possum Springs (Night in the Woods), Hawkins, Indiana (Stranger Things)… this trope is so rooted in media that our genre choice basically demanded it.
I think we decided on the setting when we were fleshing out the town and its history. We needed Red Hives to be old and scarred, and we needed it to feel isolated, lost in the vastness of the country, hidden in the heart of America.
We did plenty of research to make the town unique but believable. We held entire meetings when we walked the streets of dozens of Midwestern towns on Google Maps. Every now and then, I couldn’t find a comprehensive answer to some problem, so I went on Reddit to ask my weirdly specific questions like “Folks living in rural Midwest, are electric scooters common in your area?”
Q: Is there any significance to the game being set in 2016?
Certainly! 2016 was the year everything started to go downhill after the tragic death of Harambe the gorilla. Insidious Meatsuckers! will sing a song about that in the next Loop. (Not really, that’s a joke. Or is it?)
The year will be important later in the story.
Q: How has the Early Access release model already benefited your game? Are there any downsides to Early Access, in your opinion?
The most important benefit is the opportunity to build a community and have the players engage with the game as we continue developing and expanding it.
The players are also more lenient when it comes to bugs and glitches in the Early Access titles, especially if the developer fixes the problems quickly (and we really try to).
An obvious downside is that there’s a large segment of players who are interested in the game but are determined to wait until it’s finished to buy it (which is absolutely understandable).
We certainly don’t regret going into Early Access. We have shown the game to the world, proved that the concept works, established a better connection with our audience, and received massive amounts of feedback.
We have more confidence in our abilities now, as well as a better sense of direction for where to take the game next.
We’ve done the hardest part: Our first release is behind us. The second one ahead doesn’t look nearly as intimidating.
Q: Ink is clearly the next Host we’ll get to possess. Can you share how many total hosts we’ll get to control by the end of the entire journey?
Four hosts in total.
Also, if we presume that Tape and Gum arestandardhosts, then Ink and the fourth host will have deviations from this standard. Meaning that controlling them will feel different from controlling Tape or Gum. I’d say more, but that would bring us into spoiler territory.
Q: What’s the coolest Battle Of Wills mini-game we’ve yet to see?
Battle of Wills is seen by many as the weakest part of the game. I see that as my personal design oversight.
We’ve built a variety of tools to make the game enjoyable for those who don’t like having a dexterity-based mini-game interrupt their visual novel, but the whole thing clearly needs more work.
The current plan is to substitute Battle of Wills with a different mechanic in the following Loops, a deeper one, and not based on hand-eye coordination.Battle of Wills: Stage 2, if you will.
Q: Is there any sort of ultimate idea, philosophy, or message you’re trying to get across withTDTMTMTG? Something you hope players walk away with after playing the game?
Did you notice how the Hosts were trying to rationalize every stupid decision Dark Wisp forced on them? That’s our supernatural nod to the Passive Frame theory of consciousness.
I usually describeThe Demonsas an existential horror game made with hope. Maybe life is absurd, the universe is deterministic, and your free will is not really free, but hey, at least we’ve defeated a bunch of monsters and saved someone’s soul today.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge about making the leap from a game likeSunflower Slapto a game likeTDTMTMTG?
Oh,Sunflower Slapwas just a little game we cobbled together at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to raise some money and keep morale up.
Our actual previous project was a free-to-play interactive story dating game for Android and iOS. When we started work onTDTMTMTG, we were already no strangers to expansive, branching stories. That helped a lot.
I think the biggest challenge was to actually get the game out the door. With free-to-play mobile games, you may just release an MVP and then improve it as you go. The first playable version of our mobile game was available on Google Play a mere four months after we started development.The Demons, in turn, took us almost two years to make and release.
Q: This is already one of the most shocking games I’ve ever played (which I love, personally). Has there ever been any concern that you’re pushing anything too far, or is that kind of the idea?
Sure, we’re conscious of the boundaries we should not cross.
A good (horror) game can and should be disturbing, or frightening, or shocking at times, but first and foremost it must be entertaining.
We make it a rule to approach any controversial matters with taste and grace.
Love Wand is an example of that. That’s an item that raises questions when you first see it, but the farther you go, the more you see that it’s not a joke item – it wasn’t added for shock value, and it’s actually integral to Gum’s character, if not to the story as a whole.
Q: What are the demons telling you to do next?
We keep working on the game. Some accessibility features are still underway.Loop 2: Of Cops and Shroomsis in the works. We’re preparing Ukrainian localization.
We’re excited to welcome you back to Red Hives with more timelines to explore, locations to visit, mysteries to solve, demons to fight, songs to sing, and hosts to get killed in the dumbest fashion possible.
Q: Anything else we haven’t touched on that you’d like to share with the readers?
We’ve just releasedthe game’s soundtrack on Steam! 17 tracks with ridiculous titles, about 50 minutes in overall length.
The introduction and first section/time loop ofThe Demons Told Me To Make This Gameisalready available for anyone to check out on Steam, and I’d highly advise you to do so.
As Oleksandr mentioned, they’re hard at work on the subsequent loops of the game, so keep an eye on thissame Steam pageas more information comes duringTDTMTMTG’s continued Early Access phase.
If you’re interested in seeing more, here’s a trailer for the game to whet your appetite as well.
This Game Is Disco Elysium With Demons, & It’s Fantastic
Demonic possession, time loops, insane choices. Tick, tick, and tick.
