As a huge fan of indie games, none on the horizon have had me as excited as SCHiM from Extra Nice and PLAYISM. SCHiM is a game about a boy who loses his shadow, whom he has considered a dear friend his whole life. But when they become separated, it’s up to you – his shadow; his SCHiM – to reunite with your human.

I’ve been fascinated by this game for some time, having seen it in many digital showcases, including a Nintendo Indie World or two. With the game finally releasing tomorrow, I reached out to SCHiM’s developers, and was fortunate enough to get some answers from one of the game’s two devs (yes, you read that right!) Big thanks to Ewoud van der Werf for taking some time to be interviewed, and you can read our Q&A below!

• Graydon: When I first saw your game, I was reminded of another indie title, Ynglet. Does SCHiM happen to take inspiration from this game? What are some other pieces of media that inspired you to make such a creative game?
  Ewoud van der Werf: We weren’t inspired by Ynglet, but we do like to hear what people think it reminds them of, we get to hear a lot of different sources. Splatoon was one of the inspirations for me to come up with the idea of moving in shadows, the other big inspiration is not a piece of media but the games we make up as children, like the floor is lava or shadow tag. The art style is inspired by the ligne claire style pioneerd by the Tintin comics.
• I’m already smitten with the little shadow protagonist of SCHiM. Will there be a narrative that guides them through the game?
  Yes there is a narrative throughout the game. Every thing, living being and object in the world has a schim that lives in their shadow. You play as a schim of a person, you watch them grow up in the first 10-20 minutes of the game, and after witnessing a live changing event, get separated from them! Throughout the game you try your best to get back to your person.
• As a fan of co-op, I have to ask: will there be any kind of cooperative play in SCHiM?
  We have gotten that question a few times, there will not be a co-op mode at launch, but we will explore the options after the release.
• How long have you been working on SCHiM? I feel it’s been floating around for a while in various showcases, and it’s always a joy to see again!
  We have been working on SCHiM for 4 years now, we are really glad to see people enjoy the game at each event, and happy to release the game in July for everyone to enjoy!
• As an indie developer, what is something you’ve learned while making your game that you wish you knew when you began?
  There are not many things that I really regret doing, or not doing, when I started the project. There have been plenty of moments where I wish I would have done something sooner or better. But when I look back later, I realize that everything went exactly how it should.

---

Again, thank you so much to Ewoud and the SCHiM team for answering my questions! If you would like to get a taste of the game before it releases tomorrow, check out the latest Test Drive video on our YouTube channel, where I dove headfirst into the Steam demo.
I was surprised by how much content was there, giving glimpses of the aforementioned narrative across quite a few levels, not to mention the creative and puzzling gameplay. I had a blast leaping from shadow to shadow, flinging myself around the environment, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the full release this Thursday, July 18!

For more previews and indie game content, stay tuned to VGU!
And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel while you’re there!