KZ: Hi Ed! What’s the backstory behind this wet and wonderful world?

E: At the start of the game, the two siblings, Miku and Taku, boat into this mysterious, sunken city. The pair is determined to investigate the city, and maybe even help restore it.

KZ: Do Miku and Taku get along?

E: They are like any siblings: they have their disagreements, but they love each other. They have been through a lot together. That relationship does get tested as the game progresses.

KZ: Is it a real city, fictional city, or a fusion of real-world cities?

E: The city is not one city in particular. We deliberately tried to create an “every city”, with elements of different cities across the world, all mixed in together.

KZ: Who came up with the rad “relaxploration” term?

E: It was actually Bajo (then of Good Game) who came up with the term “relaxploration”. At the time he was saying that we needed a new way to describe the wave of non-combat, exploration games that was coming out… Honestly, I think it’s the best description of the Submerged games. We want players to have a relaxing experience in a safe but intriguing world that they can explore at their leisure.

KZ: How do you approach puzzle-platforming?

E: It’s a very tricky balance, but we treat each building as a maze for the player to explore. The right path is clearly signposted, but there are still reveals and gotcha moments.

KZ: What hidden depths were you able to add that you couldn’t get into the first game?

E: We’ve added much more for players to do! We’ve added more complexity and more interactions without losing the relaxing experience.

KZ: What’s your favourite part of the game that you can’t wait for players to discover?

E: One of the things you gather in the game are these massive flowers that grow in precarious positions on the sides of buildings.

KZ: Cool! What do you do with those?

E: As you start displaying your flower collection back at your home base, something interesting happens…