Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Bear With Me’

Review Fix chats with Andrej Kovačević, Game Director for Bear With Me to find out what inspired the noir-infused point and click adventure.

For more on the game, click here.

Review Fix: Why do point and click games still matter?

Andrej Kovačević: Point and click games carry a special magical nostalgia about them. If we talk about games from the design philosophy of being an experience, point and click games are still relevant when it comes to storytelling and great narrative. They emphasize character and setting even more than most modern genres since they don’t require that much action and input from the player. I guess that’s also true for modern choice-based adventures, but they don’t have that element of nostalgia that can take you back to the first point and click adventures we played and loved.

Review Fix: What games inspired this one?

Kovačević: Definitely the classics. Bear With Me was our entry into indie development; we didn’t do any game development before it. When we were starting out, we wanted to emphasize and honor the games which we loved as kids. Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and similar titles are really a big influence for us. They were magical for us when we were kids. So in a sense, Bear With Me is an homage to the work of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert. If we can get players to have that same sense of wonder and fun while playing Bear With Me we, will feel very humbled and happy. It will truly be a dream come true.

Review Fix: Let’s talk about the art. What inspired that?

Kovačević: Our main artist and designer, Hrvoje Maros, had this line-art comic-like art style since he first started doodling as a teenager. When the two of us started working on Bear With Me, we were trying to develop the concept, story and style in a way that works and feels natural. His art style seemed perfect for the black and white setting of a noir narrative, so we went with it. You could say that we tried to develop the game around our own strengths, which makes it even more personal and delicate for us. 

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Kovačević: The idea for Bear With Me along with the decision to get into indie game development was made almost three years ago. Looking back now, I have some mixed feelings. On one hand, it almost feels like we are different people today than when we were first starting out. Back then we only had the dream and a ton of motivation. Today, we are aware of all the things that need to be done to get a feature or a mechanic inside the game. One might say that a bit of the magic is gone, but that is probably true for any situation when you compare imagination and daydreaming to real-life situations and the work that goes into executing ideas. On the other hand, we could not be more excited. Bear With Me is very personal for us so we are really nervous about first impressions and players’ experience. We truly hope we were able to create a little bit of magic so that players may enjoy Bear With Me as much as we did when we were kids playing similar titles.

Review Fix: With all the competition on the PC market and in the indies now, how difficult was it for you guys to try and make something that stood out?

Kovačević: Well the standing out part is still something that we hope we have achieved. We do our best to follow everything that is going on in the indie scene and there really is a ton of great creative, original games. Being recognized as something that stands out and is relevant is almost like a rite of passage, an initiation of sorts. We did our best to create something of value and soon enough we will know if we succeeded. I guess we’ll be biting our nails until then. But I wouldn’t necessarily look at it as something difficult one has to overcome. You do your best to tell an original story, bring the characters to life and just immerse the player as much as possible. As long as you have the passion for doing it, it’s more of a blessing than a burden.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone play this game?

Kovačević: Because they will fall in love with the characters and atmosphere very quickly and later the best things (no spoilers) that are yet to come.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Kovačević: Thank you for this question. I look at the game as an attempt to convey an experience or message. You do your best to tell that story and enable that experience, but you are never 100% sure if you did it the right or best way. I would love Bear With Me to be remembered for the greater message the series will tell, for being a game which enables us to grow and think instead of just “having fun.”

Review Fix: What are your goals for this game?

Kovačević: We are taking a step-by-step approach. We don’t want to set distant goals or expectations. We will rather focus on the next step ahead of us, give it our best and see where it takes us. The release is already a pretty big milestone that we are very excited about. If it goes well, ask us again.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Kovačević: Well this is just the first episode so there is a lot of work ahead of us to complete the whole series. Thinking about it makes me feel the same way we felt three years ago, full of motivation and energy. To keep it short, it’s going to be awesome!

Review Fix: Anything else you want to say?

Kovačević: If you enjoyed any of the point and click classics or fancy, quirky characters and fun dialogues full of puns and sarcasm, give Bear With Me a chance. You just might love it.