Baba Yaga Games, an independent development studio from Russia, create very unique games inspired by Russian folklore and their local cultures. Their art style is very tribal and unique, a great reflection of the not-often-seen traditions of Russian art. One of those games, One Eyed Kutkh, is arriving to the Switch March 9th. As such, we reached out to the team to find out more about their unique and whimsical stories.

Nindie Nexus: What about these fairy tales interested you?

Baba Yaga Games: Fairy tales are incredibly interesting and rich material. They allow us to look at the world through the eyes of a man of a different culture. This is especially important in such a multinational country as Russia.

Who inspired your art style?



BYG: Our style is largely derived from our experience in the puppet theater. Both games we’ve done on the basis of our theatrical projects. Now we are working on the third game, but we are doing it so that at any time we can transfer it to the stage, making only minimal changes to the project. Our games are theatrical performances that are placed in your pocket.

Why did you choose the deep pink/blue color scheme?

BYG: The color scheme of One Eyed Kutkh migrated into the game from the theatrical project. We planned to play the part in which darkness comes, by the light of PRK lamps (direct mercury quartz lamp, stage ultraviolet) to create a cosmic, unearthly atmosphere. To do this, we needed fluorescent dyes, and the colors they have are quite bright.

What attracted you to the Switch?

BYG: That was simple: our publisher offered to try and we agreed.



What is your favorite Nindie (Nintendo Indie) game?

BYG: Hollow Knight looks just gorgeous, and Severed too.

How did you pair up with Sometimes You to port the game?

BYG: We were familiar with Evgeniy (founder of Sometimes You). When we finished our first game (for children from two to five years old), we did not plan to spread it into STEAM. But Evgeniy said that even on STEAM this game can find its audience. This turned out to be true, so far on the incentive, we receive touching comments on how, with the help of our game, children first learn to play games with the mouse.

Aside from the plot, how did your location impact the development process?

BYG: Hard to tell. How much did our location in general effect our history? In Russia there are many theaters of dolls, with traditions and history, artists and directors for them are trained in universities. About video games this is not yet possible. For video games, everything is just beginning. We are graduated artists of the puppet theater. What we learned in the theater, we try to apply in the creation of games, and this largely determines the visual and gameplay solutions, and the general mood in our projects.

What inspired the name of the studio?

BYG: Baba-yaga is one of the most famous characters in Russian fairy tales. It seemed to us that this is a good option.

Are there any new projects in the works, and if so are they coming to the Switch?

BYG: Now we have started work on a game on the Russian folk tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”. It will be a frightening story in which the player will get the role of magical assistant to the main character. And yes, there is a baba-yaga in this tale. Switch inspires us with its capabilities, so we’ll definitely try to release new games on this console from Nintendo.

One Eyed Kutkh releases March 9th. Baba Yaga Games can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.