Kerala-based horror 3D game, Thekku Island, to launch on February 27

Set on a mysterious island in Kerala in the 1980s, a journalist investigating it goes missing. More details about her absence are revealed as her husband, the protagonist, goes looking for her on this isle, with challenges emerging one after another. This is the premise of Thekku Island, touted as Kerala’s first horror 3D game, created by Ales Devs Games and RedWills Interactive, set to launch on Steam (a digital distribution platform for PC gaming) on February 27.

The game, of the horror-thriller genre, is the brainchild of Athul George, game director of Thekku Island, and has been in development for nearly a year now. “Athul and I met through online game development communities. We got closer over the games we designed, giving each other feedback. That’s when he mentioned Thekku Island, which was then in its alpha stage. And one day, Athul asked me to get on board for this game, to produce it on a larger canvas,” says Aswin Sunilkumar, creative director of Thekku Island. After finishing 12th class, Athul was engaged in game design, teaching himself the craft through YouTube.

The five-member team also includes Aswin PV (marketing head) and Adithyan P S (Game Operations), both Integrated MCA students at Saintgits College of Engineering (Autonomous), Kottayam and classmates of the creative director Aswin. Adhi Gopakumar, as music director, completes the ensemble. Everyone on the team is currently 21 or 22 years old.

(From left) Athul George (Game Director) Aswin Sunilkumar (Creative Director ), Adhi Gopakumar (Music Director), Adithyan P S(Game Operations ) and (behind) Aswin PV (Marketing Head)
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“All of us, born after 2000, have been observing different trends in the gaming industry. We transitioned from Road Rash (a motorcycle racing video game) to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (an action-adventure game) and so on. Even when we played these games back then, we contemplated why we had not released such a game from Kerala. That thought brought us together,” says Aswin.

Thekku Island is a first-person PC game with a playtime of three hours, straying away from the recent mobile phone-oriented games. “We decided amongst ourselves to develop the game for PC. Both types have their own difficulties. For PCs, especially the individual gaming experience depends on their customised specifications,” says Aswin.

A still from Thekku Island
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Challenges

One of the biggest challenges in producing this game was the limited budget, says the makers. However, the team’s individual strengths, such as Athul’s ability to work with 3D models or Aswin’s experience with video editing, helped.

“We didn’t have to bring in someone from outside. Since most of us are MCA students, our coding skills were also put to work,” Aswin says.

Another challenge the team faced was finding the proper references for the game design, a tedious task considering the dearth of games in Malayalam. Aswin comments, “It was a challenge to depict Kerala’s topography in the ‘80s through our visuals. Our references were our surroundings and movies from that era. We were creating the setting from scratch.”

Malayalam filmmaker Rahul Sadasivan’s hit horror movie Bramayugam inspired the makers. “We were in awe of how Rahul shot the movie in such a space. The elements of horror in the movie also moved us,” says Aswin, who worked as a promo editor for Tharun Moorthy’s Saudi Vellakkaand edited the behind-the-scenes videos for Mammootty-starrer Turbo and Thudarum headlined by Mohanlal.