Canada's rugged East Coast inspires U.K.-based developer to make video game about fishing
The rugged landscapes of Canada's East Coast and the resiliency of its residents have a long history of inspiring artists, and now, that includes the U.K.-based makers of a new video game.
Moonglow Bay is a fishing RPG, or role-playing game, that's set in a fictionalized town along the East Coast in the '80s, where you play a rookie angler who's working to turn your partner's dream into a reality after they're lost at sea.
"Your character is in a rut, trying to figure out what's going on," says Zach Soares, co-founder of game developer Bunnyhug. "Your daughter comes back from school in Quebec and says 'hey, you gotta get out of this rut, let me kind of motivate you.'"
However the story is also about the town itself, and helping to heal what's become a fractured community on the brink of bankruptcy.
"Since your partner disappeared, everyone in the fishing town is afraid to fish, so the town is not in a good state," says Bunnyhug co-founder Lu Nascimento. "You're kind of getting to know everyone in town and getting to help them and bringing the town back to life."
When it comes to the look of the game, Nascimento says the biggest inspiration for the design of the town came from the colourful nature of St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador.
"When you look at tourist pictures, it's the beautiful mountains and hills with the beautiful colourful houses," she says, "Lunenburg were a really big inspiration as well, a bit of Halifax … a bunch of tiny towns around P.E.I."
As for why they wanted to set the game on the East Coast, Soares says that one of the reasons is that he and Nascimento – who are married – dream of one day moving to this region.
"We just love the look of it, and also we like its small towns, it has a lot of vibes that we've been building for our lives right now in the northeast of the U.K.," says Soares.
The game is available on Steam, XBOX, and will be available on the Epic Games Store as of Nov. 11. More information about Moonglow Bay, is available on their website.
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