Action roguelike Midautumn is named after the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important events of the calendar for many countries in Asia. It's a celebration of the full moon, usually falling in September or October, though traditions vary between countries. For me, it's a time of year I'll always associate with the mooncakes my grandma shares with us. For Midautumn developer Sherveen Uduwana, it brings back memories of attending these festivals as a child, and the comfort of lanterns and fireworks floating in the dark night sky.
Available in demo form during LudoNarraCon last month, Midautumn's blend of thematic storytelling and action mechanics immediately caught my eye - as well as its name. Still, Uduwana is aware Midautumn's title - and the experiences within Asian diaspora communities that inspired him - won't immediately feel familiar to many others. "I think a lot of folks I was pitching it to were like, why is it called Midautumn?" Uduwana tells me, adding that he settled on the name very early on. "There's a specific type of person who, when they find out the game is called Midautumn, gets very excited."
Uduwana tried pitching the game in a traditional way to secure funding, but the culture gap - and then, more significantly, the pandemic and the wave of anti-Asian sentiment surrounding it - caused him to opt for a more indie development approach instead. "That galvanised me to just be like, I'm just gonna message people and we'll try and make it," he says. "I was tired of having to explain why people would relate to it, or why it would be something that would be exciting for folks. A lot of people in those positions of power are just not really tuned into those specific communities."