Squid Shock Studios launched Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus this summer on consoles and PC. Despite some issues with the mechanics, I was optimistic about the overall experience. It seemed things were going well for the developers as they had enlisted Humble Games to help with publishing duties and could focus on patches and updates for their new game.
Then, Humble Games was unceremoniously shuttered, leaving Squid Shock Studios, among several other studios, to determine its next steps while simultaneously trying to release updates for Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.
In the weeks following the chaos, the studio launched a Patreon as it stepped in a new direction. I spoke with Christopher Stair, the art and design director of Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. I wanted to ask the team about their new title launch and the fallout of having their publisher vanish overnight.
The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.
Squid Shock Studios Discusses The Humble Crumble
Console Creatures: Now, with Humble Games shuttered, many independent studios like Squid Shock are left directionless. In your case, you’ve launched a successful indie title, riding a high of a positive critical response, and then an anvil is dropped on your head — what’s going through the team’s mind?
Chris Stair: When we heard the news about Humble Games, it was a shock and a moment of uncertainty for our team. It was utterly without warning, and honestly, it was traumatic; a lot of trust was lost that day.
However, we’ve always been resilient and resourceful as an indie studio. Our main focus has been on finding new ways to keep moving forward, and we’re incredibly grateful for the support of our community. We’ve launched a Patreon to maintain our momentum and continue delivering updates and new content for Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus. The team is more determined than ever to see our vision through and ensure our game reaches its full potential.
Console Creatures: What role does a company like Humble Game offer to a studio? What was the process for involving them, and what did they do for your team? You’ve mentioned that Steam is an easier platform to work with, so did they handle console ports?
Chris Stair: Humble Games provided crucial funding, marketing, and distribution support. Their involvement allowed us to focus more on the creative aspects of game development without worrying about the logistics, which was great while it lasted.
We handled the porting through an external partner (Rare Drop), but Humble provided funding to make that happen. They also helped us navigate the complexities of bringing our game to various platforms, including handling the submissions of our console ports.
Console Creatures: Regarding the situation with Humble Games, you recently announced a Patreon to help your team. What do you want readers to know, and how can they help besides donating to your Patreon?
Chris Stair: Our Patreon is a way for our fans to directly support our ongoing development efforts, but there are many ways to help beyond financial contributions. Sharing our game with friends, leaving constructive feedback on platforms like Steam, and engaging with us on social media are all incredibly valuable. We want readers to know that their support, in any form, really helps keep our passion alive and drives us to continue creating in the face of uncertainty. If we didn’t have his amazing reciprocal relationship with the community, it would be challenging to keep our heads up. Every bit of encouragement helps.
Console Creatures: You’ve mentioned post-launch support; for now, a few updates have gone live on Steam to address feedback from the community. In a better situation, what does this entail, and how does the current situation affect plans?
Chris Stair: Post-launch support ideally involves a steady stream of updates that add new requested features, fix bugs, and enhance the overall experience based on player feedback.
While the current situation has presented some challenges, we’re committed to continuing this support. Our updates so far have focused on addressing community feedback, improving gameplay, and alleviating frustration where reasonable.
Going forward, we plan to introduce more content and expand the game world, though the pace might be affected as we adjust to our new circumstances. Unfortunately, we were supposed to have a day 1 patch for consoles, but that never happened because all the balls were dropped. Consoles are already several patches behind the Steam version, which we completely control. It’s honestly really sad because many console players will inevitably play a version we never intended to be released; you already see that in some of the reviews, and sadly, those reviews live on forever.
Discussing boss difficulty for Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus
Console Creatures: Let’s talk about Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus for a minute — I’ve played it and completed it. We know you looked to several properties for inspiration, but were there any mechanics or elements that didn’t make it to the final product? Do you have ideas for another game or want to focus on something else?
Chris Stair: We had to cut a few mechanics and elements due to time and resource constraints. One example is a mechanic which allowed Bo to be shot out of environmental elements like a canon (like a Donkey Kong barrel). Another was an ability that would allow Bo to fly around at high speed in all directions freely without gravity constraints (like the golden feather in Celeste). Surely, many Daruma designs were cut, and Omamori’s passive abilities were never realized. Additional areas, bosses, and characters were definitely cut for scope as well. As for future projects, we have many ideas, from expanding the Bo universe to exploring entirely new genres and concepts. We focus on supporting Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, but we always brainstorm and plan for what comes next.
Console Creatures: Are there any particular bosses you’re proud of, and which bosses have you heard the community enjoyed the most or struggled against? A recent update went live on Steam to add more checkpoints at specific points — were you aware these would be challenging sections for players?
Chris Stair: A lot of our bosses are somewhat controversial. People either gush over them or don’t understand what we were trying to do. I think our bosses have a certain puzzle platforming aspect that some players of the genre might not be used to, so when confronted with them, they bash their heads against them, trying to brute force them in ways they are comfortable with. This led to some people saying the bosses are very spongy and don’t have enough windows of attack. It was difficult to prompt intended engagement with some of the bosses.
For example, in the Hashihime combat boss battle, many players didn’t realize you could hit her candles for staff damage. I thought I was clever in centring the gameplay loop of the entire previous area around hitting candles with your staff. However, it did not click with some people, and some players wrote off that boss battle as a tedium exercise when it is a lot of fun if you hit the candles as we intended. I think the players who engage with the unique qualities of the player controller (i.e. dash/jump resets, Daruma Doll Damage, stage gimmicks, wall rolling, hovering) have found our bosses to be some of the most unique and engaging bosses in recent memory.
We’re particularly proud of the “Tengu Trio” boss, which built up over time. First, you fight one Tengu, then two, and it all culminates in a fight with three Tengu at once. All attacks form these synchronized and unsynchronized patterns with these telegraphs that you must react to. It was a time in development when we had really streamlined the boss creation pipeline so we were ready to try something ambitious. I think it turned out quite well.
People struggled with the Asahi fight. It was a brutally long gauntlet that reset you at the beginning if you die. This boss didn’t receive enough player feedback and may have been overtuned. Upon replaying it, I realized that I agreed that the lack of respawn points felt bad, so we added some. I haven’t heard people complaining since, so that’s good. Plenty of players enjoyed the original version of that fight and were mad that we added extra checkpoints. That’s fine, though, because the checkpoints are completely optional. Maybe we will add an achievement later for not using checkpoints. But that will probably make completionists angry, too. Haha, you can’t please everyone!
Developmental Challenges and Dream Projects
Console Creatures: What element during development caused the most challenges for the team? What were the solutions?
Chris Stair: One of the most challenging elements was tutorialization. Over time, it became clear that most players don’t learn by reading text. So, getting players to understand nuances naturally was an extremely back-and-forth process. You don’t want to be extremely handholdy, but you must ensure players understand things.
One example of this is our daruma system. The first daruma you get is Chomper. The Chomper gets summoned and dashes in front of you in a straight line. Players can understand this well enough, but what makes this daruma fun is the secondary action command in which you can get Chomper to bite in his current position and crunch down on an enemy. A shocking number never even become aware of this and think he sucks, never using him. It was like pulling teeth over time, trying to make it clear. I must have added five additional features to the UI and gameplay just to give more opportunities for the player to become aware that it’s a thing.
Those things included creating new graphics that convey the secondary action, adding an action command UI element to the daruma and adding additional text wherever possible to ensure players wouldn’t skip over it. Honestly, it is still an issue, though.
Console Creatures: Do you see yourselves tackling any other genre? What would it be if you had to choose one to develop a new game?
Chris Stair: We’re open to exploring various genres. Trevor (Lead Programmer) and I are really into roguelike and strategy games. We like Hades, Into the Breach and Slay the Spire a lot. I don’t think we would ever make a card game or anything like that, but the infinite replayability of the genre is super intriguing to us.
Console Creatures: Which existing IP would you love to visit and create your spin on? After finishing Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus last month, my mind immediately thought an Okami Metroidvania or Adventure Time title would be incredible for your team.
Chris Stair: We’re huge fans of Okami and Adventure Time, and it’s exciting to think about what we could do with those universes. An Okami Metroidvania sounds like a dream project, blending the rich, mythical aesthetics of Okami with the exploration and progression elements of a Metroidvania.
If I could get my hands on it, I would love to do something with the Mononoke IP and work with those artists. Studio Ghibli would be interesting, but you would have to tread carefully on that IP because it would be an absolute disaster if things went wrong.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is available now on Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC.
