PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hello everyone! We’re Balcony Team, a small indie dev team based in Eastern Europe. Right now, we’re just three passionate RPG lovers who’ve been gaming since childhood. Growing up, we were hooked on titles like Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, Gothic, Fable, Fallout, Morrowind, and Oblivion, just to name a few. We couldn’t forget RTS classics like Command & Conquer, Red Alert, and Starcraft either! Honestly, the list could go on and on—we’ve been shaped by so many amazing games.
TELL US ABOUT DEEPEST CHAMBER.
Our first game, Balrum, started as a university project that turned into a passion project. As a small indie team, we broke the “golden rule” that experienced developers will tell you—don’t make your passion project first, and definitely don’t dive into creating a complex RPG right out of the gate! 📷 But we did, and luckily it turned out pretty well. People loved it, and it’s a game we’re proud of.
For our second game, Deepest Chamber: Resurrection, we decided to move into 3D but kept the scope manageable. It was the next step for us in our journey as a team.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
n hindsight, using an existing engine for Deepest Chamber might have freed up more time for design, and could’ve saved us a few months of redesigning. But hey, you live and learn!
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
For both Balrum and Deepest Chamber, we built our own engine. Back in 2013-2016, when we were developing Balrum, game engines weren’t as widely used, and we enjoyed the coding side, so we stuck with our own engine for Deepest Chamber as well.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
One of our biggest challenges came during the development of Deepest Chamber. Before Early Access, we did some public testing, but not nearly enough. We mostly iterated internally, and once we launched into EA, we realized that what we thought was fun didn’t fully click with a large portion of players. Game mechanics, art, cards—many elements weren’t as polished as we thought. This led to a complete redesign, where we had to rebuild everything from scratch—enemies, encounters, cards, and even implement a party system and new synergies. It was a huge undertaking, and looking back, we now understand how important it is to get the game into the hands of more players early on. So yes, show your game to others as early as possible—not just your team or friends, but a wider audience too!
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
MARKETING! MARKETING! MARKETING! Whatever idea you have, always think about its marketability from the start. The industry is filled with talented devs these days, more than ever before, and these people are not your competitors—they're your peers! Befriend like-minded developers, share knowledge, and help each other grow. We indies need to stick together. If your first project doesn’t work out as you hoped, don’t be discouraged. Maybe try a different genre or a smaller scope. And even though it’s cliché, don’t start with an RPG or your passion project. Learn first, then go big!
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Game development is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s full of ups and downs, but if you keep pushing through, you’ll find your way. Stay passionate, stay curious, and most importantly, don’t forget to have fun along the way. After all, we’re all here because we love games, right?
-Balcony Team
❤️
