Jools Watsham, co-founder and Director of the excellent developer Renegade Kid, was gracious enough to give a young writer a chance and took some time out of his busy day to answer some questions for me. Renegade Kid is currently working on Dementium Remastered, the remastered version of the critically acclaimed 2007 Dementium: The Ward.

Jools Watsham: Click the man’s face for a link to his Twitter account!

Renegade Kid is the mastermind behind 14 original titles, including popular games like Mutant Mudds, Moon Chronicles, and recently, Xeodrifter. They have been crafting grab bag indie games for Nintendo handhelds since the original DS days and have made quite a name for themselves among the ever-growing “nindie” (Nintendo indie) fanbase. They have also ported some of their games to PC, WiiU, and PlayStation consoles and their games often end up in indie bundles. 

In 2007, Jools Watsham and Gregg Hargrove got together and began making something that hadn’t really been done before: a survival horror game on the Nintendo DS. Using the unique capabilities of the handheld, they created Dementium: The Ward, a game that catapaulted them from a couple of guys coding a game to a full-blown games studio with an impressive resume.

Many games critics praised Renegade Kid’s innovative use of the DS, pointing out that they really pushed the hardware to its limits. Dementium: The Ward scored well with the gaming community and the remastered version is highly anticipated among fans of Renegade Kid and the survival horror genre. 

Based in a mental institution, Dementium explores insanity, violence, and sociopathy. A dark game indeed, Dementium was created as a project of passion by three dudes who wanted to show that survival horror could live on the Nintendo DS. The game was shopped around to many publishers, including as an entry in the Silent Hills series. Renegade Kid carried on and eventually published with Gamecock on Halloween of 2007. Just last year, Mr. Watsham announced that they were working on a remastered version of the game, reigniting old loves and gaining new hopeful fans, myself included.

I reached out to Mr. Watsham and asked him to answer some questions of mine, not only about his game and his career, but the state of gaming in general. His insights into the future of gaming in particular are very interesting and relevant to players and developers alike.

What do you do, day to day? Take me through a day in the life.

When did you get started with playing games and what was the first game that you remember?

How did you get started with developing games?

Why do you make games?

Where do you think the games industry will be in the next 5-10 years?

You’re telling me I might be able to binge games in the future? Awesome

What games did you enjoy playing in 2014 and 2015 and what are you looking forward to most?

Dementium is an awfully dark game. What made you decide to develop such a mature game?

I am looking forward to the new Zelda game, coming to Wii U or Nintendo’s next platform.

There are strong references in the Dementium games to mental illness, psychiatry, and institutions. Was this a convenient starting point? Or was it something you wanted to tackle as its own theme?

What new features can we expect?

This was the least scary photo I could find

How did the game evolve from the original concept? What went right or wrong during development of Dementium? 

Between the original release and the remaster, what lessons have you learned as a developer?

I think a lot of what we accomplished with the original development went right. I am extremely proud of what we created on the DS. And, what we have been able to improve upon with Dementium Remastered has been very exciting. I think fans of horror will be in for a treat.

What are the plans? Dementium III? What goodies can we expect from Renegade Kid in the future?

Pretty sweet skull and crossbones, Jools

Dementium Remastered is slated to be released later this year. Dementium II Remastered is still in the works and no release date has been given yet. Be sure to check out Renegade Kid’s other games, including the colorful, adorable Mutant Mudds and the recently released Xeodrifter. Be sure to click the logo above to check out Renegade Kid’s website and follow Renegade Kid and Jools Watsham on Twitter for the most current news and fun opportunities to play with the staff of Renegade Kid.