How do you follow the game that made the world cry? It’s a question that’s haunted writer Graham Parkes ever since 2021’s Bafta-winning Before Your Eyes. Released during the height of lockdown, Parkes’ webcam-controlled yarn uses players’ blinks to fast-forward through protagonist Benny’s memories, blinking in and out of each uplifting and gut-wrenching moment of his existence. It quickly gained a reputation for being a Twitch tearjerker, its affecting tale and months of pandemic-fuelled misery creating a perfect, Kleenex-blowing storm. “As a writer, that has definitely been intimidating.,” says Parkes, “I’m interested in using games to tell concise, emotional stories, but we can’t say that every single time we’re going to make you weep.”
Still, tears or no, things are already looking pretty promising for Before Your Eyes’ intriguing followup, Goodnight Universe. Developed by Nice Dream, an all-new studio formed by creators Graham Parkes and Oliver Lewin, Goodnight Universe has already won the 2024 game award at the Tribeca film festival, beating the brilliant Thank Goodness You’re Here! to the punch.
Goodnight Universe’s premise? “It’s a game where you play as a psychic baby,” says Parkes, with a sheepish grin. Utilising either a webcam or a VR headset, players are placed into the tiny frame of an infant – Isaac – who begins to develop mysterious abilities. It’s up to the fledgling, crawling psychic to come to grips with their rapidly blossoming new gifts, moving their eyes in order to bend their gargantuan surroundings to their will. Preferably, Parker explains, without freaking out Isaac’s poor parents.
“Before Your Eyes was very much a game about disempowering you,” says Parkes. “But we always felt like these mechanics – blinking and eye tracking – could also be used to make you feel empowered. To feel magical.”
Sounding more Boss Baby than indie darling, Goodnight Universe’s story is definitely a tonal shift, and one that it took the team awhile to land pon. “We had that sophomore album anxiety for a really long time,” says Parkes. “To the point where I remember having to institute a rule where we couldn’t even talk about Before Your Eyes in our ideation sessions.”
Luckily, inspiration finally came via a gurgling new face in the boardroom. “Our lead designer, Bela, had his first kid,” says Parkes. “She started coming to meetings and was at that age where you’d plonk her down and almost forget that she was there, as she just sat staring at one thing for an hour. We’ve become known as the people who make games where you don’t really move around … I noticed her quietly staring at me and it was that ‘Oh, shit!’ moment.” Goodnight Universe was born.
From kinetically changing TV channels to sending wooden blocks flying, Goodnight Universe takes players on Isaac’s strange and heartfelt journey to understand his abilities, win acceptance from his family, and avoid being kidnapped by a shady tech corporation. With our nappy-wearing protagonist voiced by Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman, and a supporting cast featuring actors from TV and shows such as Veep, Barry and The Daily Show, the LA studio wisely took advantage of its close proximity to Hollywood.
“I think that a lot of indies are scared off by [the union] and actors that only do film and TV,” adds the game’s director and composer, Oliver Lewin, “but the truth is that actors are really excited by this stuff.”
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Thanks to the Bafta win, Before Your Eyes eventually transcended its webcam origins, making its way on to PlayStation VR2 and finding a home on Netflix’s steadily growing mobile game library. Yet while you can play Goodnight Universe in VR, and switch face-tracking off, for Lewin the game’s story is married to the humble webcam. “For us, face-tracking tech is all about adding extra immersion,” says Lewin. “It really surprises me that [few] devs are exploring this … there is so much that you can do with just a simple webcam, and everyone has one.”
“Our games are – in a lot of ways, playable films,” adds Parkes. “I think what really motivates us more than any of the exciting controls is how we use this medium to tell our narrative in interesting and unique ways.”
In a medium built on slaying dragons, fragging demons and embarking on intergalactic power fantasies, there’s something refreshingly quaint about Goodnight Universe. Yet after shedding my fair share of tears to Before Your Eyes, if there’s anyone that can do this strange premise justice, it’s an oddball LA art game collective.