In The Room With Mark Hamilton and Barry Meade of Fireproof Studios

Interview by Hugh Wybourne

When I awoke for this interview I found myself sealed in a chamber with no way out except through a series of challenging, engaging, and atmospheric puzzles. Before I could fret however, I remembered I was with Mark Hamilton and Barry Meade of Fireproof Studios, Directors of the legendary The Room franchise! The threat then of being trapped forever was poultry in comparison to such delightful and talented company, and as we worked our way towards escape I figured there was some time to ask about their latest VR title Ghost Town!

Whilst The Room franchise always provides character, both literally and aesthetically, Ghost Town is your biggest step so far into a more traditional storytelling style. Why now, and what can we expect of Edith?

[BM] With The Room: Old Sins and especially The Room VR, we felt we were pushing against the edges of telling the story environmentally, that is through items and documents the player finds. We wanted to tell an actual story in a more real world setting, with other humans to meet and interact with, so the player has the story happen to them rather than just read about it. As an urban witch Edith was a perfect vehicle to take our players through the eerie but immersive and satisfyingly solid world, filled with strange goings-on, that we wanted players to experience.

I, for one, must admit that when I’m massaging my mind trying to solve an ancient cryptex or sliding mosaic puzzle, I can find myself struggling to parse safe code from storytelling in documents left behind by the less fortunate before me. It sounds like the writers are excited to explore this new storytelling space and I’m personally very excited to see what they’ve come up with!

Speaking of hands, the feel of VR has advanced leaps and bounds over the last few years and as Fireproof were a team that started on mobile I wanted to know how their relationship with technology has evolved since then. 

The VR treatment slips onto your studio's design ethos like a glove, way back when you first started, was that always the dream? How far has the technology come since you first locked us in that room?

[BM] Nice of you to say that. To be honest deciding to enter VR games was as much an accident as by design. It wasn’t that we thought Fireproof could make a great VR game, it was that we thought The Room in particular could be great in VR. We just needed the market to be right and when Oculus released the Quest we thought it had a chance to be a mass market device, so we went for it.

So do you think the equipment is finally starting to break through into more of the consumer market?

[BM] Fireproof made our first VR game in 2016, OMEGA AGENT for the Oculus Go, and yeah the hardware has massively improved since then, especially over the last 4-5 years. In terms of portable gaming platforms it’s pretty hard to beat the bang-for-buck of a Quest 2 or 3s. While we find the top-end VR devices great for what they do, Fireproof also wants to make games that shine on more accessible devices like the Quest. As long as platform holders have steady hands and the games keep getting better VR should have a future.

Players are really spoiled for choice in the current market, and it says a lot that the team wants to try and keep their games as accessible as they can even within what is inherently a more niche market. Every season there are always new VR experiences staring back at me alluringly through the shop window glass, and puzzlers like The Room franchise have always been my favourites. 

There is just something uniquely fun about your only viable means of escape from somewhere being exclusively puzzle-based (It should replace all common locks really). But more so than fun, the team at Fireproof are also looking to extract something a bit more carnal with this entry, it seems. 

Back to Ghost Town now, your games have always been oozing with atmosphere and a palpable sense of unease, are we finally tipping over this time into overt horror?

[BM] Not quite I’d say, Ghost Town might raise a few extra hairs on the neck than The Room VR did but we like to make eerie worlds that play on your creep factor more than your fight-or-flight reactions. If you don’t like jump scares or gore you’ll be in safe hands playing through Ghost Town.

Honestly, somewhat of a relief to hear for me. I get scared enough with horror games in a small rectangle two feet from my face let alone those that completely surround my head from fewer than two inches!

Do you find that knowing more concrete details about the protagonist has changed how you design puzzles? Like knowing Edith is too small to reach something, or wouldn't think to grab something too inconspicuous etc. 

[MH] The whole Room game series was about someone making mysterious puzzle boxes. That allowed us to design puzzles that were as puzzle-y as we wanted without it feeling weird. Ghost Town is more naturalistic, your character Edith is a paranormal investigator exploring abandoned theatres and haunted lighthouses - inserting puzzles everywhere is more tricky because we have to justify them in a way that feels natural in that world.

We designed the narrative around this though. She has a tech wiz partner that builds odd gadgets Edith has to figure out, the ghosts she encounters place traps and puzzles in her path to stop her catching up with them, she comes across old magical artefacts that she has to decipher. So the puzzle design changed because of the context but we designed the context with loads of excuses to insert cool puzzles.

So exciting! An exclusive scoop from g.g once again with some of these gameplay features, where else would you find out the ghosts love puzzles too? Speaking of, by this point we had escaped that strange chamber we were all trapped in and they had to get back to work. Before they left though, we asked one last quick question:

Do you reckon we might see you at g.g Fest next year demoing some of your fantastic games? We'd jump at the chance to shout about The Room to more people - we'd even man the booth for you! 😉

[BM] Ha, maybe we will, and thanks for your offer!

And with that they got back to it, and I was on my way home safely! If any of this has sounded up your alley then check out the full The Room series available on just about anything you’d make a phone call with these days, and keep an eye out for Ghost Town - available now!

Thanks again to Barry and Mark for their time and be sure to watch this space for more interviews soon!