Hello again!

Have any of you guys ever wondered what went into the thought process for Keep in Mind? With our new release right around the corner, I thought it’d be a good idea to post a little bit about what Keep in Mind once was and what it could have been!

Keep in Mind was one of mine and Ian’s thought experiments back in 2015— when I was just starting out making games. I was really into programming at the time (the glory days of that are long gone), and I wanted to make something short and meaningful… and dark. I was heavily inspired by games like OFF, Yume Nikki, and Imscared, and felt there was something really compelling about short horror games. Ian and I used to sit for hours discussing how we could create something short and new in the horror genre.

Let me begin with Jonas, the main character of the game. Jonas is a character inspired by both Ian and my father— two men in our lives that have battled with alcoholism and defeat. Keep in Mind is a story of the battle with alcoholism and journeying for truth— I plan to talk a little more about inspirations for the game in a later post, but for now, Jonas is a fusion of those two people’s journeys.

Jonas didn’t always look like this though. Initially, I’d planned for Jonas to be an old man wandering around in his mind, as if he saw himself age dozens of years in his nightmare. Like a premonition— if he continued on his current path, this would be his reality in his elderly age. It also reflected the way one can feel haggard and old when dealing with heavy issues every day of one’s life.

Ian thought this could be confusing, so I changed him to match his waking form. Jonas is definitely still an old soul, though!

The monsters from Keep in Mind were inspired by the emotions I felt most prominently from my own experiences and from listening to both our families’ stories. I decided to personify them as beasts that spoke in Jonas’ mind like the voices in our own heads. I never intended them to be seen as monsters, but as something warped by darkness. Over time I really grew to love our little beasties.

Here is some of their original concept art! I didn’t really conventionally create them one at a time; instead I just tossed some paint in Photoshop and tried to create a minimalistic style that felt dark. I was really concerned with silhouette, and how to represent emotions through visuals.

You may notice a few unused concepts— I had a tough time picking and choosing, but ultimately a few got cut.

Over time I started to flesh out my beasts and their names started to change. They began to take on a life all their own, and I came to know each of them and their voices individually.

And thus, Jonas’ demons were born!

Keep in Mind is an ever-growing story, and I’m going to share more about Keep in Mind’s development, influences, and future in a later blog post. I hope you enjoyed seeing a little glimpse into the formation of this bite-sized horror narrative!