“All the feelings” is Matilda Jalonens, Project Lead, and writer, answer when I ask how they feel about the grant, a sunny Friday morning,
Skildra Storytelling Studio has just been granted a grant of 350 000 SEK, most of it from Region Värmland to develop their demo for their game Tidstrollet (The time troll in English). This enables the studio to complete its DEMO and continue its search for a publisher.
Pitching the game at a game pitch
The Studio pitched at The Great Summer Pitch, and even if they did not win, the Panel was impressed by their pitch and thought it was a perfect start to the event.
“Point and click adventures are timeless classics and a strong choice for the genre, two of us in the panel were actually talking beforehand about hoping to someday see a resurrection of the old classic ‘Svea Rike’ and this could actually be something in that vein.
Extremely strong local support, strong informative angle with historic places and people.”
- Mattias Sandström at Cold Pixel, one of the panelists at the event.
But it did not end there, the studio exhibited the game both here in Värmland and in Scotland before we could settle down and have a chat.
The Studio and the team
Back to our discord call and I ask them about their plans going forward.
Now is the time to gather everyone around the development of the content of the demo. Everyone has been a little on edge, waiting to see if they can continue the development.
The studio has a compelling concept, deep-dive into time travel, and meets different historical figures and creators from Swedish folklore, and it has really caught people’s attention. The team has varied in size but is now between 10 to 15 people. Most of them have worked pro-bono, but this money gives them a chance to pay their team during the summer.
“Of Course, I would love to hire everyone full-time, but that would be unrealistic at this point,” Samuel Nilsson, producer, and CEO say when we talk about what possibilities are opening up.
Munkfors - a place close to nature, folklore, and a game studio
Something very curious is the decision to move the studio and the team to Munkfors. Samuel shows me the key to their new studio in his camera and fires off a big smile. He has just picked it up and is excited to kickstart everything. One part of the team will work onsite and one part will work remotely, all in a contemporary fashion.
The studio will be close to the nature that they love and the folklore they are working with is spread across the Värmlandish countryside. Something Skildra is very familiar with since it they are part of a larger association that has worked with the conservation of the local folklore in Värmland for a couple of years now.
But not only are they locating their studio to Munkfors, but they are also moving one part of the team to an apartment there. Together they will share a five-bedroom apartment close to the studio, something the municipality is very pleased with.
They are very excited to boot everything up again now and looking forward to what the future brings.
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