Interview: Hidden Chest Studios Talks Midwest 90, Monster Apocalypse Burgers, and Learning When to Close the Restaurant

Some games start with a design document. This one started with a burger.

Midwest 90: Rapid City is a tycoon survival sim about keeping a roadhouse running while a monster apocalypse gets going outside, and it has been six years in the making. We spoke to Kesh at Hidden Chest Studios about welding three genres together with no reference points, the deceptively simple feature that finally made the whole thing click, and why the real South Dakota is doing more work in this game than you would guess.

Quickfire Round

First console/system you ever owned? An Atari, back in the 80s. He was not even ten and could not tell you which model.

Favorite boss fight of all time? The Bruiser Brothers in DooM. I really wasn’t expecting them and I believe I screamed and ran straight between the two in panic.

Go-to snack during crunch? Ikan Bilis Sambal with bread.

Pizza topping that must exist in the post-apocalypse? Ikan Bilis Sambal. The man is consistent.

One game you wish you could play again for the first time? Planescape: Torment.

A Nice Juicy Burger and a Terrible Thought

The one line pitch:

Midwest 90 is a tycoon survival sim about running a midwest roadhouse at the start of a monster apocalypse, and how your business decisions will affect the struggling town of Rapid City.

The origin is far more specific, and far more mundane, than that suggests.

I was having a nice juicy burger for dinner at my friend’s midwest restaurant, Betty’s Midwest Kitchen, and I began to wonder what would happen if monsters were outside trying to get in. And then I thought about cooking monsters. And then I realised I didn’t know anything about the midwest and that just snowballed over the next few days into Midwest 90.

Building a Genre That Does Not Exist Yet

Ask Kesh which single mechanic caused the most pain and he does not pick one. He picks the entire game.

The whole package. I don’t think there are any games like this, so the team and I had no reference points, and we had to figure out how to weld together restaurant tycoon, tower defence and RPG into one nice package that was at least remotely fun to play. Thank goodness people like it.

Behind the scenes, the challenges were the ones every first time indie recognises: making something memorable, and finding the money to keep going.

Closing Time

The breakthrough was not a new system. It was one the team had deliberately left out.

The game didn’t come together until we implemented “closing time” and a daily report, which is in every other management game. We had mistakenly rationalized that it was better for the player to keep the restaurant going without needing to close. But for a gameplay loop to be fun, it needs to close and restart.

A rare and useful bit of honesty about killing a clever idea in favour of the obvious one.

The Characters Are the Point

Asked what he is proudest of, Kesh gives an answer that is equal parts pride and self-criticism.

It’s my first game so I feel both proud and unsatisfied about the whole damn thing. But if I really had to nail it down, it’s the characters. I wanted to make them feel real and I think I have done that successfully, to an extent. I’m still working on them.

The cheat code question got the most wholesome answer we have had on this series so far: world peace and universal income.

The funny bug question got the least. “There are no funny bugs, everything must be perfect. And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” He then admitted he genuinely cannot remember any, thanks to burn out. Fair enough.

Rapid City Is a Real Place

The thing Kesh most wants players to know before they start is that the setting is not invented.

Rapid City is a real place in South Dakota and it has an amazing history around the Black Hills. I have done my best to connect some of the events in the game with its history and I hope by playing the game, you will be inclined to read up about the Black Hills too.

He adds, for the record: Indian Tacos are real too.

And the feeling he wants players to leave with is the game’s whole thesis in one line: community is important, and is the better choice over profits.

Looking Ahead

Five years in, the team is not looking past the finish line.

Midwest 90 is our first game and we’ve been at it for over 5 years. So the team and I are focusing on getting to the finish line without looking too far ahead. If we find success, that’s when we will look into that mystery box.

The dream collab is Arkane Studios on an immersive sim. As for what comes after launch, the plan is refreshingly human: clear a few games off the Steam backlog, then make smaller, more focused things.

How to Support Hidden Chest Studios

Try the demo and if you enjoy it, tell EVERYONE ABOUT IT, and get them to wishlist it. Pretty please?

Links

• Midwest 90 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1818480/Midwest_90_Rapid_City/
• Discord: https://discord.gg/3UM9YPQffT

Thanks to Kesh at Hidden Chest Studios for taking the time to chat with Rob’s Game Shack.