The developers of Papo & Yo are working on an all new project called Silent Enemy. Whereas the previous game focused on a child's relationship with his father, the new title tackles the uncomfortable issue of childhood bullying.
Developed by Minority Media, the new game features shapeshifting as a core part of its gameplay and is set in a Native American theme. as the story would have it, players take on a quest to bring spring to a world of endless winter.
According to the studio's co-founder and creator of Papo & Yo, Vander Caballero, the project began as an iOS game about survival hunting, based on the experiences of one of the studio's staff. The studio's creative director, Ruben Farrus, took the game a step further by stating it needed an emotional angle, to fit in with the philosophy of game development embraced by Minority Media, and thus Silent Enemy was born.
“Ruben came back and said, ‘OK, we can do a game about bullying,’” said Cabellero in an interview with Kotaku.
“I was bullied before. Ernie, our partner, our Crete partner, he was bullied before because his father is white and his mother is Indian, so he got bullied in the reserve. We said, ‘Wow, this is a topic that lots of people will relate to. Let’s go for it.’ That’s where Silent Enemy is now. There’s still the native American themes in there but it’s totally changed from what it is now. It’s not about survival hunting anymore. It’s more about bullying and dealing with that.”
The studio's current game, Papo & Yo, is available on Steam.
