Can you imagine being stuck at a diner, knowing the world’s end is upon us? Between the mix of clinks of coffee mugs and the sizzle of a grill lies the uneasy feeling of what comes next. Will you stay cool, calm, and collected? Or will you break under the pressure, confessing the problems you’ve had to endure? That’s exactly the background to the upcoming game, While We Wait Here.
This is an upcoming title from Bad Vices Games, which previously released Ravenous Devils. Recently, we had the chance to speak with Cristian Gambadori from the team behind the game to learn a little more about their upcoming project.
Gameranx: Could you first tell us a little bit about Bad Vices Games?
Cristian Gambadori: We are an Italian team of two developers, Eleonora Vecchi and Cristian Gambadori. Cristian attended a computer science high school, which provided him with a foundation in programming. In his spare time, he studied 3D graphics and game development. Eleonora, who has always been passionate about video games, completed a 3-year 3D graphics course starting in 2017. During the course, we met and discovered that we had many interests in common, so we began developing games together. All our games so far have been self-funded using the revenue from our most recent release. As a studio, we love working on small but meticulously crafted games that are sustainable for a small team like ours. We always strive to learn from other independent studios and solo developers, believing that their experiences help us understand what we want to achieve as a team and improve our work.
As developers, we strongly believe that production constraints are the most useful tool we have, enabling us to create innovative experiences.
Gameranx: How do you describe the premise of your upcoming game, While We Wait Here?
Cristian Gambadori: While We Wait Here is a thriller where the player works in a diner during a menacing storm. As they cook fries, hamburgers, and manage the restaurant, they also find themselves needing to comfort the unfortunate customers who stop by to eat. One might say that the problems these people have are insignificant compared to what seems to be the end of the world unfolding outside the diner door, but for these individuals, it’s not the case. They are blinded by their own thoughts and dilemmas. The end of the world is the least of their concerns.
Gameranx: Where do you credit some of the inspirations behind this project?
Cristian Gambadori: After finishing the development of a game, we are always open to exploring new genres. We particularly like the horror/thriller genre, but we never completely exclude other possibilities. When we find an idea that we think might work, we choose a genre to place it in, and then we start looking for similar successful indie games to study. Essentially, the concept always comes first, and then we design the mechanics around it. The concept of “While We Wait Here” started with the diner in the desert, a group of strangers, and the end of the world. Looking for similar games helped us expand on this concept and shape the game. We took inspiration from “What Remains of Edith Finch,” “Iron Lung,” “Firewatch,” the series “Fears to Fathom,” “Twelve Minutes,” “Road 96,” and “Life is Strange.” Additionally, a recent game that we played and found similar to ours is “Indika.”
Gameranx: I understand that this game has multiple endings. Do we know just how many potential endings players could unlock?
Cristian Gambadori: There will be 5 storylines to follow. Each of these branches into two possible endings. The endings depend on how the player solves the clients’ dilemmas by talking with them in the diner. You will be asked to make moral choices for them. You will get to know these strangers who come into the diner during the frightening storm outside, which gets worse over time as they arrive.
Gameranx: How long of runtime should players expect a campaign run to take?
Cristian Gambadori: We always complete it in about 2 hours, but we know the game pretty well. For a new player, I would estimate a first playthrough to take between 2 and 3 hours.
Gameranx: From my understanding, a big part of the game is the NPCs you’ll interact with. Some will present their problems for you to deal with. Could you offer some examples of problems NPCs might be experiencing?
Cristian Gambadori: Yes, the NPCs in the game are one of the key aspects. We designed the NPCs’ stories imagining that the player is playing the game with a friend beside them, because that’s how we play similar games ourselves. We want to create a contrast between the opinions of these two people that are playing. This is to create indecision. Indecision and uncertainty are the main themes of the plot of “While We Wait Here”. The NPCs’ problems are unique moral dilemmas and are bound by what seems to be the end of the world outside the diner’s door. We won’t spoil more about the NPCs’ mechanics before release, because after we launched the demo in October 2023, we watched a lot of players’ reactions to the game and we were really pleased to see that almost none of them expected the twists in the demo. We think that the surprises we designed are what make this game a little different from other similar titles that inspired us.
Gameranx: What can you tell me about the protagonist we’re playing?
Cristian Gambadori: The players will play as one of the owners of the diner. The demo describes one of their usual days at work until something really bad happens. It will be one of the choices we make during the demo that will change the protagonist character we play for the rest of the game. The main character has recurring visions of past events related to his trauma. As the story unfolds, the player will get to know what happened in the diner and why the world outside seems to be falling apart.
Gameranx: This game features fully voiced-over characters. Can you reveal who is lending their talents to voice some of these characters?
Cristian Gambadori: Yes, all characters are voiced. This is the first group of voice actors who worked on the main characters: Grant Corvin, Abigail Turner, Art Brown, Oolay-Tiger, Phillip Freeman, Jeran Ugokwe, Abigail Blythe, Kelsey Poppen, Allen Chan, and Jessica Jacobs.
This other group of voice actors voiced secondary characters who have few lines of dialogue: Zach Brown, Roberto Boushae, Alex Furness, Andrew Colon, and Jakob Dillon.
I have to say that this was our first time working with so many actors, and it’s been quite a challenge for us, but we also learned a lot about directing this many voice actors. Our previous games had a maximum of 2 voiced characters, so it was a lot easier to produce the documentation to share with actors to help them understand the character. After the demo launched last year, we received a lot of feedback on the voiceover, and that really helped us understand what could be improved and what was already working well.
Gameranx: What experience are you hoping players take away once they reach the credits?
Cristian Gambadori: Our goal with ‘While We Wait Here’ is to offer players a fun ‘horror’ experience to enjoy with friends. We have many family members and acquaintances who are not gamers, and when they ask what we’re working on, for simplicity, we always tell them that we’re making a game very similar to the horror-themed episodes of ‘The Simpsons.’
We can’t wait to see the reactions to what we’ve created because we believe that the blend of different concepts contributes to making something unique, entertaining, and intriguing until the end. We also hope it prompts reflection on the contrasts presented by the game’s plot.
Gameranx: Do you have any post-launch plans?
Cristian Gambadori: No, right now we don’t have any post-launch plans. Due to the story-driven nature of the game, we designed it to be a complete experience upon launch. While we have added some content to our previous games after launch based on player requests, minor additions are not excluded.
Gameranx: Can we get an update on the current development process?
Cristian Gambadori: The game is complete and fully playable. We are currently playtesting it to find bugs and add final touches and improvements. The game will be released simultaneously on PC and consoles this year. You can expect detailed news about the release date in Fall. We are waiting to see if the porting process goes smoothly and passes all console certifications.
Gameranx: While We Wait Here is heading for the PC. Are there plans for consoles as well?
Cristian Gambadori: Yes, absolutely. As with our previous game, ‘Ravenous Devils,’ Troglobytes Games is handling the porting of ‘While We Wait Here.’ The game will be released on Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. On PC, it will be available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Fortunately, it looks like both PC and console players will be getting to dive into While We Wait Here when it releases into the marketplace. For now, we’ll have to keep an eye out this Fall for an official announcement of the game’s release date.
