Meet the Solo Developer Responsible for One of the Weirdest Games on the Internet
Creating games is hard. It's even harder by yourself, but that won't stop Nico Papalia, the solo developer of the upcoming RPG Athenian Rhapsody.
Nico Papalia seems like a normal enough dude. He has a cute dog named Ruby, loves spending time with his family, and works full-time like the rest of us. What sets him apart from you and me is that over the last few years, he has spent most of his free time creating Athenian Rhapsody, an upcoming RPG that aims to launch later this year. Most games require a cohesive team of professionals, all working towards the same goal of launching their creation, but Nico is a team of one. He outsources sound effects and music, but the programming, quest designs, and character art all come from him.
Now, you might think, “Well, I bet this guy was some sort of programming genius before starting,” and you would be very, very wrong. Nico taught himself programming as he worked on the game, scouring tutorials and being a very active member of the Gamemaker Discord server. This is a labor of love. Nico cites his family and Discord community as huge motivators to finish this herculean task.
One Singular Focus
As someone with way too many hobbies and responsibilities, I have learned that time management is an essential skill for anyone looking to maximize their productivity or accomplish personal projects while working full-time. Nico has taken this to a new level, managing not only all of the responsibilities that come with being an adult but also the complications of being a solo developer. Nico studied art in college, and this shines in Athenian Rhapsody through the vibrant environments and detailed character designs. Creating a game with such a large scope is a challenging task and not without hardships. In the interview, I asked Nico why he didn’t make a game that was smaller in scope or didn’t have as many branching narrative possibilities, and his response was impressive.
Zanadood: Many indie developers would focus on a shorter four-to-six-hour experience, but Athenian Rhapsody seems to be a full RPG with a huge array of characters. What was your thinking behind that decision to go with a bigger project?
Nico: You know what? I was always making characters growing up. Used to draw on my desk. Things like that. Once I got the ball rolling with the game and I had my composer, Arp-bug, on board, we just made stuff so fast. Like the actual action of making, making the game is so fun. It's addicting.
Nico is working with a publisher on his project and commends them for the help they have given him with porting the game and helping develop some of the online systems. Since signing his publishing deal, he has implemented new features and ports he wasn’t expecting to be able to do by himself. Athenian Rhapsody will feature a mobile port and a unique cross-platform social media aspect, which was a huge undertaking. Athenian Rhapsody will be showcased at Pax East this year, with Nico doing one last push to promote his work.
The Social Media Effect
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Athenian Rhapsody already has a fervent fan base behind it, thanks to Nico’s decision to document and market the game through his TikTok account. By showcasing characters and designs on TikTok and other social media, Nico has allowed players to give him inspiration and ideas, even before any demo was available to play. Nico credits this strategy with a lot of the success he has had with demos and building a community around the game. Nico’s success on TikTok was started almost by accident. I asked Nico about his unique marketing for Athenian Rhapsody, and he had this to say:
Zanadood: What was it like to run social media as part of the development process? Do you think that it was beneficial? Seeing what everyone thought about the game in real time?
Nico: Yeah, it was probably the most important part. I definitely could not have made it halfway this far if there wasn't the interest of people. When I first started posting it on TikTok in 2021, I was just gonna post a simple video, and I got shit on. People said wow, this looks like garbage and other terrible things, but I kept posting, and this crazy community grew. And it's not like I even have that many TikTok followers, but it's been consistent, and it has spread to other places.
The Age of an Auteur
Nico Papalia aims to join the ranks of other popular and successful solo developers such as ConcernedApe (Stardew Vallew), Toby Fox (Undertale), and Thomas Happ (Axiom Verge). When I asked Nico whether his next project would have a larger team, he said he wasn't sure he wanted extra help. The creative control over designs and gameplay elements is just too alluring for him, and he said he loves all parts of the game creation process. To be fair, he taught himself all these skills, so he might as well put them to use. His creativity is endless.
Athenian Rhapsody hosts a huge selection of quirky and interesting characters and secret easter eggs throughout the game. In our conversation, Nico shared that one of the harder secrets to find is the Milk Fairies. Placed through the game’s map, these tiny sprites offer players a lot of replayability (and an achievement for all the completionists out there). These little touches are possible due to Nico's creative control over the game. This is just one tiny example of all the little tidbits he has sprinkled in.
Solo development is not a new way to make games, but we only hear about the massive success stories. Although not the sole developer of his games, Hideo Kojima is known for his creative control over his latest projects and how he can push the envelope of what we think is possible in video games. This level of control is not always possible at larger studios that cannot afford to make something too weird, so it is understandable that Nico prefers this way of working.
What makes games like Athenian Rhapsody, Stardew Valley, and Undertale so great is that you can see a single person's narrative and vision come to life. These games contain quirkiness and features that are truly special to their creators and were made with passion and intent. I wish Nico the best with his upcoming launch and look forward to playing the full game this year.
If this game is interesting to you or you want to support Nico’s dream, be sure to wishlist the game on Steam and play the demo! If you are at Pax East this year, he will have a booth, so make sure to say hi! Join the Discord server and get ready for this game to launch later this year!
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