Glowpop, a cute but challenging platformer from indie studio Punnu Games, launched on Steam at the weekend. 

Punnu Games is based in Turku, Finland, and the developers highlight the supportive Finnish game industry community as crucial to their success. 

With PGC Helsinki on our mind (including its new Big Screen Gaming Summit area for PC content), we caught up with the team's Tipi Ilmonen to ask about their inspirations, design choices and indie experiences. 

PC Games Insider: Can you please describe Glowpop to us in your own words. What sort of game is it?

Tipi Ilmonen: Glowpop is an adventure that combines cuteness, challenging gameplay and narrative. It is a platformer mainly, but the maps leave space for exploration and uncovering the mystery that surrounds the green Punnu who our little hero, yellow Punnu, is trying to find.

In Glowpop the player has to put their parkour skills to the limit. The game has different kinds of maps from more open areas, where strategy is everything to more linear escape run maps where speed and precision are the key to success.

With different play modes the game can be experienced in different ways. Easy mode allows a more forgiving play style. Normal mode requires strategic thinking as you have two checkpoints per map that are for the player to decide where to place them. Hard mode and Terror modes are for players who are looking for even more brutal challenges in the game.

Glowpop seems to combine a cute aesthetic with challenging gameplay. What led to this design decision?

We wanted to stay true to our own style of easily approachable and adorable art style, but we wanted to create a game that requires skills to play. That led to a decision to try to combine the two. 

The philosophy behind this is that not all hard games need to be grim and dark in their mood, but it is possible to create challenging skill-based games without the dark atmosphere and still achieve a sense of pressure in the game. I would not say that cute and hard contradict each other, but in Glowpop they actually complement each other. 

Tell us more about Glowpop's origin story. What is its inspiration?

My son invented the Punnu when he was really small after seeing little bouncy blobs in a game called Botanicula from Amanita Design. He is now 14 and the Punnu have gained an entire civilization, history, culture and all kinds of personalities. He has invented a lot of characters, but he once asked if I could make a game about Punnu and even though it took some time, it is now finally happening.

The Punnu he created are peaceful and that actually led to the decision that we will not have combat in the game. Even though there are story elements outside the universe he created, the types of Punnu, their homeworld and the core of “what it means to be a Punnu” are very much exactly what he invented. I still ask him “is it ok for the Punnu to do this and be like that” when designing features to the game.

What are your other inspirations? Does it fit easily in an established genre?

Massive inspirations have been games like Celeste and Hollow Knight for their skill-based gameplay, and the precision platforming. I love how it feels to play those games, that when you get better by playing the game it feels more rewarding.

For the aesthetics the inspiration comes from [Studio] Ghibli films. But I think the style started living its own life at some point. We just wanted to create something that is pretty and cute, but also attractive to players who have not tried challenging platformers.

How did Punnu Games get together? How has your experience as a young studio in Finland's development scene shaped your approach to creating and marketing Glowpop?

In 2019 things looked very different. We started out as two founders. The team grew during the first few years to what it is now. We were so green in the beginning, so first [we were] just learning the rules of the industry. Most of us are from same university, but a few just kinda walked in from the office door and were immediately adopted.

Development of Glowpop has been challenging, since we are financing everything ourselves by working on outsourcing projects and resources have been limited. The business growth has seen its ups and downs, but we are still alive and kicking. The key has been a super team that has poured time and effort into the project.

We were lucky in the first few years and landed on good deals that allowed us to pour resources into Glowpop. There have been a lot of rollercoaster moments both financially and emotionally during the past years. I think getting this project finally out to the daylight is a major reward to the team to share our work and love for the little Punnu with the world.

What’s the "rainbow glitter splatter" feature we’ve read about? 

We wanted to have some juiciness when the player character dies, but it just felt very wrong to have blood spilling all over the place. There is a death counter in the game for a reason, so the amount of splatter is significant. 

The solution was to use colourful “splashes” with glitter sparkles instead and still have the splatter in the game. Now when you die in the game, it is actually fun and some harder areas get a nice rainbow colour to them.

I think it’s unique to have a juicy splatter in the game, but it doesn’t feel brutal or violent. What are the Punnu made of? Rainbows and glitter!

Finland is known for its thriving game industry. What unique aspects of the Finnish scene have influenced your work?

The strong communities. Here I have to mention especially LGIN (Living Games Intelligence Network) led by Suvi Kiviniemi. Without the support in that community, Glowpop would never have even been made. People there are amazing and I cannot thank them enough for all the support and guidance they have given us. 

Another amazing community for us has been HIVE Turku and the amazing support we have received from the local community here in Turku, Finland.

I think the knowledge sharing culture we have here in Finland in the game industry is unique and we have been so lucky to be part of that.

How do you plan to build and maintain a community around Glowpop post-launch?

Glowpop is also going to be launched on consoles and we have some extra updates coming to the game later as well.

We are going to have possibly some terror-mode challenges and a speedrun mode coming post-launch. Let’s see what other cool stuff we will come up with. We welcome everyone to our discord to join the community!

Glowpop launched last weekend on Steam. The game will be available on consoles later this autumn. To discover more about the Finnish games scene, including PC and console development, reserve your spot now for Big Screen Gaming and PG Connects Helsinki 2024. Both activities are part of Finnish Games Week, from 30 September to 4 October. There are still plenty of opportunities for indie teams to take part.