Pixel Cafe Took Inspiration From Soviet Union’s Collapse In Eastern Europe

Wojciech: It is a big aspect. Players will spend more time on the cooking portion of the gameplay, but a lot of work and love went into making the characters Pixel meets and the situations she finds herself in feel believable. One thing we really enjoyed when looking at streams of people trying out the demo is how they reacted to the story – a few of them even said that the conversation Pixel had with her mother hit way too close to home. It’s really validating to see that the narrative resonates with people since it’s a very personal story.

Katarzyna: The players systematically unlock cutscenes depicting current events in Pixel’s life. They’ll get to see how she got her job, what she does after hours and how she’s treated by her bosses. Other cutscenes depict her past, emphasizing Pixel’s relationship with her Grandma, a person who’s very important in her life. Although the story could be seen as optional by some players who just want to focus on the time-management part of Pixel Cafe, it adds to the atmosphere and gives important context to Pixel’s culinary journey. It also shows how small acts of kindness, for example, cooking for someone, can influence people’s lives in the long run – be they strangers or those most important to us.

Wojciech: Pixel, unlike many characters in the trope, doesn’t start off as a pure, naive girl. She can often be mouthy, unapologetic, and distrustful. Players will explore her past and present to find what led to her acting the way she does. An important aspect of the story is Pixel’s relationship with her Grandparents, especially her Grandma. We feel like relations between grandchildren and grandparents are underutilized in culture, and when they appear, they are often left mostly unexplored. We focused on generational differences in trying to showcase how people who lived through the Soviet regime acted after it ended. It’s a story deeply connected to Eastern Europe. As a Polish developer, we wanted to show that part of our local reality, those stories our grandparents told us.

Katarzyna: In this relationship between Pixel and her Grandparents, it was important to show that despite those generational differences in both expressing emotions and approaching life, they still care deeply about each other and that there is love and warmth there. Pixel was heavily influenced by her Grandma, that’s why in the game, she often mentions ‘Grandma’s Coffee’ – a forgotten recipe for a beverage they often drank together. Making this coffee for Pixel was also Grandma’s way of showing her affection and love for her granddaughter without words.

Katarzyna: In creating Pixel’s story, I was heavily inspired by Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. I wanted to make a bitter-sweet coming-of-age story about a young girl and the impact of her family on her personality. Greta Gerwig was able to create Christine’s character with a great deal of respect and tenderness towards her. Gerwig wanted to show how we’re influenced by the small things happening in our relationships and how our upbringing influences who we become as adults.

I wanted to portray Pixel similarly, showing how both her funny and difficult memories had an impact on her everyday life. In telling the story of her work adventures, I was inspired by the character of Adaś Miauczyński from the film Nothing Funny (Nic Śmiesznego) by Marek Koterski. It’s a comedy-drama movie full of everyday misfortunes and both funny and frustrating work misadventures. Pixel, like Adaś, is trying to find her way in life with a sense of humor, but she’s sincerely overwhelmed by the professional problems she encounters at every turn (which are sometimes funny, sometimes unpleasant).

I think players will be able to find comfort in her story as she continues moving on despite all odds. Pixel tries to find her place in life, she tries to achieve what her Grandparents always wanted her to have – happiness and peace of mind. At first, it might look like an unreachable dream, but even when it all seems hopeless and bleak, it’s important to remember that there are, or were, people in your life who care that you’re not alone.

Wojciech: The game was developed by 10 people in total. Some left the company midway through development to pursue other opportunities; some joined it. At its peak, 7 people actively worked on Pixel Cafe. And that’s not counting our internal QA team, management, translators, and the extremely talented Arkadiusz Reikowski, who worked on the music. So, if we count everyone, that’s around 30 people who influenced the game in some way.

Developing it was a journey into new territory for us, especially with its extensive narrative elements. This process involved a significant amount of experimentation and learning through trial and error. As a result, we view the budget not just in terms of financial expenditure but as an investment in both future projects and our team’s growth. Therefore, we’ve chosen to keep the specific financial details private, focusing instead on the invaluable experience and knowledge we’ve gained.

Wojciech: The story of Pixel Cafe is complete. We had very clear goals for both the beginning and ending of the game. We all have ideas of how Pixel’s story could continue or how the world could be expanded and explored further. But as of now, there aren’t any concrete plans to work on any story expansions or sequels. But who knows what the future will bring?

Wojciech: Pixel Cafe offers around 10-12 hours of content. Some players may find themselves spending a bit more time than that if they decide to challenge the optional Nightmare levels. They offer a new level of difficulty that isn’t found anywhere else in the game, so we’re actually really curious to see how long it will take people to fully master them.

Wojciech: I don’t think we’ll settle on one genre soon. We like to try out different things and explore what works. One week, we might work on a chill and story-focused game like Pixel Cafe and the next, we’ll start developing a twin-stick shooter about a punk rock opossum fighting against mutated plants (that’s a real game we’re releasing on Switch by the way).

I think what allows us to be so flexible is the fact that we don’t work under a publisher; Baltoro Games is more or less self-sufficient. We explore genres and mechanics by working on smaller projects, and then, when we find something that clicks, we expand the idea and develop it into a bigger game. Pixel Cafe is definitely the biggest title we have worked on so far though. It taught us many things about scope and management. But it wouldn’t be here were it not for those smaller games that came before it.

Wojciech: One important part of our game is its setting, which really influences the whole story. We drew a lot of inspiration from what happened in Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed, focusing on places like Poland – our home country. That time was really interesting – you had a huge boom in private businesses, but it also came with some sketchy work practices.

As we created this world and story, we found a lot of overlap between back then and now. For example, some employees are still treated as expendable and exploitable. Although now, it’s often not at the hands of individuals, but corporations. We’re also incredibly grateful to everyone who tried out the demo or has shown interest in the game. Thank you all. We can’t wait to see what you think of the full experience.