Welcome back to Insider Gaming’s 28 Games Later: A Horror Showcase. One of the games you saw as part of the show was The Funskin Project, and we have an exclusive interview with the game’s developer.
From Studio Richoux, the game is a horrifying experience in a strange and timeless universe. Explore, solve puzzles, fight for your survival and try to escape this nightmare.
As part of the show, we spoke with Antoine of Studio Richoux about The Funskin Project. Below you can find the full conversation. And for more on the game, check out our complete rundown.
The Funskin Project – 28 Games Later Interview
Q: How long has the game been in development?
I started developing the game around late 2023. Since I’m working on it alone and in my spare time, as I have another job alongside it, there have naturally been periods when I’ve been able to make more progress than others.
The game evolved quite a lot during development. The original idea had a modern setting and a much broader structure, with several different environments and multiple ways to approach the game. As I worked on it, I realized that this was a lot to take on for a first game.
I had a roughly three-hour demo that I pitched to several publishers, but unfortunately, I didn’t get any positive responses from them. Looking back, I think the project was simply too ambitious for what I was trying to achieve with my first game. So, at the beginning of 2025, I decided to rethink the project and take it in a different direction.
The current version came out of that decision. I wanted to focus on one large, coherent environment rather than trying to make the game as big as possible. I was able to keep some of the work from the first version, including the save and inventory systems, some enemies and puzzles, and a lot of the underlying code. Most of the environments were rebuilt to fit the new setting and the direction I wanted to take the game in.
Q: Can you talk about the game’s inspiration?
There are quite a few.
The first Resident Evil was obviously a big inspiration for the structure of the game; exploring a large environment and gradually unlocking new areas as you progress.
Ico is another important influence, especially for its level design and the feeling of moving through one large, coherent space. I hope I’ve managed to get a little bit of that feeling into The Funskin Project.
Signalis was also one of the games that made me realize that it was possible to make this kind of game with a much smaller production setup than a traditional one.
For the visual side, the 1991 film Dracula was a big influence on the overall atmosphere. When it comes to horror, I like the work of artists such as Hans Bellmer and Francis Bacon, as well as, of course, Silent Hill, which has also been an influence on the game.
And for the writing, I really like the work of Carlos Ruiz Zafón and André Pieyre de Mandiargues.
Q: During the game’s development, has the team faced any obstacles it had to overcome?
Almost everything outside of programming has been a challenge for me. I’m a programmer by training, and I didn’t have much experience with the artistic side of game development.
I had made a few small games on my own before, and I knew a little bit about 3D modeling tools, but not much. So I’ve had to learn most of it as I went along. Animation is probably still the part I find the most difficult.
I do enjoy creating 3D environments quite a lot now, though I still have a lot to learn.
Game design and balancing have also been, and still are, a bit of a headache. The game is around twelve hours long, so it’s not always easy to keep a good pace, make puzzles that aren’t too difficult or too simple, and generally make sure the player doesn’t get bored or feel like they’re not making progress.
That feeling of progression is something I really like in games; having some difficulty with something, eventually figuring it out, and then finding out what’s waiting for you afterwards.
Q: Was there a “eureka” moment where everything just clicked and started to come together?
I’d say it was the first time I was able to let some friends play the game.
I didn’t really have the opportunity to do that with the first version I mentioned earlier. I’ve been developing the game roughly in the same order that the player experiences it, so once I had about two hours of gameplay ready, I was able to give that section to some friends.
There were obviously a lot of things that didn’t work yet, but the feedback was generally good, especially regarding the puzzles. That was when I decided to put more emphasis on them and make them a bigger part of the game.
Q: What features are you the most proud of? What are you excited for players to experience?
I quite like the day and night system.
Basically, time passes as you play and affects several things; the behavior of the enemies, the save system, and access to certain areas.
During the day, the player needs specific items to save, a bit like the ink ribbons in Resident Evil. When night falls, they can keep exploring, but the enemies become more dangerous.
The player can also choose to go to sleep to save their progress. This means they don’t have to use a save item, but all the enemies will respawn. There are also other things that can happen at night, but I’ll let players discover those for themselves.
All of this creates a certain dynamic and gives the player some choices to make about how they want to progress.
I’m also curious to see what players think about the puzzles, since they’re a fairly important part of the game. There are quite a lot of them throughout the game, and I’ve tried to make them different enough from one another.
Hopefully, people will enjoy figuring them out and exploring the castle.
Q: You have 30 seconds or so to pitch to a player who’s looking for a new game to play. What would you say to them?
If you like old-school survival horror, but also enjoy adventure and exploration games, you might find something you like in The Funskin Project.
I tried to recreate some of the feeling of progression and exploration that I enjoy in those older games, while making the whole thing on my own.
I just hope people have a good time playing it.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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