“In my childhood, we weren’t financially strong. But then things started changing when we started buying sometimes useful, sometimes luxury objects. That’s where the name ‘Possessions’ comes from…our possessions tells us what we are.” Chirag Chopra, the 27-year-old founder of Lucid Labs, the only Indian developer to make it to Apple Arcade, is a matter of fact on why his game is called Possessions.
The word ‘Possession’ has deep philosophical meaning, says Chopra, adding he decided to name the game thus because it tells us how successful or financially independent we are. “The narrative and storyline are personal to me.”
Work on the game started roughly three and a half years ago, and the team is still trying to refine Possessions. “We built the prototype in a day or two,” remembers Chopra. “We then showed it to a couple of friends and got some feedback around it. The prototype showed potential, we started working on it,” he says. “I was prototyping a lot of ideas. I was intrigued by this idea of manipulating perspective and viewpoint in order to create puzzles and intriguing storylines. Possessions was a result of one of those prototypes,” he explains.
Possessions, Chopra’s third game, is exclusive to Apple Arcade, the game subscription service where users can find high-quality titles that have a strong creative element. Though developed in New Delhi, the game is published by the Saskatoon, Canada-based video game developer, Noodlecake Studios.
It was Noodlecake Studios that helped Chopra get the game selected for Apple Arcade, which back then had a secret code name. The studio knew that Apple was getting ready with some kind of game subscription service but Chopta got to know about Apple Arcade at the last moment when his game was selected. “I think a month from launch, we got this information from the publisher and a few other people from Apple that we are the only team from India to get into the Apple Arcade programme,” recalls Chopra.
For Chopra, Apple Arcade has given artistic games a new lease of life. For just Rs 99 a month, Apple Arcade introduces people to a world of artistic games that you may not have found otherwise on the Apple App Store. That, according to Chopra, is a big pull for Apple Arcade in India where people are yet to appreciate indie games.
