Your host Sarah sits down with Norwegian brothers Erlend and Kay, the duo behind Skogdal, a roguelike deckbuilder set in a '90s small town where everyone’s slowly losing their minds. With hand-drawn art, a quirky card system, and a love letter to strange corners of Norwegian life, this is their first game together—and it’s already something special.

They discuss how the idea came to life on an 8-hour car ride, Kay’s hand-drawn “slacker style,” and combat followers like “Pizza Friend” (who serves Swedish banana slices). We also get into what it’s like building a game as siblings, killing your darlings, and how a placeholder death animation accidentally became canon.

If you’re into Slay the Spire, comic books, Magic cards, or games with a strong point of view—this episode’s for you.

Episode Timestamps:

Introductions: Meet the Brothers (0:00 )

Development Status & Dev Feelings (2:46 )

Skogdal Deep Dive: Gameplay World & Mechanics (4:41 )

Art Style: Hand-Drawn Slacker Style & Naming (8:30 )

Inspirations & Influences (15:49 )

Favorite Feature in the Game (21:12 )

It's Not a Bug It's a Feature! (22:59 )

Playtesting Feedback (25:01 )

Post-Release Plans & Vision (28:11 )

Origin Story: How the Collaboration Began (32:08 )

Magic Moment as Game Developers (38:22 )

Challenges & Joys of Indie Dev (As Brothers) (39:40 )

Lessons Learned During Development (45:32 )

Advice for Aspiring Gamedevs (49:37 )

The Team & Future Studio Plans? (52:14 )

Funding Community & Norwegian Scene (58:40 )

Outro (1:04:31 )

As always, have fun listening! If you like what we do, tell your friends (and enemies) about us.