HELL CLOCK GIVES CANUDENSES A FIGHTING CHANCE

by Dan Lipscombe

Rogue Snail has been making games for around 18 years.Take a look at their portfolio and you’ll see colourful, almost saccharine games. The studio’s last two games, Relic Hunters and Star Vikings Forever, have a very definite bubblegum aesthetic paired with engaging gameplay that scratch the itch for fast-paced repetition, crafting and developing roguelike builds. The team of 30 is eager to build on what came before with their latest game, Hell Clock, but also tap into something significantly more personal.

The new game combines two highly successful genres – roguelikes and ARPGs – into a moreish beast that keeps you hooked through a steady power creep and action-packed moments. Underneath that bombastic veneer is an emotional story of oppression, a celebration of Brazilian culture, and a sense of catharsis for a team presenting a harrowing slice of history.

Mark Venturelli, studio head of Rogue Snail and creative director on Hell Clock, says that this was the perfect time to tell a “Brazilian story,” and use it to explore a difficult time in the history of the country: the War of Canudos, also known as The Canudos Massacre. There was a concern, before now, that the world wouldn’t care about Brazilian culture and history, confides Venturelli, before adding, “we want Brazilian history and Brazilian culture to seem cool, and to do that while staying true to your origins is very, very difficult.”

Ultimately, Venturelli and his team felt ready, as artists, to communicate a difficult topic through the use of the ARPG template. “I am from Northeast Brazil, which is a historically troubled region,” the studio head describes, “there is a lot of prejudice against the northeast. The Canudos Massacre is still an open wound in history. I feel like the repercussions are still very much alive today.”

While Hell Clock doesn’t beat you over the head with a history lesson, the action does take place within the time when thousands of Brazilians were massacred simply for wanting to live apart from the government’s decisions. The area of Canudos was established for those of poorer classes to live and avoid the republican rule, believing instead in religion and a monarchs’ god given right to rule. This angered the republican government, who branded the citizens of Canudos as opposing the ideals of this new government.

The situation saw four separate skirmishes with the government attempting to end the existence of Canudos. In the final attempt, they had wiped out all but a few hundred women and children who had been starved, and those Canudenses that had surrendered were still killed. This is our backdrop to levels filled with supernatural monsters and brutal creatures who stand in for a rampaging army. Venturelli comments that every Brazilian child is taught this history in school, “you kind of learn it, but don’t really understand it, and as an adult, you just completely forgot about it.”

Therefore, the game was created as a way to discuss the atrocities.To keep it as authentic as possible, the team worked with local historians to nail the setting and history of the region. Venturelli describes the challenge saying, “It’s very hard to do something when there is no frame of reference. We’re creating a dark fantasy world with paranormal elements based on Brazilian history. We did a lot of research to make everything as authentic as possible.”

Rogue Snail knows that some players may not care for the story, and that’s okay, because it simply mattered that it was told, and that someone, somewhere would learn something new.

One demographic scares the team, and that’s Brazilian players because, as Venturelli notes, “If I don’t do good, I’m screwed, right?” This is due to the lack of Brazilian games on the market, and Rogue Snail feels a pressure in “representing our country and showcasing our culture to the world positively.”

And the genre twists are a key part of telling this story. Hell Clock is played in very short chunks, running through levels against the clock, constantly looping time as a roguelike does. This isn’t just a mechanic, but it communicates how we can cope with generational trauma. The director explains, “The [narrative] is about telling your own story, in your own voice, and learning that sometimes you need to relive something 1,000 times until you can make the truth shine.” 

In motion, Hell Clock’s tone, which strives to show a sense of life among horrific chaos, shows through its bold colours, and dark and harsh outlines. It’s got cartoon sensibilities familiar to Rogue Snail’s body of work, but it’s based on a native style called ‘Xilogavura’, a form of art that utilises wooden block printing originating from northeast Brazil. It also tells its story in bite size chunks, a choice that goes hand in hand with a form of storytelling called ‘Cordel Literature’, which told narratives or summarised historical or political moments on cheaply printed paper pamphlets, through poetry, quickly created with wood blocks. Think a literary ‘zine and you’re on the right track. Taken together, Hell Clock looks and feels  lavish, created in this design that honours a time and place, but also an authentic way to inform an audience.

Its literally dark style also reflects the feelings of Venturelli and his team. “This is the first time we’re making something this dark and this heavy,” he says, “this is the soul of the game, and I feel like this comes out of love, [but] it’s a very angry story.” He describes Hell Clock as cathartic, and it shows. Venturelli gets more animated talking about his anger at the pain of the past, and the oppression that still seeps into society today. “There’s a lot of emotional build-up that you carry because you know this affects you, and your country, on a day-to-day basis.”

While he’s hesitant to spoil a part of the game, Venturelli describes how good it feels to be able to exact revenge on a historical figure, saying, “There’s this one motherfucker. He’s like a cartoon villain, I hate him so much. There’s a city named after him in Brazil, there’s a hospital in my hometown named after this shithead. It felt good to kill him in the game.”

There has to be a great game beneath all the anger and history, and thankfully, Hell Clock is a genuine gem that will no doubt end up in the hearts of many, and Venturelli is aware that the game has to be great in order for people to hear the story within.

He paints a picture of this as his two identities, “artist and designer.” He goes on to describe this – “Game development is so interesting, I love it so much, because I consider myself an artist, what motivates me are artistic motivations, which are basically selfish. It’s just your ego. It’s taking your ego, and stuff that matters to you, and putting it out there in the most ‘you’ way possible.” He asks himself, “it’s a very selfish thing to do art, right?”

This contrasts with the other side of him, “design is kind of the opposite of art,” he explains, “You have to look at the other person. You have to have a lot of empathy. You have to be approachable. You have to understand the differences in people.” With this in mind, Rogue Snail has two options for players of Hell Clock, the regular, time pressured version of the game, battling to complete the challenges; and the relaxed mode for those wanting to live in the world and absorb the story. Design and art.

So, what does Venturelli and his team want players to feel when they sit down with Hell Clock, beyond the frenetic actions and time-looping mechanics? “Even though it’s a really dark story, a really dark game, I feel like people come out of this feeling curious about the world and culture we have shown.” He’s right, it’s hard to ignore the historical elements of the game and not want to know more, it’s one of the magical aspects of telling a true story through interactive art.

Venturelli looks back at his childhood, playing Super Mario Bros 3, and grabbing that first sceptre after the initial boss fight, saying it felt “magical” and that’s what he hopes to recreate in his games. He describes film, music, books, as also containing magic, but remarks, “the interaction makes it unique. The experience could be extremely similar to millions of other people around the world, but this reaction is mine.” He returns to Super Mario Bros 3, noting how Miyamoto laid out this path for everyone to tread, but in the moment, it’s just you and the story, the emotion, the feeling. Venturelli finishes by saying, “It’s like a magical thing just for you.”