It’s not often that you wake up one day and want to create a videogame, but for Aaron Gwynaire, that’s exactly what happened. Back in 2011, Gwynaire developed a game idea, which he then created a level for. While the project remained unfinished, it proved to himself that he could make a video game. It wasn’t until 2018, though, that he picked up game development again – this time tackling a new, larger and more ambitious project. Neyyah was born.

“Neyyah just ended up taking a life of its own,” Gwynaire told us. “July 2018 was where Neyyah really kicked off. I’d started learning Blender (with a background in a software called Anim8or, and basic 3D modelling) and seeing the Cycles rendering results there … So realistic. Path traced pre-rendered graphics looking smoother, having far more fidelity than anything even Unreal Engine could generate, at the time anyway, for 2018.

“I was hooked, and I knew my vision to make Neyyah a prerendered point n click adventure game, in the same slideshow / screen-to-screen style of gameplay as the OG Myst and Riven games was very doable.”

Thanks to an engine change, transitioning from Adventure Maker to Visionaire Studio 5, Gwynaire’s vision started to become a reality. The engine enabled him to create Neyyah without using any complex programming knowledge, often leaning on very talented ‘Visionairians’ as he kept pushing forward to make Neyyah as big as it became. “Oh, it was going to be bigger, by the way! But I’ll leave this for a digital art book down the track!,” Gwyanire joked.

Taking a step back or two in design is presenting something fresh and new,

Neyyah creator, Aaron Gwynaire

It wasn’t long before the Steam wish-lists started rolling in and Gwynaire was signed by Microprose in 2021. “It was finding itself,” he said. “What was interesting to me was how much attention it did get when I started promoting the game across social media.”

Neyyah finally launched in September on Steam and has already amassed a number of rave reviews. For Gwynaire it shows there is a real future in the genre – so often seen as lacking in titles beyond the likes of Riven, Myst and Broken Sword. Gwynaire is hopeful the positivity towards Neyyah is because gamers find the more dated, but beautiful presentation of a point-and-click game a breath of fresh air in an age dominated by AI-generated, RTX-Ray-Tracing enhanced visuals. The key, he says, is to ignore what’s happening in the gaming industry and focus solely on the vision.

“There’s pros and cons, as VR and real time are big and the adventure gaming / Myst community are finding their feet in these immersive real time 3D / VR worlds, where Myst and Riven are being brought back to life in these mediums,” said Gwynaire when asked about point-and-click’s appeal today.

“Designing a game like Neyyah with its prerendered graphics takes a lot of commitment and passion for that very vision. I think it does require having a mindset that is more separated from what’s happening / trending in the gaming industry, what is everyone developing or playing right now, and I think this makes Neyyah stand out more, being separated from all of that.”

He continued: “I think from how the adventure / point n clicking gaming community are responding so positively to Neyyah and how it performs, the design choices made in prerendered graphics over real time, etc. I believe players are also craving for something that quenches that nostalgic retro thirst. Taking a step back or two in design is presenting something fresh and new, while everyone else is taking steps forward.”

Neyyah’s launch is something Gwynaire has dreamt of for years. All of those late nights were worth it. He says a huge part of that drive came from having such an incredible community behind him. “There was never a point of giving up,” he said. “Though towards the end of development, it was all engine, data, many early early mornings, late nights … Not much world design or anything too arty, which is where I love to work, so I guess sometimes the work felt more tedious and arduous. I had to push through a bit more in these periods, though was already so far into the game, had such a great community behind me, I was still motivated to keep on keeping on.”

He continued: “It feels insane. The best way I’ve recently described it: a feeling of having been dreaming for the last seven and a bit years, dreaming this world, etc, and life goes on around it – then suddenly, game is out, and it’s being played by literally thousands of people, and suddenly I’m awake now. It’s a crazy feeling. I’m so thrilled to see the response Neyyah has had, and hopefully continues to have for a long time to come, too.”