Hela: Creating A Co-Op Mouse Adventure Inspired By Scandinavian Folklore

Can you walk us through the origins of Windup Games and connections to Kinda Brave? How was the studio formed, and what ambition originally drove its creation?

Windup Games was founded by a core group of developers who previously worked on the Unravel series. After that experience, the team wanted to create a new original IP that could build on the lessons learned during those projects while allowing them to express their own creative identity.

The environmental DNA that players may recognize from Unravel is still very much present in Hela. The game is set in landscapes inspired by Northern Sweden, reflecting the places where many of the developers grew up. This connection to nature – along with themes of harmony, curiosity, and slowing down to appreciate the world around us – forms a clear bridge between the team’s earlier work and what we are building now.

Windup operates as a subsidiary of Kinda Brave Entertainment, a company focused on developing and owning its own original IP. Today, the group's main focus is Windup and its flagship project, Hela, with the broader organization aligning its resources and efforts around bringing the game to a successful release.

Early signals from the market have been very encouraging. Content created around Hela by creators and the community has already surpassed 100 million organic views, the game has reached #82 among the most wishlisted titles on Steam according to SteamDB, and its trailers and announcements have been amplified across major platform channels, including PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox.

How has the company evolved since its founding in terms of team structure, creative focus, and production ambitions?

Hela is the first title from Windup Games, and over the past few years, the studio has been focused on building the team and creative foundation behind it. During that time, we've brought together a group of developers with a shared vision of creating experiences that are rooted in a strong sense of place, atmosphere, and connection to nature, meaningful exploration, and a clear creative identity.

Right now, our full focus remains on delivering the best possible experience with Hela, which is set to release on PC and consoles in 2026. Looking ahead, our ambition is to grow organically as a studio and continue developing original IPs that inspire, move, and bring joy to players who discover our games.

Looking across your portfolio so far, how would you describe the common design or creative DNA that connects your games?

When we think about our projects, the primary goal is to create something that feels distinctive – both in terms of the player experience and the creative vision behind it. We want our games to stand apart, but also to give the team the freedom to fully realize their ideas. Ultimately, our goal is to create games where players genuinely enjoy the act of playing and spending time in the world we've created.

Hela is the first project in Windup Games' portfolio, but it already reflects that philosophy quite clearly. The game is designed around a sense of childhood wonder – encouraging players to rediscover the joy of curiosity, exploration, and playful interaction with the world.

Up to four players can explore a grounded yet magical environment inspired by the Scandinavian countryside, using the world itself as a playground while helping the local community through small acts of kindness.

Hela has drawn particular attention, especially at Gamescom. Where did the concept come from, and what core emotional or gameplay pillars guided its development?

The concept for Hela grew from the team's desire to create a game that celebrates the simple joy of playing – exploring, experimenting, and interacting with the world in a playful way.

A major inspiration also comes from the places many of the developers grew up in. The landscapes of Northern Sweden and the Scandinavian countryside shaped the tone of the game, reflecting values such as a close connection to nature, curiosity about the world around us, and taking time to appreciate small moments.

From a design perspective, the team also wanted to build an experience around positive cooperation between players. Hela encourages players to help one another and discover the world together. Finally, inclusivity has been an important part of the design. Systems like the Shade System are meant to ensure that players with different levels of experience can enjoy the adventure side by side.

What have been the biggest creative and production challenges specific to Hela, and how did they differ from your earlier projects? Is it hard to build a game of this scope?

We're building something we don't see very often in a lot of games out there today, with a high level of innovation in mind. Being a fairly small team, taking on an open world with realistic environments that can be played single player, couch co-op, or up to four players over the network is a pretty big task.

Since Hela is Windup Games' first project, building an effective workflow and learning how to collaborate as a team have also been an important part of the journey. From the beginning, we wanted to keep a scope that allows us to deliver a great experience without burning out the people making it.

Creatively, another challenge was designing the world from the perspective of a small mouse. Everyday objects suddenly become large-scale elements of the environment, and discovering them should feel playful and surprising to the player. We also spent a lot of effort capturing the diversity of Scandinavian nature – trying to recreate its atmosphere and detail in a way that makes exploring the game feel almost like taking a walk through the forest.

Finally, on the production side, a key focus has been building movement that feels natural and freeing. The goal is for players to stop thinking about individual buttons and instead move through the world instinctively.

How do you think about scope and ambition for indie projects today, especially when working on visually rich, emotionally driven games like Hela?

When working on an indie project like Hela, we think about scope as something that needs to be managed through frequent iteration. Regular playtesting and internal reviews help us keep the project moving in the right direction and make sure the core experience stays clear throughout development.

Another important step is establishing the core gameplay loop early on. Having a strong proof of concept not only helps guide production internally but also becomes essential when discussing the project with platform partners and potential collaborators.

At the same time, building a relationship with the community is a key part of development today, especially for indie studios. Sharing ideas early and listening to feedback from players and playtesters helps us understand how certain elements are received and allows us to refine them further.

Of course, maintaining the right level of financial stability is also crucial. Securing funding that allows the team to focus fully on development is an important part of ensuring a project like Hela can reach its intended quality.

Finally, everything ultimately comes back to having a clear vision. Establishing strong creative pillars helps guide decision-making throughout production and makes it easier to recognize which ideas strengthen the game – and which ones fall outside the core vision.

From your perspective, what are the most promising opportunities right now for indie developers in terms of publishing models and distribution platforms?

From our perspective, one of the biggest opportunities for indie developers today lies in diversification – both in terms of financial models and distribution platforms. The idea of a single universal path to release is becoming less relevant.

Visibility remains a major challenge, but at the same time, many platforms and publishing partners are increasingly interested in longer-term collaboration rather than one-off releases. Models that combine funding with marketing support, industry know-how, and genuine involvement in building a game’s brand can be especially valuable.

For smaller projects, self-publishing can still be a viable path, although it often requires significant effort from the team beyond development itself. In many cases, community-driven approaches, platform partnerships, or lighter publishing agreements can provide a more stable alternative.

For larger indie or premium indie projects, co-publishing and hybrid models – for example, self-publishing on PC while partnering with a publisher for consoles – can open up additional resources and opportunities.

More broadly, we also see increasing importance in thinking about games as long-living projects that can grow across different platforms and audiences over time, rather than focusing solely on the launch moment.

How do you evaluate publishing partners today? What support actually moves the needle for an indie studio beyond funding?

Funding is important, but on its own, it's rarely enough. Many smaller or newer studios struggle with market insight, realistic scope planning, or navigating the complexities of bringing a project to market.

What really makes the difference are partners who bring experience and understand both the creative vision of the game and the realities of production. A strong publishing partner should help a studio make better decisions throughout development, not just provide financial backing.

When evaluating potential partners, we tend to focus on the strategic support they can offer – particularly in areas such as marketing expertise, access to data and market insights, experience in positioning games, and established relationships with platform holders. Equally important is the quality of communication and the overall working relationship. The best partnerships feel collaborative, where the publisher becomes an extension of the team, rather than an external controller, helping guide the project toward the best possible outcome.

What are the biggest structural challenges facing the indie segment right now (visibility, funding, team sustainability, platform dynamics), and which of those concern you most?

Visibility remains one of the biggest challenges in the indie space today. Even very strong games can easily get lost in the sheer volume of releases, which in turn creates additional pressure around funding, team stability, and long-term planning.

Reaching commercial success is critical because it creates the foundation for future projects. Without financial stability, it’s easy to end up in greater creative compromises than you initially envisioned for the project, whereas financial stability allows the team to build a sustainable creative process that lasts over decades rather than project by project.

Looking ahead, how do you see the indie market evolving over the next few years, and what do you think developers and publishers are still underestimating?

We expect the indie market to become increasingly polarized. On one side, there will continue to be very small, experimental projects, and on the other, high-quality indie productions with strong creative identities competing at a more premium level.

What is still often underestimated is the importance of building a brand and maintaining a long-term relationship with players. Success is becoming less about a single launch moment and more about consistent communication, a clear vision, and thoughtful community building long before release. At the same time, the industry is still learning how to balance artistic ambition with the realities of production. Finding that balance will likely be one of the key factors shaping the future of many indie studios.

Alexander Benitez, Head of Studio at Windup Games

Make sure to subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

And, if you're a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.