Debuting with a video game that becomes the first nationally produced title awarded at the Game Awards is not an easy task, nor is launching a new work after the overwhelming success of the first. That’s why Conrad Roset, the illustrator who began his career in the world with the celebrated Greyadmits to this newspaper that he is nervous about the reception that his long-awaited second work will have, Snow. “We are very romantic and we play the games we really want. But we’re not stupid either, and we want it to sell so we can continue working on this,” he says.
Roset is now the art director at Nomada Studio, the developer he formed with Adrián Cuevas and Roger Mendoza with the idea of publishing a single title and then quitting. “We wanted to make a video game without much ambition, although publishing it is already ambitious,” he remembers from that time, when they still did not know if anyone would trust their project and much less suspected that they would sell more than three million copies worldwide. With Snow They wanted to go one step further and try different things. And that is noticeable, because even though it is impossible not to have Grey present, knows how to overcome that long shadow to dazzle with its own qualities.
Where its predecessor addressed mental health from a dream perspective, here the narrative takes on even more presence and from the first moment seeks to make you empathize with an abandoned puppy that you want to protect. “Everything is thought out and each scene is made almost by hand, there is a lot of artisanal work that with Grey “It couldn’t be done both due to lack of resources and because of the tone,” he points out about the video game focused on the bond between the human Alba and the wolf Neva, which does not need words to generate a universe as beautiful as it is decadent, nor to excite with his story about upbringing and care.
Learning to care
Although Alba is the figure to control, Neva is the heart of the video game, and in a similar way to what happened in The Last Guardianthe relationship between the two is the driving force of the story. The wolf is intuitive, she elegantly shows you the way and indicates how to move forward in the first steps. As the four seasons into which the adventure is divided occur, their bond changes, distances, and becomes closer. It is not surprising to discover that the germ of the idea emerged in the middle of a pandemic, with Roset facing fatherhood for the first time.
The project has evolved from those first sketches, since initially it was going to focus on a boy and a girl who did not speak the same language and then they thought that one of the characters would be an eagle, only they ended up opting for a wolf to encourage empathy, since “everyone has petted a dog.” “Actually a video game project is very organic,” he points out, and in this case it was clear that it would be a story of two, which differentiated it from Greywhere “there is a very lonely character.” Then it ended up turning towards a plot still closely linked to communication, but focused on the affection between parents and children.
“What I thought on a narrative level is that I am in the middle of two generations, I have my little one, at that time only one, now there are two, and my parents. And I see how my relationship with each other has evolved over time. For me, it is Alba watching how her baby is getting older and how that interaction is going to change,” she confesses. Although Roset assures that he is not “good at writing” and that is why he opts for “explaining stories visually,” his intentions are well expressed in the video game, where you go from protecting to calming an impulsive Neva who is growing up. Collaborate with her to confront the sinister enemies blocking the way.
The delicate beauty of decadence
Alba and Neva gain abilities that fuel a journey that alternates between solving puzzles to advance and swordfights to defeat final bosses. The combat is precisely a novelty for the studio, which wanted to try something “more typical of a video game.” “But the battle is not the focus,” warns Roset, “nor is the system very complex, since we make casual titles so that everyone can play them, that is why the action is minimalist and each battle works almost like a puzzle.” . They have also continued to opt for a “short and highly curated” work, in which there is also a story mode designed for those looking for less of a challenge.
Its accessibility is an incentive to encourage everyone to play, as is its overwhelming aesthetics. Yeah Grey It was a beautiful watercolor in motion, Snow It is not far behind, with a predominance of lights and shadows, consistent with the chiaroscuros it explores. As Conrad Roset believes, the easy thing would have been to make a direct continuation, but instead they have made decisions to “distance themselves artistically, although the same vibe is felt.” In this way, the universe feels alive, changing and dangerous, with detailed scenarios that impact and gain strength thanks to the delicate soundtrack composed by Berlinist. It is also necessary to highlight Cristina Peña as the voice of Alba, because just pronouncing Neva’s name provides multiple nuances.
Since the visual section is fundamental for Nomada Studio, they have taken references from very diverse artists. The sculptures of David Umemoto, with their minimalist geometry in concrete, have served as inspiration at the same level as the works of impressionist painters such as Monet or Manet or the illustrations of current artists, which they accumulated in an “infinite folder” of references. Studio Ghibli’s imprint is the most palpable, especially the nods to Princess Mononokea film that “blew the brain” of a teenage Roset who spent “a summer stopping the movie and drawing scenes.”
The care that Nomada Studio always puts into the visual section led many media outlets to ensure that Grey It was a title that “demonstrated that the video game is art”, but Roset is blunt about it: “For me there is no debate, the video game has the particularity of being interactive, but it is always art, on the same level as cinema.”
To create you need to rest
The Barcelona-based team has spent four years working on Snowwhich has already been released for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S (it will arrive in physical format for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in May 2025). But, if it has been possible, it is partly because they rested after the launch of Grey. “We took a good break because it was quite intense. For me, the ideal would be three years of project, and one and a half of rest,” says Conrad, for whom “the resources and money earned have to go towards that type of quality of life, which is also artistic quality, because you need to be rested, travel or do nothing to create, because ideas do not come to you while working.”
As an experienced illustrator, he recognizes that when he started in the world he was a novice who had the support of his colleagues. “The experience of my two partners and the fresh air provided by those of us who had never worked in the industry provided a different vision than what the environment is used to,” he says. On this occasion, he has had to face new challenges, such as delegating. “It has been my great learning in Snowbecause losing control bothers me. In Greytogether with Ari Cervello, the main artist, and Alba Filella, we drew everything. Here I haven’t been able to draw almost anything, although I have done character design, many ideas and supervised everything. This is not bad per sebut as an author it is difficult to take this step,” he explains.
Thinking about the future, at Nomada Studio they are working on two projects in parallel, to keep the entire staff active and link up. “We would like to go in this direction from now on, so that the most creative people have pre-production time in which to calmly think about the next thing, this is what it would be like in our ideal world,” he declares. Before they will have to see the route of Snowalthough on a personal level he claims to be proud: “We have done everything in our power, we will surely have made mistakes in certain decisions, but the important thing is that we are very happy with the final result, then it is up to the world to decide.”
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