Video games are worlds of their own. But we wouldn't always want to stick photos of these worlds in our holiday albums. With “Frisia – Cozy Villages” it's different. Millions of people flock here every year: to the Frisian Islands, located in the North Sea off the danish, dutch and german coast. Rouven Cabanis has been here many times thoughout his youth. And he has taken a closer look. 

“The atmosphere, the lighting,” are top of his mind when he talks about the inspiration for his project “Frisia – Cozy Villages”. The sea, the colors, the vastness of the landscape, the interaction of the elements – Rouven wants to transport all that from the real world to the screen. And he wants to catch the dynamic of it: “when you lie on the beach and see a huge dark cloud coming, how it turns bloody cold in 30 seconds, and then quickly warm again”. This is the essence of a Frisian beach holiday, in a nutshell. 

Build your own island 

But Rouven is not working on a vacation, but on a strategy game; one in which the changing landscape plays an outsize role. In “Frisia – Cozy Villages”, a village is created on an island. Rouven classifies the mood: It is going to be a bit darker than in other cozy games. The weather will not always be nice, there will be storms, but no fight for survival and resources. Instead, the sea may turn out to be generous – Rouven finds an original idea in the mudflats   typical for the region. People on the islands used “everything that came from the sea,” and that included “shipwrecks or washed up cargo,” he explains. In “Frisia”, too, the sea will retreat far back with every low tide and reveal fleeting treasures in the mudflats. Place names like “Theeknob” are a remainder of this history. 

A natural inspiration for the construction of idyllic villages is the “Anno” series (also known as “Dawn of Discovery” or “A.D.”). Rouven discovered it when he was studying media computer science in Lübeck and fell in love with the medieval old town: “I saw Anno and thought, I can recreate the place in there!” While studying, Rouven taught himself Blender until he also found work as a 3D graphic designer on the side.

Starting to learn things by trying them out is a recurring strategy in Rouven's career. For example, he got into creating a proper Steam page by just doing it as part of his application for the Games Master at HAW Hamburg (Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaft/Hamburg University of Applied Science) with a free-to-play game. It turned out to be “not so scary”! He describes this matter-of-fact, as if it were self-evident. He is open to making mistakes and learning through the process. 

Rouven approaches the incubator with a similar clarity. He can explain precisely what he hopes to learn: How to approach publishers, how to apply for funding, how to pitch a project, how to communicate throughout the development process and how to present himself  – he is still looking forward to some courses, but he has already learned a lot. To him, it is “crazy” what he can take away from workshop sessions. Most recently, the pitch training provided him with a “really concrete approach” for his next steps. 

Bright prospects ahead 

It almost sounds as if the game is close to being done. With Rouven mastering the planning, game design, visuals and programming of his project, what’s left? A demo of “Frisia – Cozy Villages” is already available on Steam. But Rouven is eager to step on the brakes: A lot could still change, he cautions, the project could grow, and he is not out to do it all alone. 

But before “Frisia” can grow, Rouven wants to take in the inspiration the incubator offers. Internal playtests are at hand, and might help to define the scale of the project more precisely. Meanwhile, the demo will remain live on Steam. Rouven is “always incredibly happy” about everyone still providing feedback, especially on the atmosphere and the interface. He keeps an eye on the audience – but he knows where his journey is headed.