If you like to browse top-notch games on OpenCritic to catch up with the Jidgist, you probably have seen it before Bionic Bay Pop up near the top of the 2025 chart.
In fact, at the time of writing, this small but powerful indie platformer with no combat slots No. 7 tie out of all titles on all platforms this year. This is not a small feat, and it is not a mistake of any type.
Bionic Bay It’s one of the best platformers I’ve played in recent memory and if you’re a fan of the genre and can handle dozens of dying times, this game is a slightly hidden gem waiting to be discovered.
Recently I was able to connect with JuhanaMyllys, the creator of Bionic Bay. In the interview below, we will be entering an incredible collection of topics, including the challenges, inspiration, and lessons learned, of designing the game itself.
This was a 30 minute conversation so I won’t let you get away from good stuff! I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it.
Interview with Bionic Bay creator Juhanamairis
Q: I wanted to start by asking you, but since the game came out, how did it feel to see what people think about it? It was all because everything from what I saw was very positive.
Yes, that was good. Of course, I’m like someone who sees positive reviews and says, “Okay, cool.” There could be dozens of positive reviews, and you should get used to it and don’t put too much in. But when there is one negative review, it stays in my head and I keep thinking about it. I used to be a bad thing.
You can read good reviews these days, but there’s still more to do. In particular, users review on Steam when they are negative. It doesn’t matter whether it’s written in Chinese, Japanese, Deutsch or other places. Put it in chat GPT, translate it, analyze it, etc. So I’m always a bit similar…I’m not saying I’m torture myself.
The whole process is that negative reviews need to be analyzed. And you will probably learn more from it than positive ones. Still, like I said, it’s generally very well received, so that’s great.
Q: When you sell games to people, are there any specific games you say? Bionic Bay Are they the most similar? Is there one or two games to use for the usual comparison?
When we first started making games, the two games I had in mind were n+ and Another world. They were the biggest influence. But then the game turns out that it’s the way it turned out, people talk internal and Limbo Most definitely. But yeah, I think n+.
Then there was this Commodore 64 game. Impossible missions. If you google it, you’ll see a similarity soon as you have this little character going into this strange building and he basically needs to gather information from the computer units there. It was also an inspiration.
But I’m not saying there’s one game we’ve seen. And we were like, “Yeah, let’s make a game like that.” It’s full of inspiration with many games, many movies, many visuals like that. But yeah, that was the case at first n+ and Another world.
Q: How long does it take to draw just one frame in a game? Because as far as pixel art style goes, how much you stuffed every frame is insane.
In fact, making art wasn’t the biggest job, and the content was unwise. Most of the time I used it was purely for level design. The character is quite small, with plenty of surroundings surrounding him, which is very detailed. There are many things in the foreground and in the background.
So it took me two months to design one level. Before I created the actual level, I probably made 90% of the art. Essentially, when I made the art, the guys at Psychoflow studio implemented it in the level editor. The first year I made a game I put a lot of emphasis on pixel art.
There could have been two types of objects, such as pipes and platforms. But then there are environmental objects like special objects, such as organal machines, giant robot arms, and things like that. And one object can easily take 40 hours. I think the robot arm took about 80 hours.
However, in a sense, it was interesting that the design process for the arm itself took about 30 minutes. I followed it after taking a picture of my hands in the bathroom in the mirror. And after I followed it, I made a robot design for it – giving it a rough, rusty vibe. And then I started making pixel art. And I realized halfway through that it was 50% too small. So I had to form it twice as big, so basically I had to try again.
But it was the only object I actually realized I had made this mistake. The first idea was to have an arm in the background. And in the background, I was able to scale bigger things more easily. But then I realized that if you actually walk your hands, grab your hands, and grab something like that, it could have more impact. So I needed to make it bigger.
But yeah, if you think about the last three years we made the game, it was 95% of my last level design. I was so full of creating level designs that I was pleased to have finished the project in that sense. But yeah, that was the biggest job. But it’s really hard to say that if you shoot one frame and each frame is very different, you can create several frames in a day.
Q: Is there more content for this game?
surely. We are releasing materials in online mode. After its release, four levels have already been released. That’s definitely something we keep updating. The idea is that there are basically new events that open daily in online mode. Therefore, we want to make the level event pool as large as possible. If you always get the same level, it can be annoying. So we want to make sure there is enough level for players who want to return.
Q: Platinum Trophy in this game – I haven’t got it myself yet. I’m a person who loves to get platinum. Do you think you can get platinum or have you already got it yourself? There is one trophy that is to beat five levels without dying. That’s something I still struggle with personally.
Yes, absolutely. I mean, the others say, “Are you crazy? No one gets it,” and I say, “I don’t know. I mean someone I’ll get it. ”
I’ve been playing the game for 4-5 years so I definitely went 5 levels without dying. However, it is a physics-based game and, due to this randomness, it does not necessarily occur on the first attempt. Designing levels for physics-based games is about to find a sweet spot between this total randomness and total control.
And sometimes I can see the people who criticized me Bionic Bay In a way, don’t necessarily get it. It should be deterministic or not. I want to say it’s like expressing real life in a way that something happens and there’s nothing we can do about it. And that’s why we often had checkpoints.
Q: What trophies did you pitch to the team that said, “No, that’s too crazy”?
Well, it was basically like “going to the full game without dying.” That was what it was. You need to be on an abandoned island for the rest of your life and continue to strive. But yeah, I understand that a bit now. In other words, that is possible, but it is not wise.
Q: Are there any specific properties that you dream of making a game at some point? Or do you think you’re the kind of person who always wants to make your own game?
Sometimes when I see the other games that come up, I feel like, “Damn, I want to make that exact game.” Why is he playing that game? Why did he get that idea? “But now, it’s hard to say when you ask.
As you know, I’ve been playing 2D physics games for all my indie careers for over 10 years. And I feel like I need to leave it, at least for a while. Bionic BayI realized I’ve been making this for a long time.
I’m pretty good at it, but at the same time, the sparks aren’t necessarily there anymore. I need to make something completely different, but it’s different enough to have a spark again.
Q: What are the biggest lessons you learned from the previous games you worked on?
Every game I’ve worked on is always a school of sorts for my next project. You learn something, and in the next project you try to make things again for everything you learn, but it gets a little better. Especially in my case, I’ve been playing these physics-based games for a long time. Basically all the games, there’s a little more… I don’t know if “passion” is the right word, but it’s more ambitious every time.
For example, if you consider a game you played 12 years ago, Badland, This was an iOS game. There was an automotive camera and the characters were flying. And for the sequel, we made it so you could go from all directions, and there was also this vehicle, basically like a character. It was like a clear evolution from that first game.
And now I feel compared to it Badland 2, Bionic Bay It’s another evolution. There are no more automatic movement cameras. There is a character, it’s a human character, running and jumping, but it’s much more challenging than comparing it to the first character Badland A game that is a flying character. It’s just an orb that floats.
When we think about the mechanics of the game, the visual appearance, and more, we’ve made progress every time. So I never felt like, “Oh, no, I’ve retreated with this.” I also feel that if I’m going to recreate a 2D game, it has to be a little different. When I think about level design and world design, I have done this same thing. So I think there should be something like that… I’m not calling it a “revolution,” but it feels completely different in every sense and completely new.
Q: Which power in the game was the most challenging to feel right? The power of object shifting is most common throughout the game, but was it the most challenging to make it work and feel within the context of the game, or was it something else?
The people at Psychoflow Studio were basically coders, and each had to have their own unique challenges. From my perspective, gravity shifting was the most difficult. Because we demanded a lot from the level design.
The creation of levels has slowed down, but it may be three times slower as you need to pass through all corners of the level after the gravity shifts and make sure the player doesn’t break the level or go anywhere else. But you need to keep it creative in the way (you still) that you don’t feel like you’re going through this tube and that you shouldn’t feel like there’s only the direction you need to go. In other words, there teeth It’s only one direction, but it shouldn’t necessarily feel that way.
And that’s basically why there’s only gravity shifting at these last two levels. Because if there is a gravity shift in the middle of the game, we are still creating those levels. Also, I don’t think the mechanics themselves are necessarily something that players would want to be too long. A great spice at the end of the game. Things are made a little different, and players think a little differently. But it’s not the kind of mechanic you want to build the entire game.
Q: Can I see this game acting as a two-player title playing at the same time?
Yes, absolutely. As a cooperative, 100% will work, and also as a PVP online mode, you will be able to fight against another character and attack and exchange him. It will be a completely unique spin in the racing game. So, yeah, I’m sure it will work.
Q: This may not be something you want to touch on, but would you like to talk about how the game ends? What kind of sequel does it have, or is it something that players will leave them in some way to make them think?
Yes, the first idea for the game’s main story was that it felt boring to clearly communicate what was going on with the players, what was going on next, where we were and such things. I think the key to the game was to explore the mechanics and the world, survive and experience the world. What is the story of the game?
So I almost felt like a story… There should be a story, I should explain what the place is like, but that shouldn’t be very obvious. Basically, there are all the clues. And it may probably be simple in practice. And there are two really obvious clues that tell you what the location is and what the ending means.
Today I received an email from a player who actually understood that. I also saw comments like social media and the Steam community where someone understood it. And in a way, if you are interested, I think it’s probably perfect to understand it.
But that’s not something you will immediately understand. The end of 2001: Space Odysseythere was a Japanese guy who actually called Stanley Kubrick and asked him what had finally happened. What does that mean? And Stanley Kubrick explains it to him, and it makes perfect sense. I don’t know why he explains it to him. But he does. There is actually a YouTube video about it. And it’s really funny to hear his explanation total Sense.
But when you watch the movie. I think you need to be at a genius level IQ to really understand that. And I didn’t understand that. Well, that’s not a surprise. But what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want it to be like this that Mystery level. So, you know, if you pay a little attention, you will probably find it and understand it.
Q: We are approaching the time that was carved into this, so we don’t want to protect you beyond that time. Is there anything we want to say to players we haven’t mentioned? Is there anything you would like to mention based on the amount of time you spent making this game?
The game is very similar to Ragebait, so I’m really pleased with the very positive general response. I was a little worried about people… I saw a lot of streams where people play the game. I always have this fear that people will blame the game instead of myself. And at the same time, I understand that sometimes they can blame the game because it’s a physics-based game.
But do they understand that it is the nature of the game, etc.? And, like I said, it’s very similar to a game like bait of rage, slowly dies with many deaths. People who fail and don’t mind having the right attitude about it, try again. Let’s try this way” and more – they’ll probably love the game.
But there are definitely player types that will probably make the game really, really annoying. And before the release, I really didn’t know what percentage this would be. Maybe it’s 50/50 or something like that. So if that was the case, I think it would fail a bit. But so far the ratio seems pretty good.
Q: I think the game is great, so thank you for making it! I had so much fun playing it. It’s very good. This is my favorite game I actually played this year.
That’s a high-priced phrase. Yes, there are a lot of good games out there.
It is currently available on PC and PlayStation 5. If you haven’t thought about picking up it yet, I love the game and gave it 10 in my reviews. Check it out!
