Video game created by Saskatoon roommates draws rave reviews, thousands of buys

Liam O'Connor · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A brace of Saskatoon roommates who created a video crippled successful their surviving country person begun to reap the rewards of its success.

Fountains, a role-playing video game, "took inspiration from things similar Dark Souls, Hollow Knight and Hyper Light Drifter," said John Pywell, 24, who started moving connected the RPG successful 2019 and remains the game's sole programmer and graphic designer.

"These are each large games that I privation I had much of, truthful I thought, like, I don't know, I can't conscionable hold for these guys to marque a sequel."

Pywell was joined successful 2022 by his person and roommate, University of Saskatchewan student Eric Ramirez-Erosa, 24, who developed the bulk of the story. 

United States-based composer Travis Moberg created the game's euphony and sound.

"The thought down the communicative is benignant of similar a ruined kingdom — that it's the effect and the fallout aft the satellite has recovered the fountain of younker and past a clump of antithetic factions each implicit the satellite ended up causing a immense warfare implicit it, and past the satellite benignant of went to to crap, essentially," Ramirez-Erosa said. 

The 2 friends grew up successful Saskatoon, attended precocious schoolhouse together, and present share the location wherever Fountains took shape on a messy whiteboard successful their surviving room. 

"When I thought of an thought I wanted John to spot I'd conscionable gully it retired oregon constitute thing retired connected there, and past he'd instrumentality a look astatine it … If helium liked it we went with it, if helium didn't we would alteration it," Ramirez-Erosa said.

"When merchandise was coming up, that achromatic committee looked beauteous crazy," Pywell joked.

The crippled has present sold much 8,000 units at around $20 since its merchandise successful December 2024. Out of 251 reviews connected the gaming tract Steam, Fountains has 210 "very positive" reviews. 

Their apical customers are gamers based successful the United States, Pywell says, but helium was shocked to observe the No. 2 marketplace "is Japan, which blew maine distant that, like, radical connected the different broadside of the satellite are playing this game. I had nary thought it would person entreaty there." 

The RPG comes successful 8 supported languages, including Japanese, expanding its planetary appeal.

Youtube Short posts of crippled footage besides boosted the game's popularity, Pywell says: One of the videos garnered much than 950,000 views.

Pywell says the game's occurrence allowed him to bargain his archetypal car, portion Ramirez-Erosa says he's utilizing the wealth to wage his rent and cover his pupil loans.

What's adjacent for the 2 crippled creators?

An enlargement is successful the aboriginal stages of development, and they're besides gearing up to person the machine crippled to console, aiming archetypal for the Nintendo Switch.