Editor’s Note: The following is a transcript of our interview with Anthony Hilkmann AKA Ant during PAX East 2025.
Ed: Hello everybody, this is Eddie V. from Boss Rush Network. I’m here with Ant. He is the creator of Lighthaze World, a cozy puzzle game about anxiety!?
Ant: Yeah!
Ed: How did you get into games? What made you get into game development?
Ant: I just always wanted to be a game developer, so I started learning games. I started learning about how to build games, and I wanted to build a game that I loved. That would be a puzzle game that didn’t have a huge amount of combat. So, that’s where I thought about Lighthaze World.
Ed: Did you grow up playing games on Nintendo, Sega, or anything?
Ant: The Sony PlayStation 1 was my first console. My parents didn’t let me have a console before that. I did play a lot of Nintendo at my friend’s house as well. I remember Donkey Kong Country. It’s very familiar from my childhood. Grand Theft Auto, The Legend of Zelda, and a variety of other games.
Ed: Are you into regular puzzles, such as crosswords or anything like that?
Ant: I’m more into gaming puzzles. I love games that have puzzles in them.
Ed: Can you explain the concept of Lighthaze World?
Ant: The concept is that you play as Nim, who goes shopping for dog food. He goes to the mall and gets overwhelmed by the crowds and everything in the mall. While there, the world falls apart around him. He reimagines it as Tasmania, which is a real little island off the bottom of Australia. It’s like this very wilderness-heavy environment. That’s how Nim deals with the anxiety. He has this peaceful wilderness to go through.
Ed: Do you find it exciting that you’re touching on anxiety? For me, there’s a game called Papo and Yo on PlayStation 3. There’s a kid who’s dealing with a father who was an alcoholic. Here at Boss Rush, we’ve been talking about mental health in games. Do you feel like video games are a good medium to explore mental health?
Ant: Yeah, 100%. The idea for the character for this game came from my son. He drew a picture one day of what is now Nim in the game. He showed me the picture and I asked,” Why is he purple? What’s wrong?” He goes, “He’s an alien. Because I feel alienated in this world.” He felt really down on himself. There are a lot of people who feel like this. How can I showcase this? It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. And the world’s still good to you. You’ve just got to find a different way sometimes.
Ed: The controls were great. They were exciting. Also, they’re simple. You simply push or kick boxes, I should say, that this is just the demo and the beginning of the game. I was surprised by how comfortable the game feels. How long did it take you to make the controls tight and accessible?
Ant: About four years. It’s taken a long time. I’ve been going to a lot of conventions. And I’ve been watching lots of people play the game. I’ve seen people play the game, and they would get stuck here or there. They would mention, “Why can’t I get past that bit easily?” And then I’ll go back home and I’ll change the controls a little bit. Tinker with them a little bit. I’ll take it to another convention, and people will play it again. Now we’re getting to a point where they’re nice and tight, like you say. It makes it comfortable to play.
Ed: I played a variety of puzzles. I did some push puzzles. I did some electric puzzles. I did some number puzzles. Will there be more variety of puzzles?
Ant: Not at this time. They’re either memory-based puzzles or push-block puzzles. All the puzzles are designed in a way that you don’t need an explanation. You can just walk up to them and go, I think I have to do that. You muck around with it for a little bit. You realize what you have to do, and you solve it. So it’s just a little bit of trial and error, and you figure it out.
Ed: What makes it very relaxing, and I didn’t get to hear the music, was hearing the waves of the water. Is that what you’re going for? Even though you’re dealing with anxiety, there’s something about the game that’s calming.
Ant: Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re going for. We’re going for this. It’s calming, and the people who want to play the game probably have a little bit of anxiety. We want them to go,” Okay. This is okay for us.” This makes us feel calm. There are also some moments where they’ll feel a little bit tense, but that’s part of making you feel calm. You have to have the tense parts to feel the calm parts, if you know what I mean.
Ed: And for your debut game, it’s great!
Ant: Thank you so much. I appreciate that a lot.
Ed: Are you looking forward to getting it on consoles anytime soon in the future? It seems that you’re planning it for PC for right now. I would love for it to come to consoles. I think it would suit Switch or Switch 2.
Ant: We just want to do PC to start with. Get it all clean and running as nicely as possible, and then start porting it to consoles, maybe later on. That’s why it’s going to be playable with a controller. It’ll run on Steam Deck at the moment nicely. All of those things.
Ed: I have to say, this game is recommended for the Xbox controller because it felt good playing on this controller.
Ant: Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Ed: Do you have an idea when you want to release it, or is it something that you’re still working on?
Ant: We’re hoping for August this year, so it’s not too far. We’re pretty close to the end.
Ed: What engine are you using to run the game?
Ant: Unity. We use Blender to make the models.
Ed: Is it solo development, or do you have a team helping you out?
Ant: I do a lot of the things, and then I’ve got a guy that makes the music, and then I’ve got a guy that does the models. I do the design and the coding, and the thinking of the puzzle design, and all of that stuff.
Ed: I have two more questions for you before we head out. I’ve been writing about games that have earned their stripes. Do you feel like there is a game or franchise that has earned its stripes? Any game of yours that you love, that you feel has earned its stripes.
Ant: At the moment, I’m playing Thronefall a lot. I love that game. That game has earned my stripes. It’s great.
Ed: My final question is, what is your go-to snack while maybe developing, relaxing, maybe even with the family? What is that go-to snack of yours?
Ant: Probably, you don’t have them here. If you’ve got twisties, like chicken-flavored twisties.
Ed: Twisties?
Ant: Yeah, you’ve got to try these things. They’re kind of like Cheetos, but they’re a bit crunchier and a bit different.
Ed: Oh, no, we don’t have that here! They’re chicken-flavored too, so they’re good. I’m going to have to find somewhere to import some! Where can people find more information about Lighthaze World?
Ant: You can find it on Steam. You can find me on TikTok. You can find me on YouTube, Instagram. Look up Radiobush on all of the platforms, and I’m there posting almost every day, so it’s good.
Ed: Everybody, please go wishlish Lighthaze World. Thank you Ant for your time.
Ant: Thank you so much, Ed, for this interview.
Featured Image: Radiobush
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