Ed and Sofi of Boss Rush Network had the opportunity to interview the developers behind Spider Lily at PAX East. Keep scrolling to read more!
Interviewers: Sofi Beyen, Edward Varnell
Interviewees: Matthew Doyle, Yuehao Jiang
Sofi: I am here with the developers behind Spider Lily, Falseworks Studios debut title, along with Edward Varnell, the co-founder of Boss Rush Media. Falseworks has set up a booth here in PAX East 2025 to showcase their demo of Spider Lily for everyone to checkout along with a gallery of sculptures and art based on the game. You guys want to introduce yourselves?
Matthew: Hi. My name is Matthew Doyle. I’m the producer of Spider Lily.
Yuehao: Hi. My name is Yuehao Jiang. I’m the director and lead artist of Spider Lily.
Sofi: So I was talking to both of you guys earlier before and sort of got the general gist of this project. But just for the recording, could you re-explain the project and the story behind it?
Matthew: Yes. Falsework Studio is a new artist IP driven game studio based in Los Angeles, California. I’m the founder, Matthew Doyle, and I’ll tell you a little bit about Spider Lily:
In a surreal sculptural landscape, experience a journey towards reincarnation. Spider Lily is a cinematic platformer game where players take on the role of the lost soul. Upon awakening on unfamiliar shores, this recently departed little girl encounters a fish whose eyes have been pecked out by ravens. She discovers that keeping this helpless being alive is the key to navigating unique puzzles that challenge her perception. Directed by visual artist Yuehao Jiang, Spider Lily draws on Chinese and gothic symbolism to manifest a mysterious and emotionally resonant vision of the afterlife coming in late 2026.
Sofi: That is awesome. I mean, the first thing that captivated me walking down this hallway, was this banner with the fish wearing the blindfold, and that skull for a mask. That drew me in for sure, just because of how abstract it is. The more I looked at it, the more abstract it got, which I loved. It really does reflect the whole surreal thing you mentioned.
And so, with that in mind, what other aspects to the game do you guys plan on adding when it comes to surrealism or the atmosphere? With the world you guys have already built, what visions could go well with it?
Yuehao: I’m a visual artist, and I think of this as an art-driven game. The game is based on a series of drawings I made three years ago, which I then turned into 3D sculptures. Now they’re the centerpieces of the game. So, I would say I would love to keep this atmosphere or environmental feeling when the player navigates through this beautiful afterlife world. We’re also experimenting with an escort mechanic like the game Ico, also a cinematic platformer.
Emotionally, a big part about Spider Lily is about attachment and loss. Personally, I always think about when we die, [and] what the afterlife is going to look like. Maybe it’s not going to look scary – maybe it’s beautiful and meditative. From an emotional point of view, I always imagine I’ll have to let go, forget about the people and things I love. That can be really sad. But, in order to move on to your next life, you will have to let those things go. In a way, the fish character is a metaphor for that. It’s a metaphor for attachment and loss. That’s why we named our main character, “Lost Soul”.
Edward: Do you feel like color plays a big part [of] this game? Because you mentioned loss and the afterlife. There’s a game called Rai, and, you know, it’s kind of colorful in the beginning, but as you go through the adventure, the color changes. The color represents your mood, your emotions. Has that been something that was open on your mind while drawing, while sculpting, these environments?
Yuehao: Definitely. I really appreciate that you asked the question because I’m a painter. I love mixing colors. Color is very important to me, and a big part of the gameplay plays with perception through your relationship to the fish. For example, in the first environment, the beach, when you pick the fish up, there is an immediate visceral connection you experience as a player with the fish’s vision. Since the fish’s eyes have been pecked out, the world turns black and white. But, as you get closer to the sculptural elements of the landscape, you get some of your sense of color back through solving puzzles based on color theory.
Sofi: You mentioned earlier you drew inspiration from games like Ico where atmosphere and lack of narrative play a big part. The structures and level design of Ico kind of draws the player and leads them to follow a certain direction, with again, the whole escort system. Do you guys think when it comes to mechanics and game layout and, looking at the game, it’s more vast, more open, compared to more closed areas like in Ico? How are you guys going to adapt to that?
Yuehao: That’s a great question. I would love to keep the environment very expansive. I really love atmospheric games like Journey and art-driven exploratory games like Sable. That said, I would not call this an open-world game. There’s a specific emotional arc that we want to take the player on, which requires some degree of linearity. Another game I really love from Team Ico is Shadow of the Colossus. Less about the combat as a reference, but the way the camera dynamically changes perspective when you are interacting with these large statue-like creatures.
Sofi: I get it, like that scale and that perspective.
Edward: About “Team Ico”–I always call them Sony’s Nintendo developer. With that team, they want you to take over and play in this world, solve these puzzles, but say “we’re not going to tell you the story quite yet”.
Yuehao: We want you to experience this story and give your own interpretation. One of my favorite PS4 games is The Last Guardian, I love that game.
Edward: Has Team Ico been a big inspiration for the project?
Yuehao: Yes, they’re big inspirations. We love playing beautiful, art-driven games. But, Spider Lily is also very personal. The key sculptural landscape art pieces you see here were all adapted from a series of wax pastel drawings I made in 2021. The drawings were inspired by my experience learning how to rock climb outdoors in Joshua Tree. Rock climbing can be really scary! It’s such a visceral and emotional way to interact with the natural environment.
When I create a drawing or a painting, it comes from a genuine and personal place. All of the world building, character design and game mechanics were based on drawing out the themes of fear of death, attachment and trust. As we started to work more in the game engine, we began to refer more and more to their work because it felt like the closest thing to what we were trying to achieve. Perhaps our work is our way of interpreting their work.
Sofi: Why I have so much faith in Spider Lily and you guys as the team behind it,is because of that passion you put into it. It’s got a lot of emotion. And you guys prioritize that. Spider Lily is obviously a passion project for you guys, and that is such an achievement as Falsework’s debut title. How long has this game been in development for?
Yuehao: We are a team of four, and we’ve been working on it on and off for two years. It’s definitely been a journey!
Sofi: I heard the sound design was made in-house too.
Yuehao: Yes, big shout out to our dear friend and collaborator Chris McKelway. He is a composer and pianist based in Los Angeles. Matt, our producer, is in a band with him called after enya. Chris composed the piano score and Matt mixed and produced the tracks. With such a small team, we all wear a lot of hats!
Sofi: That’s awesome to hear. Again, this is Spider Lily from Falsework Studios, an ambitious title that we hopefully get to be following throughout development. Thank you for having us.
Edward: And before we go, where can people find you? Can they follow you guys? And how do they show support for the game?
Yuehao: Yes! Thank you for asking. We are planning to launch Kickstarter in the next two months as a way of connecting with our audience and to keep the development going. Around the same time, we’re aiming to launch on Steam with a demo. It’s very important for us to keep the project going and to take it to the next level. We’re hoping to release the finished game next year, probably late 2026, as a Steam PC game.
Edward: I just want to say, I think I need an art book for this because I’m just looking at, like, this cover picture right here where it says Spider Lily, I’m like, wow, this is a beautiful cover to a game.
Sofi: The logo design is amazing as well. An art book or gallery from your team would be amazing.
Yuehao: I would love to make a book. One of the things I love about games is how naturally they allow you to explore different forms of media. The same stories, same visuals, but as sculptures, graphic novels, and video games. That’s something I’ve really enjoyed about working with the Unreal game engine – it is such an empowering tool, and constantly inspires me to think of different pathways for a project. Perhaps some day, we’ll see Spider Lily the movie?
Sofi: I was going to say, I mean, having such a talented team, I feel like expanding across mediums is completely achievable. You know, you’re an artist, you have musicians and developers; It’s just talent everywhere across the board. Very cool to see for an indie team. I’m just looking forward to seeing more from you guys. Thank you both for having us.
Everybody, please do check out Spider Lily. You can find more information on Spider Lily’s website, Instagram, as well as Yuehao Jiang and Falsework Studio’s own Instagram page. We will keep everyone posted on their Kickstart and Steam demo when it launches.
For more content, everybody, please check out bossrush.net. Were we’ve got more interviews and content coming up.
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, LeRon Dawkins, Stephanie Klimov, and Pat Klein, as well as their friends, fellow content creators, developers, and industry veterans come together to discuss their week in gaming, including what they’ve been playing, a randomly chosen rotating weekly segment, the Boss Rush Banter of the week, answer community write-ins, and more. New episodes are released every Thursday. Members of The Boss Rush Network’s Patreon will receive the exclusive Pre-Show at any tier along with other perks.
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