While attending PAX West 2025, I had the chance to sit down with Devin Santi, creator of the indie game Mr. Sleep Man, a delightfully quirky and funny game that calls back to an earlier era in gaming. The following is a transcript of that conversation:
Ed: Hello everybody, this is Eddie V. from Boss Rush Network. I’m here at Mr. Sleepy Man, and I’m here with the creator, Devin Santi. Hello!
Devin: Hello!
Ed: So, Mr. Sleepy Man is the game you brought here to Pax West. Is it a N64-style platformer?
Devin: Yeah, it’s a sandbox 3D platformer. You play as a sleepy guy who goes around town causing chaos for everyone. It’s all about chaos and doing crazy antics. Think of Mario 64 meets Untitled Goose Game.
Ed: Oh my goodness, that’s wacky! Well, before we get more into the game, how did you get into gaming, and how did you also get into game development?
Devin: I’ve been gaming my whole life. I was a kid playing Nintendo, and you couldn’t get away from games as a kid. It’s the generation where that was our art. I’ve always wanted to make a game. I have a background in music. I’ve been a musician my whole life. I would make YouTube videos and always post stuff online. Game development always seemed like something I told myself I couldn’t do. Until one day, I just bit the bullet. I was like, yeah, I’m going all in. I’m learning game development. I watched every YouTube video and learned every tutorial. Luckily for me, a global pandemic happened. I lost my job. So I had a lot of free time on my hands. Here I am today to show what I created, and that’s Mr. Sleepy Man.
Ed: Were platforming games or 3D platforming games one of your interests while gaming?
Devin: I love 3D platformers. I think controller-wise, a 3D platformer is the most fun type of game. Like, if you had a game and there was nothing to do, a 3D platformer controller would be the most fun. Like, if you can do nothing in the game, I want it to still be fun. That’s like Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Banjo-Kazooie; those types of games are what I base the character controller off of.
Ed: I had some time to play Mr. Sleepy Man, and when I started the game, it said “The L64” or “Lonely 64”, that’s correct?
Devin: Yeah.
Ed: How did you come up with that name?
Devin: Well, the 64 is obviously the Commodore 64. That’s the one I’m inspired by. Nintendo 64, obviously, is the thing that I’m going by. Lonely 64, there’s some lore in there. It’s like, why is it called the Lonely 64?
I can’t spoil it. Some things are up to interpretation, but the game being about Mr. Sleepy Man, it’s about a sad little man, and maybe there’s something about the male loneliness epidemic that’s in there.
Ed: What was really cool about it is, at the beginning, that once you get the game rolling, there’s a TV in there and it has this USA Network style of cartoon, and then you get this 3D visual. How did you come up with the concept of that?
Devin: I think the theme of the TV is something that kind of goes through the game. You start the game, and you get pulled into the TV. You know, making video games is not the only art I love to make. I use my knowledge of making YouTube videos all the time. I’m inspired by movies, and I’m inspired by TV. With a background in sketch comedy, I wanted to explore every aspect of art that I love to make. That’s where that Idea came from with the intro.
Ed: I have to laugh at one of your characters, and you probably know who it is. Can you guess who it is?
Devin: Is it Teefy?
Ed: Yes, it was! (laughs)
Devin: I can do the rest of the interview in the voice if you want. (impersonates Teefy voice)
Ed: Oh, sure! Well, this is the funny thing. Teefy reminds me of Mr. Herbert from Family Guy.
Devin: The whistling of the S’s, definitely. It’s like I’m trying to do the voice of the guy who has one tooth. Like, what does that sound like? I just end up doing this.
Ed: You captured it perfectly, and I was laughing at it and saying, “Why is he? Oh my goodness!” What even made it funnier was the way that you spelled it. T-e-e-f-y
Devin: Yeah! Yeah! It’s like t-fee but also TV. There’s a double meaning in there. He gets sad because you leave him because he’s just like you broke my window, and it needs to be fixed. That’s when Mr. Sleepy Man runs off and begins his adventure, going around, ruining everyone’s lives.
Ed: I wonder how far it will go with Teefy? How much can you ruin him? So with the mission layout, it feels like you can’t go to an option to find out the missions, but you can explore and find a mission, and it just happens. Was that by design, or was that an idea that you wanted to input?
Devin: Yeah, it’s very open-ended. There was a feeling I had when I played Skyrim where I would just go to a town, and I would get bombarded with all these missions, and all of a sudden I had this huge list of things to do, and I could do it in any order. That’s where I wanted to go with Mr. Sleepy Man. I wanted to have all these things to do, and I never wanted to feel like there was nothing to do.
Ed: There’s a mission that you have to find a pillow and a sheet. You’re able to find the sheet and the pillow. With the pillow, that seems to be your form of attack. Will there be enemies in there that you will be attacking with that pillow?
Devin: Yeah, there’s a whole other level that’s not in the game where you go into the woods, and there’s a lot of zombified Zelda-type characters that you attack with the pillow. It kind of sprawls out, almost like a Metroidvania in that section of the game.
Ed: With the sheet, you can glide with it. Was that inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker?
Devin: Yeah, it’s Wind Waker, but probably more Breath of the Wild.
Ed: There’s a mission in here where you have to steal the cash register. I stole it, but didn’t know what to do. Did I complete it when I just stole the cash register?
Devin: It’s kind of open-ended. It’s just like, commit a felony, and you grab the cash register. There’s a secret with the register
Ed: I know you can’t reveal the secret, but it was very interesting that I just went in and stole a cash register. Now, I do have to ask about one character. He looks very tired, and you meet him on the bridge. Can you talk about him for a little bit?
Devin: Papa Bear. Papa Bear is my favorite character in the game. He’s my favorite character to write for, and he’s just unhinged. He’s a sad man.
Ed: It seems that there’s going to be more characters in the game. While still developing the game, are you still coming up with characters, or do you have your set characters?
Devin: It’s pretty locked at this point. So content-wise, it’s all lock and key. I’m just finishing up what I have and fixing any bugs that remain.
Ed: What music style are you going for for this game?
Devin: It’s a lot of different stuff. Like I love 2000s rock music. I love retro game music, and I’m combining all those things with this game.
Ed: That’s good, that’s good. Will there be any more funny characters that you’ll meet? Or will there even be an antagonist? Or are you the antagonist?
Devin: I feel like Mr. Sleepy Man is kind of the antagonist of the game in a way. There are other characters you’ll meet in the game. There’s a pizza restaurant manager called Tony Pizza that you meet in the woods. There’s Chunky Bear, which is Papa Bear’s son that you go and find in the woods. There’s a lot of crazy stuff that’s not in the demo.
Ed: In this demo, you are collecting gems. Will they be used in the game for shops, or is it just regular collecting?
Devin: So, the little shiny things that you get in the game, you can use those and put them into TVs, almost like the puzzle pieces in Banjo-Kazooie, and those allow you to fast travel to different points in the game once you’ve unlocked them.
Ed: Okay, so I just got two more questions for you. As a gamer yourself, is there a particular game or even franchise that you feel like has earned its stripes? Whether it changed the industry, whether it may help you become a game developer, what is that one game you feel like has earned its stripes?
Devin: Super Mario Odyssey. I think it’s the best game to come out in the last 10 years. It’s perfect.
Ed: Oh, wow! That’s a good choice. My final question. What is your go-to snack while developing the game? Or even for the weekend, for you to relax. What is that one snack for you?
Devin: I love bananas. That’s my go-to breakfast. My breakfast is coffee and bananas. That’s all I eat.
Ed: As you are still developing your debut game, are you excited to see what your next adventure in game development is going to be?
Devin: It might be more, Mr. Sleepy Man. Honestly, I love the character so much. I feel like I’m only scratching the surface with the dream world aesthetic that I’m going for.
Ed: Have you thought of making it into a comic or anything?
Devin: Oh, I’d love to do like a TV show. Maybe the next thing that I’m going to do is the Mr. Sleepy Man pilot episode.
Ed: Oh, nice! Where can people find Mr. Sleepy Man, and how can they follow you for more updates?
Devin: You can go to my YouTube, youtube.com slash devinsanti, D-E-V-I-N-S-I-N-T-I. I’m @Devin_Santi on Twitter and Instagram as well. You can wishlist the game on Steam. Just look up Mr. Sleepy Man, it’ll show up.
Ed: Are you hoping to get it on other platforms?
Devin: Yeah, I’m working on a Nintendo Switch port as well that will come after Steam. Hopefully, I can get it on other consoles, but there’s nothing to announce yet.
Ed: All right. Thank you, Devin, for this interview. Everybody, please check out Mr. Sleepy Man. It is a fun ride. It’s bonkers. It’s wacky, but it’s original and creative. It will give you that Nintendo 64 feel from back in the day. Thank you, Devin.
Devin: Thank you for your time and for playing Mr. Sleepy Man.
You can wishlist Mr. Sleepy Man here, and you can buy the game when it releases on March 10th on Steam.
Does this game take you back to the N64 days? Will you be picking up this game? Let us know in our Discord or in the comments.
Featured Image: Monster Theater Games
Want more discussion? Check out The Boss Rush Podcast every Monday on podcast services and on YouTube. Subscribe today!
Email the Show:
podcast.bossrush@gmail.com
Listen to The Boss Rush Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anchor | YouTube
Follow and Connect:
X (Formerly Twitter | Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn
Join Our Community:
Discord | Facebook | LinkedIn
Leave a Reply