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Silt interview: How Limbo inspired this deep ocean dive

Learn more about how Silt's monochrome art style was inspired by another indie game that helped make the style famous.

Ozzie Mejia

October 4, 2021 4:00 PM

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Developer Spiral Circus is going under the sea for its first project, taking players into the murky depths of a deep oceanic void. Silt brings along a familiar-looking art style for those who have played games like Limbo. We recently spoke to the game's art director, Tom Mead, who is not shy about Silt's inspirations.

"For me, Limbo was the reason that I jumped into the games industry in the first place," Mead told Shacknews. "I hadn't played games for a long time. I had been working in animation and fine art and seeing a game like Limbo made me realize that atmospheric and moody art styles could be adapted to this kind of medium. So, for me, it was a bit of an eye opener, like... that's what I want to make."

Originally revealed at this year's PC Gaming Show, Silt takes players into a mysterious and surreal underwater world, putting them in the role of a diver in search of mystery. Players will have to solve various environmental puzzles and survive some harrowing obstacles and dangerous creatures along the way. Over the course of the game, players will get the chance to use some of the mysterious creatures they encounter to aid them in puzzle solving. Mead talks about his jump into art direction and some of his process for creating Silt's environments and diverse sea creatures, as well as the aesthetic choices behind the game's art style.

Silt is coming to PC in 2022. For more interviews like this, be sure to subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?