Ultros: Design Works - Interview with the 'Gardenvania' Narrative Designer Pelle Cahndlerby

May 1st 2025

Lost in Cult have been busy growing their Design Works series that provides fans with deep dives into the art and making of video games. Soon to be included is a look at Ultros, the psychedelic 'gardenvania' from developer Hadoque.

Ahead of the release of Ultros: Design Works later this year, I spoke with Pelle Cahndlerby about working on the game and what to expect from this new book. As is evident even in the wonderful way he answered my questions, Pelle was the narrative designer and poet for Ultros and will also be featured in the upcoming release. Check out the interview below and be sure to visit Lost in Cult and the book page here.

Hi Pelle, thanks for taking the time for answering some questions. Congratulations on the game and now the upcoming Ultros: Design Works! How does it feel to have a new extension of the game being released for fans?

Cahndlerby - My pleasure, it's always fun to talk about our cosmic demon when there's a curious and friendly set of ears on the other end.

Thank you so much! It feels nice to give the audience a glimpse behind the curtain. The opportunity also gifted the world of Ultros some additional lore and further insights into some paths toward the end. It was great fun to write a bit about the Sarcophagus again.

The idea for Ultros came from art director Niklas Åkerblad, at what point did you begin your work in the role of the narrative designer on the game?

The many seeds that sprouted Ultros were buried into creative soil on as many separate occasions, some closer to each other in time, almost parallel to the demon's pulse.

Years before I officially picked up the muse's mantle, I listened to Niklas's ideas about this demonic entity. He had a vision crystallizing, and we had some very giving conversations on philosophy, creativity, and life in general.

Sometime later, as the different beats of the demon began to align, he reached out. He said it was time for the poet to enter the fray with bewildering words and narrative prowess. I heard the call, and I answered.

It sounds like you were able to hit the ground running. Was there any material already in place for you to look at and help make your start?

Oh, there were documents, alright! Some had a nice, sturdy structure. Others went all over the place in trails of thought and different approaches. Some overlapped the same subject but with outdated decisions on how to best move forward, and some had an interesting commentary on why this or that had been scrapped.

It was a creative melting pot that needed to be dived into to get stratified and analyzed for which ingredients should go with what. Then, for some gentle seasoning, massaging, and kneading before deciding what else to add from my supply.

Release trailer for Ultros

In a previous interview you spoke about how one of the harder parts of writing for the game was choosing when to include writing and how much, to allow other aspects to take the centre stage. What was involved in that process to make sure you strike the right balance and how did you know when you had achieved that?

Looking at the outlandish art jumping at you from all corners of the canvas, while having the sweet melancholy of Ratvader's outstanding soundtrack in your ears, I'd be a fool for carelessly throwing as much text as I could at this neon beast.

Giving the players too many impressions at once would only add to the abstract confusion that already embraced us. Confusion is good, but if you want to reach beyond the rolling eyes of people thinking we're just being weird for the sake of being strange, you need to edit yourself. And hey, you will always be the advocate for your discipline, that comes with the territory, but you also need to remember that you're not alone in the process. Inspiration can be taken from all sides of the buffet.

Balance was obtained by, again and again playing the different scenes, entering the realms, and trying to feel the environments. Realizing that the symbolism of certain set pieces did the job splendidly getting across a feeling or hinting at lore without any additional dialog or text pop-up.

As a writer, editing out redundant text is as important as adding text, if not more important!

Then, for giving the poetry center stage, I had the hallucinogenic vistas, or visions at my disposal. This could be done without interfering with the flow of gameplay or disturbing the voice of the environment. Letting remote nooks reward the players with a poetic treat and at the same time hint at the abundance of over-arcing lore.

I also used the many descriptions of items and fruit for this. Bite-sized confusion is my favorite!

Ultros is a mix of multiple ideas, it’s a Metroidvania with time and seed planting mechanics, as well as having a different approach to the skill tree and gaining resources. Like the game, the cast too are an interesting mix of people. How did you approach the writing for the characters?

We have a quirky and lovable ensemble, so engaging with them should be as rewarding as possible from the outset with the least amount of dialogue strings possible.

Making them distinguished through particular words they use, how flowery of a languish they have, long-winded or blunt when getting their mind across to the protagonist – all has to be considered.

Gärdner has a mindful way of putting together sentences, Wallet dons a more casual approach, and Qualia can range from space opera to heart-to-heart.

In the case of Brunzon, it felt important for me to create alien words and sprinkle them over his dialogue. I wanted to make him feel more distant and add to his detached approach to what was going on with the world outside of his beloved gegga. His native expressions all have meaning, so it was not a case of simply making them sound strange, but to make them fit each situation. Overkill deluxe? Maybe, but oh, how rewarding on the creative side.

The diverse cast also look the part too as Ultros has a very bold visual design, its psychedelic style makes it stand out in the genre. Did this have an impact on your writing for the game?

Most certainly! It helped let go of any hindering poundage, releasing creativity to a higher level.

Once you let your foot off the brake, it was just a matter of seeing where you'd end up. Then, rewind to edit for the sake of the whole. It's always better to be loud from the get-go. It's easier to take away than to add when things are scarce.

The Design Works series from Lost in Cult are not simply artbooks, but a deep dive into every aspect of a game, including narrative. How long did it take and what was involved for the Ultros team to make the book happen?

To work with [book author] John Rogers and Lost In Cult has been a great ride! We provided sketches and rough, early takes from all disciplines to let John sort out what he thought would make for an interesting mix.

We got interviewed about our different processes, and if he had any additional thoughts or questions, we'd give it another round. Sometimes, things took off to places and stuff we hadn't even thought about putting in there. Because of that, it's hard to say if our involvement is done (as of April 2025) or if more input will come.

It's been a bunch of fun insertions here and there over almost a year, counting from the initial interviews.

That's a long time, but an interview isn't your only contribution to the contents, because the Deluxe Edition of Ultros: Design Works comes with a poetry booklet with your own poems. How does it feel to know that your own personal work is getting a physical release like this?

Emotional.

Delivering a demon proved to be no small task. It seeped through everything about me. Sometimes drowning me.

I had written and performed a three-part poetic reading at the A Maze festival in Berlin. It was my deliverance, or so I thought.

Getting the opportunity to help shape the book, it felt natural to offer to include it, with the addition of a newly written prologue sprung from where my soul was at this time after the release.

I am happy, proud, and sad.

I'm sure fans will appreciate the inclusion of the poems, it's certainly a unique extra! What else can people expect from the book and what stood out to you when reading through it?

Expect details about things you didn't know were a factor in the molding of Ultros. Different voices from different disciplines sometimes contradict each other, much like the Joker's origin story – as it should be. Creating this playable work of art was like falling through parallel layers of lived abstractions.

Something that stood out was the length of this journey. The size of bits and pieces spun together to string up the Sarcophagus with its realms and dwellers. We gave so much, our all, for the sake of this demon. Please, receive what love we poured into it.

It sounds like fans will have a lot to dive into which is great to hear. Moving on from Ultros, do you have future goals within video game development and if so, what are they?

Oh, I have places I want to visit, dreams I want to share, games I want to breathe life into, no doubt about it.

It's much too early to go into detail on, of course, but the future cradles a promise of hope and existential beauty.

If fate is cruel, and I can only choose to create one more game in my career, one game molded from my mind and hands, I have my starting point. My vision is there.

We will certainly keep an eye out for what the future holds for you! Your own work will now be included on the shelves of collectors, so I’m curious, what is your book collection like? Does it include video game books and artbooks?

Right now, my shelves hold a strange blend of vinyl soundtracks, drink & food books themed from games or TV series, and mysterious creatures from the cold North. The most recent art books I have must be from the Persona series.

I'm also looking forward to Lost in Cult's VA-11 HALL-A book. I love that game!

Thanks again for your time, to end the interview, shamelessly let people know why they should pick up Ultros: Design Works and promote anything else you have going on!

The book highlights the artistic curiosity and creative madness we suffered from in the best possible way. It might be contagious – hurry and find out!

I post some nice poetic bits on my Bluesky account, and updates on my next creative endeavor will also pop up there eventually: @cahndlerby.bsky.social

The same goes for Instagram: instagram.com/cahndlerby

Thank you so much for wanting to talk about Ultros, and a big thank you to every sojourner out there who has put time and effort into exploring our demonically colorful creation!

A big thanks to Pelle for taking the time to speak to me for the websites very first interview! Ultros: Design works is out later this year and a copy will be joining the collection here too.

Remember to visit Lost in Cult and check out the book, as well as others in the series which includes Sable, Citizen Sleeper and the upcoming Outer Wilds. They also work on other books, collectibles and vinyl soundtracks too, visit them here - www.lostincult.co.uk

Tags;

#Ultros #KeplerStudio #LostInCult #DesignWorks #Hadoque